Guided Tour: Philip Koch Exhibit at Art Essex Gallery, Part One

-







    Philip Koch at the Art Essex Gallery opening
    of the exhibit May 17.

Through June 7, 2014 Art Essex Gallery in Essex, CT has a wonderful show of 15 of my oil paintings on display. One of my collectors contacted me to say they wouldn't be able to make it to Connecticut and asked if I could give a "tour" of the show on this blog. Here are the first five paintings, starting with some of the smaller oils.

I'll follow up in the next couple of days with the remaining ten pieces.



There's a funny story about the the smallest painting in the show above, Lupines, oil on panel, 6 x 4 1/2". I was up in Maine on the first morning of a 5 day painting trip near Boothbay Harbor. Came upon a terrific small pine-studded island about 50 yards off shore. Excited, I immediately dove in and two hours later had a very promising 24" wide oil more than half completed. The next morning I was pumped as I returned to the spot to finish it.  But Maine is justifiably famous for its capricious fog. My little island, though only a stone's throw from where I stood, had disappeared behind a dense white veil. Never once over the remaining four days was it to reappear. 

 So I pivoted around and painted a close up of the early summer blossoms of the lupines right in back of my easel. Though I never saw my island again that week, the lupines, viewed from only a few feet away, remained steady dependable models.






Forest Stream, oil on panel, 9 x 6", was painted near my studio in Maryland in high summer. On a dazzlingly bright day a stream winding its way through an open field abruptly disappears as it plunges into a dense forest. I wondered how long it stayed in the leafy shadows before emerging once again into the open.





Schoodic, oil on panel, 7 x 10 1/2" was painted half way up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in Maine. It's a view looking north across Frenchman's Bay toward the Schoodic Peninsula. It was early morning and the sun was battling it out
with the fog banks coming in off the ocean. Happily it contiuned to clear as I worked.




Sonnet I, oil on panel, 6 1/2 x 13". Last Fall we drove out to the Schoodic Peninsula and looked south back towards the mountains on Mt. Desert Island. The taller peak at the right is Cadillac Mountain.





Quiet Shore: Silver, oil on panel, 7 x 10 1/2". A tidal estuary off the Atlantic, painted on a misty morning that transformed the usual deep greens of the foliage into an array of silvery greys.

Here's the book that's out in the gallery with the paintings with a short artist's statement and my resume.



To be continued...

Popular posts from this blog

Edward Hopper- Looking Out

-
Image
Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning,   oil on canvas, 1950,  Smithsonian American Art Museum Above is a painting I've loved for some forty years. I'm fortunate to be able to see it often as it lives in the SAAM in Washington, D.C. . This painting contains a real clue to Hopper's art. I visit there often as it helps me learn how to see better. Often writers will talk about the loneliness of Hopper's paintings or how his figures feel isolated and rarely interact with one another. While there is some of that in Hopper's painting, it begs a question- why is Hopper's art so widely loved? I'd offer a couple of answers. First, he's one of the most talented painters and was able to invent visual equivalents for strong emotions we humans experience as we live our lives.  He saw color combining in unexpected ways and offered up generous servings of the most delicious color combinations. Yum. Usually, as in the SAAM's Cape Cod Morning above, when he paints
Read more

Maier Museum of Art Acquires Work by Philip Koch

-
Image
Philip Koch, Edward Hopper's Studio, Truro,  vine charcoal, 7 x 14 inches, 2020, Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, Lynchburg, VA I'm happy the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College in Virginia has acquired my drawing above for their permanent collection. The drawing touches on my own history and the role seeing the work of the Edward Hopper played in my own career.  While m y own art is quite different than that of Edward Hopper I count his as my best teacher. A s a young painter  I began by making abstract canvases. But after it seeing his strong light and solid volumes it felt as if Hopper had tapped me on the shoulder saying "You know you really want to be a realist." My drawing was inspired both by my many residencies staying and working in Edward Hopper's studio on Cape Cod and by a particular Hopper painting in the Maier Museum's collection, Mrs. Scott's House . Initially I'd known of the Maier painting through reproductions. It fascin
Read more

Edward Hopper's Poetry of Empty Rooms

-
Image
I've just been invited by Rachael Solomon who is the Program Director of the  Edward Hopper House Art Center in Nyack, NY to have a mini solo show in one of their galleries.. We'll be showing some of my paintings of the interior of Edward Hopper's Cape Cod studio where I've had the great pleasure of enjoying 13 residencies since 1983. The Edward Hopper House Art Center is the boyhood home of the famous American realist artist. So much of what Hopper became stemmed from his early years there. So I'm excited to do the exhibit. It will be coming up in March through May of 2012.   Hopper didn't teach. Yet I learned more about how to become a good painter by studying his work than by any other single thing. Art after all is visual. Words, even beautifully and aptly spoken can get in the way. And Hopper was legendarily tactiturn. I suspect had someone asked Hopper how to paint an empty room, his terse reply would have been "Don't!".  Above is one of h
Read more