James Hartman

Table with Citroens

2019

Artist Comments
Table with Citroens features giant fruit from a tree right outside the artist's studio. I chose objects independently and drew them on the canvas with a heavy charcoal line, explains James. I like the way the charcoal mixes with the oils to make nice grays. James draws inspiration for his series of still lifes from 18th-century French painter Chardin, who focused on everyday objects. This painting features a nice distribution of color and lines defining forms in a modern way.

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.

Table with Citroens
James Hartman
Oil painting on stretched canvas
Finished black edges
Ready to hang
One-of-a-kind
Signed on front and back
2019
30 in. h x 36 in. w x 1.5 in. d
5 lbs. 11 oz.