Unknown

Daily Life Scene in a 17th Century Vermeer Style - Dutch Oil Painting on Canvas

1948

Sepia tones permeate this remarkable oil painting by American artist Geoffrey Johnson, who captures a hauntingly timeless scene. A woman waits by the window of her home, silent, almost absorbed in the diffuse ambiance of the room? The artist emphasizes the intimacy of his subject, a silhouette between presence and absence whose identity he has limited to a shadow. The woman is treated like a ghost, associating her with the invisible and the forgotten. In all its diversity, art is a step towards understanding human emotions and, often, an opening into the soul. The canvas analyzed here is that of a seemingly banal dining room, including an old-style kitchen area, inhabited by this quasi-incorporeal female figure. This eloquent artistic choice echos a reflection on the condition of loneliness. Few details appear some paintings on the wall, a dining table with two visible plates, a chandelier, etc. The sepia tint is emblematic of nostalgia, reminiscent of the photographic process that ages pictures to give them an air of yesteryear. Here, the artist recalls the past, not to idolize it, but to question the persistence of female alienation over time. The deliberate use of a restricted, even desaturated chromatic range reflects a timeless universe in which the female figure echoes across the ages. Like an entity in a sepia photograph, where the being is frozen for eternity, the woman appears and disappears simultaneously, symbolizing the volatility of existence and the fragility of memory. Johnson confronts us with a profound reflection on our solitude and relationship with time, painting the isolation of women in the hues of a bygone era. Through a technique that magnifies the essential and erases the extra, he resurrects an atmosphere inviting us to reinterpret our reflection on existence. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Born in 1965 in Greensboro, North Carolina, Geoffrey Johnson graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he received several awards and prizes for his artistic excellence. Since 1995, he has exhibited in galleries and venues throughout the United States. His paintings may be found in many private and corporate collections, including those of Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting, BellSouth, and Wells Fargo. Johnson draws much of his inspiration from his travel experiences and first-hand observations. Using a monochromatic palette of sepia hues, the artist strives to reproduce the places that inspire him. Johnson’s work is powerfully evocative of the French Impressionists’ depictions of city life, interior spaces, and equestrian scenes. From Gustave Caillebotte’s steely, atmospheric renderings of foggy Paris streets and dusky rooftops to Degas’ spindly-legged racehorses, the influence of these artists upon Johnson’s painting is readily visible. His manner of distorting the human figure has also been likened to the skeletal, surreal forms of Alberto Giacometti. Johnson has established himself as a true innovator, successfully capturing the alluring space between abstraction and realism. His work is significantly influenced by his fascination with both the human figure and the powerful architecture of a modern city. Through a feeling of anonymity, figures become suggestive shapes, and the skyline of New York materializes mysteriously in the background. Johnson’s paintings embody the mood of each urban experience. Johnson has “always been attracted to interiors, work spaces [and] personal spaces.” Inspired by a box of...

In this composition, Californian artist Wesley Johnson invites us to contemplative stillness. The abstract essence of this work flourishes into a living entity, enriched by a blend o...

In the "Fantasy/Metaphysical" series by American artist Eugene Hawkins, the convergence of surrealism and metaphysics unfolds as an exploration of existential themes common to all. C...

This tribute art piece - an awe-inspiring representation of a nude, lascivious woman before or after an intimate embrace - is a celebration not only of Tamara de Lempika’s skill and ...

Work on canvas : 61 x 43 cm Golden frame With frame : 70 x 52.7 x 4 cm This 19th-century portrait by an anonymous artist shows an elderly man seated at his desk, engrossed in writing...

Signed lower left Elizabeth Higgins (Canadian, b. 1960) Elizabeth Higgins describes herself as an abstract figurative and landscape painter. Everything around her serves as a potential subject, an inspiration to begin a painting. Fidelity to the landscape, the figure, or the still life is relative, as she isn’t interested in literal depictions; instead, it’s the abstract relationships of these shapes and colors, the abstract pictorial design that drives her work. Higgins’ paintings are rooted in the tradition stemming from Courbet, Derain, Bonnard, Matisse, Morandi, German Expressionism, and the Canadian Group of Seven (also known as the Algonquin School of landscape painters, 1920–1933). She is influenced by the work of her artist-teachers Paul Resika—himself a student of Hans Hofmann—and Robert De Niro, Sr. (1922-1993), as well as the paintings of contemporary artist Peter Doig. Her artistic evolution stretches across this continuum. It is the “in-between”, the hovering between representation and abstraction, that interests her, not the labeling effect of details; instead, she aims directly at the spirit of the painting—of making something come to life. John Goodrich wrote in her catalog essay, “Elizabeth Higgins’ direct brushwork and simplified forms suggest an energy, but crucially, reveal a painter who knows the power of color…” Elizabeth Higgins was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1960. As a Helena...

Harry Leslie Hoffman (1871 - 1964) The Artist's Wife (Beatrice Pope) at the Loom, circa 1915 Oil on canvas 30 x 32 inches Housed in a period Newcomb-Macklin frame Provenance: Estate of the artist Private Collection, Massachusetts This painting depicts the artist's wife at the loom, producing textile versions of Hoffman's underwater paintings. The screen shown behind Bea is an underwater scene also painted by Hoffman. The study of this painting is held in the collection of the Wolfsonian Museum in Florida. Harry Leslie Hoffman was born in Cressona, a small community in Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Valley. His mother was an amateur artist who encouraged her son to pursue a career in the arts. In 1893, Hoffman entered the School of Art at Yale University and studied with John Ferguson Weir, the son of Robert Walter Weir. After graduation in 1897, Hoffman moved to New York to continue his studies at the Art Students League. He also traveled to Paris and took classes at the Académie Julien. In the summer of 1902, Hoffman attended the Lyme Summer School of Art, in the town of Old Lyme on the Connecticut coast. The school was headed by Frank Vincent Dumond and was located in a boarding house owned by Florence Griswold. The school eventually grew into an artists' colony and a center for American Impressionism. When Hoffman first arrived as a student, he was not permitted to stay in the house which was designated for the professional artists only. However, his outgoing personality soon won him many friends at the colony. In 1905, Hoffman settled in Old Lyme and worked as a full member of the artist colony. He was particularly influenced by Willard Leroy Metcalf, an Impressionist also working in Old Lyme. Fellow artists later fondly recalled Hoffman's antics at the Griswold house, which included playing the flute and banjo, tap-dancing, singing humorous songs, and performing magic tricks. In 1910 Hoffman...

"E in Red Caffe " is an impressionist painting by Maestro Elena Georgieva. The painting is unframed. About the artwork: TECHNIQUE: Oil painting STY...