A place in the sun.

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on September 11, 2016 at 8:46pm

Curator’s Comments:

 

A Place in the Sun is a wonderfully simple image to contemplate at summer’s end.  I like the relatively empty open space- I believed I previously admired the snail painting for its similarly solemn and understated composition. The fluidly curved umbrella in this piece becomes mushroom like and organic against the landscape.  But the pole is unexpectedly thin, adding a fragile and unpredictable weight and dimension to the form. I especially like the way in which the sunlight appears to filter down over the umbrella and reach the sand. It suggests hazy heat, but also breezy movement of sea air. View of Red Island and Sunshade appear to have a similar umbrella form, but in more thatched textural detail. These two later painting in fact exert a certain density of space, with deeper hues and a more definitive horizon.  All of the beachscape scenes offer the viewer a sensory experience of locale, but A Place in the Sun is most pleasurable for me in that I temporary lose myself in the space.