James Hartman

Still Life in a Limited Palette, Oil Painting

2020

Artist Comments
Artist James Hartman created this summer still life using the Zorn palette. Named after the Swedish artist Anders Zorn, the limited palette consists of just four colors: Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre, black and white. James arranged the table with artful objects from his studio and flowers from his garden. "I enjoyed pushing this painting beyond giving up and using blue," James says with a smile. "The painting has a rich build up of texture."

About the Artist
When James Hartman was in art school, he became fascinated with the Society of Six, a group of artists who painted en plein air (outdoors) and exhibited together in the San Francisco Bay Area during the early 20th Century. James's paintings of the Northern California landscape pay tribute to some of the great Bay Area artists of the past. His expressive scenes feel alive through his vibrant use of color and his painterly brushwork. James’s paintings have an immediate visual impact from a distance, yet up close, dissolve into a series of confident marks and strokes. There is a simultaneous complexity and steadiness in his flattened, color-blocked planes. Knowledge and observation are essential elements of James’s working practice. To this end, he spends a large proportion of his time painting on location. His body of work captures the fresh and sunlit essence of the coastal California hills.

Words that describe this painting: California, still life, bird, pitcher, modern, table, flowers, bouquet, vase, fruit, peaches, impressionism, still life, flora, representational, oil painting, red

Still Life in a Limited Palette
James Hartman
Oil painting on stretched canvas
Finished black edges
Ready to hang
One-of-a-kind
Signed on front and back
2020
22.5 in. h x 26 in. w x 1.5 in. d
3 lbs. 11 oz.