Stephen Basso

German Expressionist Bakers, colorful painting with food cakes

2018

Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imagination, wry wit and fear...

Pastel on toned paper *ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive ...

Soft pastel on toned sanded pastel paper richly worked. Part of an ongoing series on mirrors and fame figures. Signed at bottom

Monotype on paper Dramatic disrupted realism imagery from Tom Bennett’s series of monochromatic monotypes, blending surrealistic mindscapes with stark realism About Tom Bennett: With quick brushstrokes, Tom Bennett creates representational images of human figures and animals, emphasizing movement in a manner reminiscent of Lucien Freud, Edgar Degas and the photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Elongated and blurry, the horse racing up a hill (Canter Fritz, 2002) and the sinister cat landing a leap (Chien Blanc, 1998) elicit a sense of foreboding enhanced by Bennett’s somber palette; his female figures too reflect a grim sense of humor with their distorted nude bodies. The face of Untitled Figure (1997), for example, is obscured by layers of dark paint. Classically trained as a painter, he initially worked in oil on canvas but discovered that monotype printing enabled him to “literally push the image around,” creating an essential element of motion. To overcome the limited scale of monotypes, however, he switched to painting on slick-surfaced plastic. Tom Bennett’s practice is rooted in the classical tradition where painting and drawing from life is highly regarded. Bennett’s work is heavily influenced by Francis Bacon, Frank Auberbauch and foremost his father, Harry Bennett, who was also an artist. Tom’s time living abroad in Spain and traveling through Eastern Europe and Africa provided the artistic freedom to explore many of the techniques and subject matter that continue to define his practice. Bennett was born and raised in Connecticut. His mediums include monotypes, oil on paper, canvas or styrene board. In a technique that Tom started over 4 years ago, several of his monotypes have been painted over with oil paint using a palette knife, brush, or his fingers to re-purpose the underlying image. These works are a testament to Bennett’s ability to quickly and concisely compose an image with expressive brush strokes, foreshortened figures and expertly rendered light. Tom’s work has been featured in group and solo exhibitions worldwide. Bennett lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently represented by Tabla Rasa...

Medium: Pastel on Paper Signature: Signed Lower Left Health Club Baking Powder

Mid 20th Century French Expressionist gouache and watercolour on paper of a café scene. The painting is signed bottom right but as yet undeciphered. The work is titled to the back of the framing 'Bagnoles. Au Casino' and numbered. Presented in plain wood frame under glass, probably the artist's original framing. A lively and colourful scene of waiters serving their patrons in the bar of a casino. The servers are dressed in crisp linen jackets, black trousers, bow ties whilst balancing their trays of drinks. The customers are dressed in all their colourful finery for an evening at the tables. The artist has captured the feeling of the scene, noise, bustle, conversations and excitement. Bold splashes of colour animate the scene and create an almost Fauvist perspective. The painting in style, execution and subject matter is very much like the work of Fikret Muallâ who was painting at this period. Fikret Muallâ Saygı ) was a 20th-century avant-garde painter of Turkish descent. His work reflects influences from Expressionism and Fauvism, with subject matter focusing on Paris street life, social gatherings such as cafés and circuses. Though born in Istanbul he spent much of his career painting in Paris...

“Old love, new love” Drawing, acrylic, ink and colored pencils on paper. I developed a drawing technique based on natural pigments from leaves, flowers and bark with which I intend t...

George Grosz (German, 1893-1959), "In der Loge" [In the Lodge], Pen and Ink on Paper, circa 1913, signed in pencil "Grosz" and titled lower lower left, Achim Moeller, Ltd. label to v...