A few more gems from the Met's Visual Storage. Sorry for the occasional glare on the glass, or my reflected head.

John Singer Sargent's Madame X is currently on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Visual Storage room. If you have never been to the Visual Storage room, it's a collection of some of the finest paintings not on display in the museum. The beauty is that that they are packed floor to ceiling into display cases and give views of paintings which are impossible in the museum proper. Madame X is too large to store in it's frame, and is currently displayed sans frame which is a real treat. I've included a shot of the edge of the painting below.

Abbot H. Thayer from the Brooklyn Museum of Art

Some work must be viewed in person to be truly appreciated. This is especially true for Abbott Handerson Thayer's work. The following three images were shot with my iPhone, which is less than ideal, but even with a professionally shot photograph, the color, depth and subtlety of these paintings is impossible to reproduce. The fourth image is the shot from the museum's website. There's a glow to every element in this piece, from the background to the faces of the children.

Abbott H. Thayer, My Children, ca. 1896-1910. Oil on canvas, 48 1/16 x 60 3/8 in.

Favorite painting: Brooklyn Museum of Art

John Singer Sargent

Val d'Aosta(A Stream over Rocks; Stream in Val d'Aosta) 1909. Oil on canvas 21 5/8 x 27 1/2 in.

Even more amazing in person, this painting perfectly captures the flow of water over the rocks and it's effect on the sunlight. Unfortunately, this painting is rarely exhibited.

The portrait of Barney continues. I'm still unsure of how I'd like to handle the grass and leaves on the ground. In the meantime, I've started the companion piece - a portrait of Betty. The progress here is about 2 hours worth of work.

Soviet Impressionist Painting

I highly recommend this book. Soviet Impressionist Painting by Vern Swanson.

It's a revised and updated edition of Soviet Impressionism, published in 2001 and sold out. Soviet realist painters are some of the most obscure yet talented of the 20th century.

Kimberly and I went to view the new Skip Liepke show at the Arcadia Gallery in New York today. As always, great work. I was surprised to see the larger than life faces Skip is currently producing.

Portrait of Barney

A few more hours on Barney. I made some drawing adjustments to the head and the body.

Abbott Handerson Thayer

One of my favorite still life paintings. Abbot Handerson Thayer's Roses at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. This is an example of a painting that must be viewed in person to be truly appreciated. Areas of thin wash are juxtaposed against heavy impasto, creating a depth and glow which photography cannot reproduce.

Portrait of Barney

Started a life size portrait of Barney. I'm not yet sure where it's going to take me. The shot I'm working from is from last fall, and the ground is covered with leaves. I'm considering letting the complexity of the background overwhelm the subject as you can see by the brushwork near the head. This is approximately 2 hours of work thus far.