Beamsville, 1919
This week I’m on the road. I’ve left you with six landscape paintings that should be on everyone’s Top Ten list, but probably aren’t (for the simple reason that there are way too many great paintings out there). Beamsville, 1919, Frank Johnston Landscape painting and war art are closely tied. In 1919, Frank Johnston (later a …
A world without art is a world without common culture
Yesterday I railed about the educational establishment, which practices intellectual gavage on our children at the expense of creativity. Perhaps they should remember that all, or nearly all, of the unifying icons of the American experience were created by artists. Daniel Chester French’s colossal Lincoln in Washington’s Lincoln Memorial Daniel Chester French’s name is not …
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This is your world without art
This is your world without art. My little corner of the world was rocked yesterday by a report that a staggering number of young New Yorkers are deficient in math and languages, according to new state tests. The district in which we live—which was once among the very top schools nationwide—achieved a piddling 59.8% language …
The one thing every plein air painter should know
If I were asked to list the most important skills for a plein air painter, they would include cleaning brushes, packing efficiently, and drawing (of course). But I would add a skill taught to me by my young assistant, Sandy Quang. Every artist worth his or her salt carries plastic shopping bags. (Here in Rochester …
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Sixteen scurvy navvies
The Halve Maen passing Hudson Highlands, 40X30, oil on canvas (also available in GiclĂ©e print) This painting is hanging in Sea and Sky: A Personal Journey, now through October 18 at Lakewatch Manor, 184 Lakeview Drive, Rockland, Maine (call 207-593-0722 for more information). I painted it to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s 1609 …