Robert Jackson

PUTTING ON A HAPPY FACE - Realism, Figurative, Self Portrait

2017-2024

Original Oil Painting by Eric Zener Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, OR) completed his BA in 1988 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As an artist he has been engaged in a...

Original Oil Painting by Gary Ruddell Gary Ruddell (b. 1951, San Mateo, CA) received his BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1975 and began his art career by illu...

Original Painting by Olga Antonova Olga Antonova (b. 1956, Volgograd, Russia) completed her classical art training at the Ilya Repin Institute of Painting in St. Petersburg, Russia...

Original Painting by Eric Zener. The painting is signed.

"Aurora" by William Blake is a tribute to the Civil War scenes painted by Winslow Homer depicting women playing croquet. Often thought of as paintings that were lacking in closure during war time, a haunting scene of the marriage between play and sadness. Here Blake takes that subject matter depicting Aurora with a croquet mallet. Her painterly style is beautifully rendered in broad brushstrokes and a deep color palette. Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war. The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War...

"During a battle reenactment At the Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, I helped carry a soldier from the field to the hospital. This painting depicts that soldier as his leg is amputated. Clara Barton...

Caravaggio painted "The Incredulity of St. Thomas" with Christ looking down as he pilots Thomas’ hand to his side. Not looking at Thomas or the others, but to his wound. He seems interested in the proof of his embodiment. He wants to know that this is real. He too, questions his body, his life and death. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. This artwork is unframed. Contact the gallery for framing options. Reenactment is a material culture where the feel of authentic wool has transformative power. The closer you can recreate the “kit” of the authentic soldier the closer you are to that past. In the pursuit of touching the past there are questions- Is this real? Did this happen? Is this me? Is this us? The gesture of piloting a finger into the side represents these repetitive questions. - William Blake Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war. The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War...

Inspired by the quote "Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations." - Faith Baldwin In her recent series, "The Painted Word," Vera Barnett has turned to the written word for...