Artist Chuck Rosenthal Speaks

In a recent interview, artist Chuck Rosenthal was asked what he wanted the viewer to know about a painting. His wonderful, almost poetic answer is:

“I like to show the paint to the viewer with brushwork in some areas of the painting, but like all artists and particularly the most successful ones, I want the viewer to be able to participate in the work. I want the viewer to feel that if it’s a landscape, it’s a place where he wants to be. If the artwork is a still life, it should have some ineffable familiarity to the viewer, and create a feeling that ‘this is right, I know this.’

“That is the universal impingement of a really good piece of artwork. I want the viewer to be able to escape for a moment into my painted world that has, in the viewer’s eyes, a rightness, a balance of placement and light values that is in agreement with the viewer’s own internal universe.”

The splendidly bright sunlight in “Houses on the Marshland ” certainly draws the viewer into the painting. The shadowy blues in the foreground contrast with the bright oranges and yellows of that reflected sunlight on the grasses and marsh water make one wish to be there in person. The painting is a 16×20 in oils, viewable on Mr. Rosenthal’s website www.chuckrosenthalfineart.com.

The painting itself makes you want to be there to soak up those colors. Maybe you wonder where that place is, but it doesn’t matter. It’s in the mind of the artist, and now, in the mind of the viewer. There can also be a real location in Florida where those houses and marshes are, but probably there was only one place in time when the colors were as they are now painted. Because the artist painted it, it is now forever.

Enjoying a view of ” Grapes and Nectarine,” another painting on the artist’s website, gives you an idea of what the artist meant when he said “ineffable familiarity to the viewer,” and that he wanted to create a feeling of “this is right, I know this.” It is a still life painting. It was bought by a viewer who knew “this is right, I know this,” and it now hangs in a dining room or living room or perhaps a den.

The thickness and roughness of the cloth against the cool smoothness of the grapes makes you want to touch them. At least you are certain when viewing the painting that you can feel the textures. The artist’s representation of them is so real, you know you can feel those textures even though you are not actually touching them.

You are invited to look at these paintings anew, keeping in mind what the artist wrote about his intention in painting these subjects. Contribute to the paintings yourself. Enjoy.

Looking to find the best deal on oil paintings, then visit www.chuckrosenthalfineart.com to find the best advice on still life for you.