Category: cityscape

Fifty-second Street at Night New York

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Susan and I were in Manhattan to see a play at the invitation of our friends and neighbors, the Krebs’s. We were going in to dinner at The Iron Bar, when I saw this scene. It was a drizzly, misty night and the street lights lit up the fog from below. The street level was bright with glare and the nineteenth century buildings were shining with reflected light. The newer towers in the neighborhood loomed in the background against the inky sky.

This scene made me very homesick and I wanted to capture the liveliness of the scene and the wild contrasts of the evening on 52nd Street near Times Square. It’s a large painting to reflect the large scene.

Oil on canvas
36”w x 48”h

$1100.

Canal Boats in Narbonne, France

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This is the Canal de la Robine, which I have painted in other views. Here, right in the middle of Narbonne, the canal boats were moored along the banks, and the low winter sun made long shadows. The French love to torture trees into artificial shapes and the plane trees in Narbonne are the same as those in Cape May, New Jersey, but trimmed into urban decorations.

Oil on canvas

28”w x 22”h

$850.

Carcassonne II, France

Castle of Carcasonne, Languedoc, France, Impressionist cityscape/landscape

Carcassonne is a castle town on a hill in southwestern France. In the 1200s, the Pope and the king of France agreed to conquer this part of France. The locals were Langue d’Oc speaking Cathars. The Pope declared Cathars to be heretics and the French and Papal forces killed millions of Frenchmen. France got vast new territories and the Pope got to kill off millions who wouldn’t accept his authority. The fortified city of Carcassonne still survives from that period.
This is one of two small paintings of Carcassonne. I was trying to capture the otherworldly, medieval look if the town in late February.

Oil on canvas
16” x 20”

$700.

Mdina, Gozo, Malta

Susan and I spent a month in Malta many years ago. We were visiting the smaller island of Gozo, on the way to the old capital, Mdina. While we were in the sun at the bottom of the hill, it was showering in the city. When we got to the city gates, we were drenched. Every inch of Malta is terraced and farmed and not a spot is wasted.

My aim was to capture the drama of the medieval city on a hill with the terraced gardens flanking the slope. The dramatic cloud was a bonus.

oil on canvas

36″w x 24″h

$950.

The Covered Bridge at Narbonne, France

This is the only bridge in France covered by buildings (like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence) If you stand in the spot that my other painting of canal boats in Narbonne was done from, and turn your hear to face the other way, this is what you see. The water was perfectly still like a mirror.

When the Canal du Midi was built, the merchants of Narbonne realized that they would be bypassed and the town would whither and die, so they built the Canal de la Robine to connect with the new transportation system.

oil on canvas

18″w x 24″ h

$750.

The Pantheon and Bernini’s Elephant

This is the back of the Pantheon, the Roman temple to all of the gods. It was consecrated as a church, Santa Maria Rotunda (or Chubby Saint Mary’s). The obelisk is from ancient Egypt and is mounted on a statue of an elephant by the great Baroque sculptor, Bernini. The courtyard is in front of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, or Saint Mary on top of Minerva.

Oil on canvas

24”w x 36”h

$950.

The Palace of Monserrate, Sintra, Portugal

This is the Palace of Monserrate, a quinta (estate) in Sintra, Portugal. It is Victorian Gothic and spectacular inside. Sintra is a beautiful town near Lisbon and is surrounded by palaces and country houses. Susan and I have visited Sintra several times and we particularly love Victorian Gothic since we live in a Victorian Gothic cottage ourselves.

oil on canvas

30″w x 22″h

$750.