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
An Intern’s Perspective: On Parade by Louis Stone
Louis Stone, On Parade, n.d., oil on canvas, H.40,25 x W.60 inches. James A. Michener Art Museum. Gift of Janet L. and Lawrence C. Stone.
It’s hard to believe that we are already at the end of November, and I am embarrassed to say that we were delayed in revealing September’s Mystery Image. This image is a section of a larger painting entitled, On Parade by Louis Stone. I asked our Education Intern, a student from the University of Pennsylvania, to write about this work. Thanks Ali for taking the time to look closer at On Parade! – Adrienne N. Romano, Director of Education and New Media
What do you see in this work? I spy a cupcake. I spy a pair of blue eyes and two Groucho Marx eyebrows. I spy a smile, a swooping arm and a mitten-hand. No one sees the same thing and that is what makes it fun to look at a work like this! Read More »