Impressionist landscapes and cityscapes
This is the Canal de la Robine in the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France. In Narbonne, the canal is very densely built-up and urban, but just outside, it is very quiet.
My aim here was to capture the morning light shining through the February leaves. The oil paint is used very thinly, almost like watercolor to get a luminous effect.
36”w x 24” h
Oil on canvas
$950.
The Castle of Beja is found in the second city of the Portuguese region of the Alentejo. It features the Torre de Menagem, which is a Roman castle, rebuilt in the Middle Ages. We usually stay in Evora, the primary city of the Alentejo, but one year tried Beja for variety’s sake. The Alentejo is very pretty and has the best food in Portugal.
Oil on canvas
36”w x 24” h
$950.
Trajan’s Column was built in 113 A.D. at the edge of the Roman Forum to commemorate the Emperor Trajan’s victories over the Dacians in what is now Romania and its neighbors. What is so amazing is that it is still there, in the same place, looking much like it did two thousand years ago. It is the model for every memorial column put up ever since. A pope put a statue of Saint Peter on the top in the sixteenth century, but that didn’t have much effect. Susan and I were just returning from lunch in the café at the top of the Vittoriano when we saw this scene from the front steps. It had rained several times that day and was about to pour again. The dark clouds that were coming out of the East were moving very fast.
Oil on canvas
24”w x 36”h
$950.
Susan and I have stayed in Tavira on the southern coast of Portugal several times. It is one of the few towns in the Algarve that is not just a beach resort, but a picturesque place separate from the beach. The Ponte Romana is the old Roman bridge which spans the inlet that serves the town, as seen reflecting in the still waters.
In this painting, I tried to capture the bleached white houses on the opposite shore, which look almost North African, and the beautiful arches of the bridge and their reflections.
Oil on canvas
36”w x 24”h
$950.
This is the Roman Forum as seen from the tabularium which is the taller building at the Northern end of the forum. The triumphal arch at the South end of the Forum is the Arch of Titus. It was erected to celebrate the defeat of the Judeans and the looting of Jerusalem. From this view, the mass of the forum is a chaotic confusion of masonry and trees, with only the Arch of Titus clearly seen in the distance.
My aim was to capture the confusion of the middle ground and the clear white shape of the Arch of Titus. The stacked perspective is more like a medieval painting than like a modern one.
Oil on canvas
24”w x 36”h
$950.
This is a gorge in southern Morocco, with brilliant sun throwing half of the canyon into shadow. The tiny figure on the camel is Susan, who insists that the painting should be Portrait of Susan with Todra Gorge. The colors of the stone in sun, in shadow and in the distance were so distinctive that I just painted them as they were – no drama added. Our visit to Todra Gorge was part of a three day jaunt down into the Sahara, guided by Rashid Lamrani, who appears in my painting of the Alhambra.
Oil on canvas
36”w x 24”h
$950
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The Aude River at Carcassonne sits below the castle town in southwestern France. In the 1200s, the Pope and the king of France massacred millions of Frenchmen in this area in the Albigensian Crusade. Though the history is terrible, Carcassonne is beautiful and like a fairyland version of the Middle Ages.
This is one of two small paintings of Carcassonne. I was trying to capture the otherworldly, medieval look of the town in late February.
Oil on canvas
16” x 20”
$750.
The Pincio Park, or the gardens of the Villa Borghese, are the Rome equivalent of New York’s Central Park. We’d often sit in our favorite café in the park to write Rome Secrets or CityTravelBlog. This is the Temple of Diana in the park in the sun, with several picnickers on the lawn in the foreground in dappled shade.
I was interested in capturing the subject in bright light in the background, as it so often is in 18th and 19th century landscapes. The middle ground is alternately sunny and shaded, and the silhouetted tree in the foreground gives the composition depth and drama in a somewhat Japanese way. I often like a tree in the foreground as a way of dividing the canvas and giving drama to an otherwise calm landscape.
Oil on canvas
36”w x 24”h
$950.
Siena is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It is composed of a series of ring shaped streets on a hilltop, with terra cotta and yellow ochre walls and roofs everywhere. It was one of the great competitors to Florence in the Middle Ages, and still has a gracious Medieval appearance composed of wonderful architecture and lots of money. This is the view from the town-hall tower on the Campo in the center of town. I’ll only go to this level, near the bottom of the tower because I’m afraid of heights.
In this painting, I tried to capture the complexity of the hundreds of planes and variety of terra cottas, all seen in the brilliant Tuscan sun. I used lots of linseed oil in the paint to get a fat, rich paint that would carry the intensity of the colors. I also painted it on a large canvas to show off the view.
30”w x 40” h
$1100.
I had to visit the Acme supermarket early one winter morning to get eggs for the bed and breakfast. When I came out, I noticed the dark mass of Our Lady Star of the Sea across the parking lot. The pavement was wet and the dawn was dark and misty.
The scene reminded me of James McNeil Whistlers’ Nocturnes, especially those of the Houses of Parliament. He used to say he used his “special sauce” to get the liquid night effect. I guessed that his “special sauce” is glaze made of linseed oil and ultramarine blue – which is what I used.
Oil on canvas
20”w x 16”h
$750.