I visited the Zorn exhibit at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum recently, it was great to finally see a number of his paintings (24) in the flesh. They were all masterful, but I was really amazed by this one of the skater. What an idea for a painting! It's quite large, mostly black, gray and white. The one really warm spot is her face.
You can't take photos in the museum, otherwise I would have a better detail here. Her eye socket is just a smear of dark paint, no detail at all. I stood there staring at it for a while. So simple but so perfect! And I love the skate marks on the ice.
Here's one of my latest efforts at portrait painting. 12" x 9", oil on canvas board. Not bad, but you won't be confusing me with Zorn, at least not in the near future.
5 comments:
Kathy, that is a great painting...such a bold composition. Another Zorn exhibit opens this fall in San Francisco and I hope to see it (I live in Colorado so it's closer than the show in your neck of the woods). I can't wait to study his work up close.
Any other ah-ha discoveries about his style or process?
Scott
Scott- no real ah ha moments, although it turns out he did a lot of etching, which I didn't know before. The museum has a collection of his etchings which are not part of the show.
I saw that exhibit last week. It was amazing! There is something dramatic about many of his compositions and the contrast of darks to light was often intense as in this painting, which I also love! Thanks for sharing.
I am eager to see it. My husband and I have to schedule a non-working day in Boston to go.
Kathy, that last oil sketch you showed looks like a famous artist we both know. Is it so? If so, a good likeness too!
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