Joseph E. Richards

Essex: Industrial Still Life Photo-Realist Painting of Grey & Blue Train

1993

Photorealist still life painting of green lotus flower petals and a brown lotus pod against a light blue background oil on canvas, 16 x 16 inches, 17 x 17 inches in dark wood moulding Signed lower left Painted with the exactness of a still life photograph, this hard edge realist painting by artist Frank DiPetiro features a brown lotus pod with lush green leaves on a pale grey-blue background. Inspired by close observations of the natural world and encounters with still moments that give us pause. Lines, shapes and colors encountered in nature, reveal the cycles of decay and regeneration that are life’s constant state of change. The work has a quiet, meditative quality. The subject is portrayed in a manner true to their existence in a specific time and place and selected based on considerations of visual relationships to formal elements of painting. Aspects of photo realism, hard edge and color field techniques are utilized to isolate the uniqueness of the subject’s detail, as well as emphasize flatness and illusion of depth within the two-dimensional space of the painting. About the artist: Frank DiPietro was born and raised in Scranton PA. He received a Bachelor of Art from Bloomsburg University in 1997, majoring in both Painting and Ceramics with a minor in Art History. In 2000 he earned a degree in Art Education from Moore College of Art and Design while continuing his studies in painting. Frank lived in Philadelphia for twelve years painting and teaching at several museums, art centers and schools in the region. In 2010 he and his family moved to Chester County PA, where he currently resides. Frank currently teaches painting classes and workshops at the Delaware Art Museum and Longwood Gardens...

Large, vertical photo-realist painting on canvas of industrial red ball and steel grey crane on a sky blue background by Joseph Richards oil on canvas,...

Vertical photo-realist painting on canvas of pale pink ball with steel colored hook on a bright sky blue background 72 x 36 x 1.5 inches oil on canvas, thin wood stripping signed "Richards" on bottom right corner in yellow paint wire is installed on the back for easy hanging This precisely detailed photo-realist painting was made by Joseph E. Richards in 1981. The artist painted this piece when he was 60 years old during a successful career painting trains, cargo ships, and industrial machinery. Richards served in the US Navy during WWII and went on to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia before showing with Ivan Karp of O.K. Harris Gallery in NYC. The artist moved upstate to Hillsdale, NY for the later years of his life. This painting captures one of Richards' most beloved subjects, close up views of industrial equipment against a vivid blue sky. With a photo-realist approach to the subject, Richard was able to capture detailed changes in light and shadow, shape and form. The pale pink colored ball and steel colored hook, down to each screw and bolt, is completed with extreme focus and precision. One could easily confuse this painting with a photograph since it was completed with a very smooth application of paint, with no texture built upon the surface. It is not until you examine the painting up close, do you realize the artist's calculated brushwork. The painting is framed with natural wood stripping. The work is lightweight and easy to hang with wire installed on the back.The artist's signature is located on the front and back of the canvas. About the artist: Joseph Richards’ precisely painted canvases of giant cranes, cargo booms, propellers and train engines are fueled with a fascination like that of a six-year old boy. Working directly from photographs, Richards unites light and color together as one element, evident in the reflective surfaces of steel. The otherwise mundane signs of corrosive wear are magnified; rust stains glow on the canvas and yellow painted pulleys radiate like beacons against a bright, blue sky. Richards finds beauty in their dramatic color, resilient texture, definitive form and functionality. Richards paints sections of these objects in grand scale, with canvases up to 6 feet long and eye-popping color, calling attention to their massive proportions and exceptional strength. Richards had solo exhibits in New York City, Scottsdale AZ, and Washington DC, and his work is found in private and corporate collections here and abroad, e.g., the Tucson Museum of Fine Arts, Mobil Oil, Lankenau Hospital in Philadelphia, and E. Jean Belloni in Geneva, Switzerland. Resume: Born in 1921 in Des Moines, Iowa, Joseph Richards left for Chicago after high school to pursue a career in art. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1942 – 1945, he went on to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He eventually settled with his wife, Betty, in New York City. In 1969, longtime dealer Ivan Karp opened The OK Harris Gallery on West Broadway in Manhattan’s SoHo. Karp was at the forefront of the Photorealism movement, showing artists such as Duane Hanson and Manny Farber...

Photo-realist still life painting of a green lotus leaf with brown decays edges against a soft grey background "Lotus Number Thirty", painted by Frank DePietro...

Vintage American school trompe l'oeil corn still life oil painting. Oil on board, circa 1940. Possibly faintly signed lower right. Displayed in a giltwood frame. Image, 22"L x 24"H.

Doug Newton’s hyper-real oil paintings observe reality, explore translucency, reflections and luminosity, and dazzle the viewer with all the ways light can transform our perceptions. His subject matter concentrates on still lives of food, toys, candy and household objects. In addition to many group shows across the country, Mr. Newton’s show, “HARD CANDY and other confections” represents his fifth solo exhibition. His paintings have been collected in numerous private collections. Dr. Sonia Coman writes in her essay, Doug Newton’s hard candy: the confection of painting Doug Newton’s paintings are about… painting. The hyperrealist technique of trompe l’oeil or “trick the eye” is knowingly playful. It simultaneously calls attention to the illusion of a different material—for example, translucent candy wrappers—and the reality of the layers of paint, masterfully applied to the canvas. In that, Newton’s paintings pay homage to an esteemed series of trompe l’oeil masters, from Inquisition-era Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán to Gilded-Age American painter William Michael Harnett...

Doug Newton’s hyper-real oil paintings observe reality, explore translucency, reflections and luminosity, and dazzle the viewer with all the ways light can transform our perceptions....

Antique Russian super realist still life painting by Sergei Petrovich Ivanov (1893 - 1983). Oil on canvas, circa 1945. Signed. Displayed in a period modernist frame. Image size, 3...