Art We Love & Why Provincetown- Landscape

Art We Love – The Lay of the Land

For some people, “landscape painting” may conjure up an old-fashioned, sedate art form – something to put over the sofa. But every artist sees the world around us through a unique lens, and the landscapes here are anything but staid. They’re also a reminder of the enduring value of looking at the world through someone else’s eyes.

Valerio D’Ospina, Via Appia (oil on panel, 24” x 24”}, Ray Wiggs Gallery

You don’t often describe a painting as thrilling, but that’s just what this piece is. One look and you instinctively grab for your hat as the world rushes by. Valerio D’Ospina has a compelling vision and the technical chops to back it up. This flat piece of canvas with a muted palate somehow manages to send you hurtling down the road with the wind in your hair. This is not your grandmother’s landscape.

Tim Saternow, BAR, Baxter Street (watercolor and cold wax on paper, 33” x 25”), William Scott Gallery

Tim Saternow’s moody, technically astonishing take on a city street is a marvel on many levels. Using watercolor in a way that is both crisp and loose, he’s created a streetscape that feels very real and yet slightly surreal at the same time. The composition borders on abstraction, but you can almost feel the grit under your feet and the smog in the air. He’s created a landscape that’s an instant classic where you’d least expect to find it.

Terry Boutelle, Opening (acrylic on canvas, 20” x 30”), AMP

As an artist, it’s not only what you see and how you see it, but how much you choose to let us see in your work. Terry Boutelle has given us the trees more than the forest here, and the effect is almost portraiture, with each trunk expressing its own personality. The ghostly light and hazy distance are foreboding – is this the glow and smoke of fire? I’ve never found birch trees more compelling.

Robert Glisson, Clearing Skies (oil on canvas, 24” x 20”), Alden Gallery

While it’s true that each of us sees color slightly differently and views the world according to whether we’re near-sighted or far-sighted, some people, like Robert Glisson, see the world in a way that most of us can barely imagine. Are those luscious lime-green and amethyst-plum colors really in those trees? I’m more than happy to take his word for it while enjoying this delicious view of the countryside after a rainstorm.

To find more Art We Love & Why from the archives go to:  ART WE LOVE

George Rodgers is the ARTS Editor for ptownie.com and Managing Editor of the ptownie ART Issue magazine.