Philip Koch Paintings

 Philip Koch, Truro Studio Kitchen, oil on panel, 12 x 16 inches, 2021 Art is a feast for the eyes.  This is my latest painting.  Appropriately, a lot of meals have been consumed at this humble table.  In real life this table is a subtle cream color but I liked the feel of it with the yellow amped up a bit. The same with the reddish floor.  In the late afternoon the table is bathed in direct sun light. Even the room's shadows have a glow to them. This is the kitchen in Edward Hopper's studio in Truro, MA on Cape Cod.    I remember sitting in these chairs all to well. They're three-quarter size chairs, ironic as they belonged to a man who was 6' 5". Notoriously frugal, t he furniture Hopper and his wife Jo chose came from a second hand store. The studio's rooms are sparse. But there is one area where Hopper's studio is almost delightfully extravagant- it has lots of windows. On a clear day you see direct sun shining in from sunrise to sunset.  The...

  Philip Koch, Otter Cove II, oil on panel, 16 x 20 inches, 2008, Somerville Manning Gallery,  Greenville, DE Above is my painting Otter Cove II  that I recently along with the oil below Yellow Arcadia delivered to Somerville Manning Gallery when they needed additional work for my recent exhibition.  While I was at the gallery a couple asked me where I'd gotten the idea for the painting. I told him about my going to Otter Cove on Mt. Desert Island in Maine to do landscapes. I explained it was the spot from which one of my heroes, the 19th century painter Frederic Church had painted one of his best known oils of the island. What I failed to mention was I also hoped I'd get to see otters frolicking in the cove. Trouble was: no otters. Philip Koch, Mount Desert Island , vine charcoal, 5 x 13 inches, 2003 But the rhythm of the shore and islands more than compensated for the lack of aquatic wildlife. I made the above drawing with my easel se...