"Orchard in the Rain," Ann
Lofquist.
NEW YORK CITY - The Spanierman Gallery, LLC, is presenting "Ann
Lofquist: " through May 3.
Lofquist, in her quiet, pastoral landscapes of rural New England,
continues the tradition of such Nineteenth Century American
tonalist artists as George Inness, John Francis Murphy, Charles
Warren Eaton and Henry Ward Ranger.
Like these predecessors, Lofquist conjures a sense of place not
only through her meticulously rendered, painterly images, but
also through her close attention to subtleties of tone,
atmosphere, and light. Lofquist further emulates these artists as
she is more compelled by scenes perceived at twilight, dawn and
dusk than at times of bright sunlight, and she is drawn to
seasonal transitions. Capturing the nuances of spring's thawing
snows in late afternoon light and fall's arrival in still-warm
countrysides at sunrise, her work expresses the evocative
qualities of such experiences.
Lofquist depicts cultivated landscapes. Small solitary figures,
cars, buildings, and domesticated animals are inconspicuous
forms, often camouflaged into their settings. Neither recreation
seekers nor workers, the figures in her paintings are comfortable
in their surroundings and appreciate them as a matter of course.
Despite the evidence of contemporary life in her works, Lofquist
suggests the perpetuation of a type of American landscape as
represented by artists from the Hudson River School onwards, in
which an appreciation of nature is a phenomenon of everyday
American life.
Born in Washington, DC, in 1964, Lofquist received her BFA from
Washington University School of Fine Arts, St Louis, Mo., and her
MFA from Indiana University in 1990. After graduating, she moved
to Brunswick, Maine, where she was professor of art at Bowdoin
College from 1990 to 2001. She has received many fellowships and
awards, and was included in The Artist and the American
Landscape (1998) by John Driscoll, an important review of
contemporary American landscape painting.
The Spanierman Gallery is at 45 East 58th Street. For
information, 212-832-0208 or www.spanierman.com.
