Joseph E. Richards

Two Paintings by Joseph Richards: Side Track and No. 11

1999

Large, photo-realist painting on canvas featuring a crimson red and yellow industrial boatyard lift against a bright sky blue background 47 x 31 x 2 inches oil on canvas, thin wood stripping signed verso, "Joseph E. Richards" Hangs with wire installed on the back This precisely detailed photo-realist painting was made by Joseph E. Richards in 2001. The artist painted this piece when he was 71 years old during a long career of 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, industrial cranes. With a photo-realist approach to the subject, Richards was able to capture detailed changes in light and shadow, shape and form. The red and yellow crane, painted with extreme detail and focus, vividly contrasts against a bright blue sky. Areas of brown rust, attesting to the machine's power and longevity, are captured with immaculate precision. Since the painting has a very smooth surface, one could easily mistake this painting with a photograph. 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 pre-installed wire. The artist's signature is located on the 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...

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