Levitt Pavilion Riverfront

Themes

• The designed structures of human civilization co-existing in a non-threatening symbiosis within the natural environment.

• Allegory of the intellect or music, which rises above the foundational substrate of nature to inhabit an abstract space of pure form.

• A narrative of sheltering within a placid refuge. The center of interest suggests a tent, roof, or egg shape that provides a fragile protective cover.

• A mood of thoughtful calm and the unhurried optimism associated with a late early spring homecoming after a winter of travel, clouds lumbering with ominous sweeping energy but clearing nonetheless.

Style

• Late 19th-century tonalism, using a limited palette. Quiet, restrained, and poetic value structure.

• Influenced by Isaac Levitan, Alexander Repin, William Merritt Chase, Jules Bastien-Lepage, John Frederick Kensett. Contemporary inspiration sources include Marc Dalessio, Travis Schlaht.

• Simple, monumental composition with strong graphic presence.

• Loose application, broad handling, (evident brushwork with movement, ground showing through) on the periphery of center of interest, resolved and highly realistic center of interest.

• Some impressionistic notes (broken color).

Sketches and Color Studies

Saugatuck River study (detail), graphite and chalk, 8x6 in.

Levitt Pavilion study (detail), graphite on toned paper, 6x8 in.

Saugatuck River study, oil on canvas, 6x8 in.

Levitt Pavilion study (detail), oil on canvas, 6x8 in.

Levitt Pavilion study (detail), oil on canvas, 6x8 in.