Charles Rosen (1878-1950), The Roundhouse, Kingston, New York, 1927, oil on canvas, H. 30.125 x W. 40.25 inches, James A. Michener Art Museum. Gift of the John P. Horton Estate.

For those of you who were stumped on October’s mystery image, it is the painting The Roundhouse, Kingston, New York by Charles Rosen.

At first glance, this work is an industrial scene set in Kingston, New York. Among the other buildings shown in the painting, a roundhouse sits in the foreground, which was a building used for servicing locomotives. They were built as early as the 1830s and few remain today.

In looking closer, this work really isn’t about the subject matter; it’s about the interplay of forms and lines.  With the use of vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines, Rosen is creating movement between the forms. The composition is balanced, all the while giving us a slightly awkward perspective of the scene below. The combination of these forms and lines creates a painting alive with order and rhythm. Read More »