Under the Umbrian Sun
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Langdon Quin’s paintings of the Italian countryside are simultaneously traditional and innovative. Made during the artist’s yearly visits to Italy, the recent works now on exhibit at The Painting Center’s Project Room display the time-honored values of the landscape genre, with sweeping vistas of majestic terrain. Yet their muted light, made with vibrant pastel colors, is distinctive. Time of day is frozen in atmospheric canvases that powerfully convey the enchantment of Umbria.
Combining simple geometric architecture with a balanced composition of hills and field, “Cimitero I,” 2014-15, is a serene, classical landscape. Fully illuminated with midday sun, this picture’s clear, bright light invites the viewer’s eye to travel behind the walled cemetery, up into the vineyards on the hillside beyond. On an elevated horizon line, the soft, hazy colors of the landscape clash against acid blue sky.
“Down and Out,” 2013, has an altogether different point of view. Here the foreground tumbles steeply down at the base of the canvas. The eye is launched into a sharp decline before rising up again with another hillside. In this visual rollercoaster ride, shadows and light are painted with a range of blues—deeper blues in the foreground, ethereal blue-grays in the distance.
A small study, “Mocaiana”, 2009, has loose, brushy paint strokes that contrast nicely with Quin’s larger, more considered paintings. The larger paintings are finely wrought, with carefully keyed color conveying clear light, and highly choreographed designs guiding the viewer’s eye through the image. This fresh sketch, on the other hand, is a scene quickly caught, perhaps simpler in content, but bright and attractive.
The works here display artistic range, from serene, ordered landscapes to compositions rocking with violent visual motion. With just seven works, this is a compact show that allows visitors to savor each canvas. Though the artist merits a larger, broader exhibition, this diverse show manages to capture the essence of a mature painter fully exercising his craft.
Langdon Quin: Recent Paintings, on view through April 25, 2015, The Painting Center, 547 West 27th Street, Suite 500, New York, NY, 212-343-1060, www.thepaintingcenter.org
More information about Simon Carr’s work can be found at www.simoncarrstudio.com
