Peter Archer's beautiful and atmospheric realism appears to be gradually dissolving into a mist of storm and sea. The careful (and clearly time-consuming) rendering of some of his earlier work (see my
previous post) has given way to a more impressionistic approach. But this is not simply a more immediate or quicker approach to image making. Rather it is a careful and systematic exploration of the image itself, trying to eke out it's surprises. He is not trying to define the scene's essence but explore its possibilities. One painting on his website is dated 2004-2008 which gives you an idea of the potential difficulty in "finishing" such a work. Fortunately for us he does.
see more at
peterarcher.net
"Naval Vessel: Sea Fog" 24x30" 2009
"The Clemenceau, winter" 36x48" 2009
you can click on these to view larger.
"Swollen river (umber) 12x20" 2008
"Pipe entering the sea" 20x36" 2008
"Northern upland, snow remnants" 35.5x51cm
These are museum quality gems of realist painting, and I will definitely browse his paintings thoroughly. They remind me a great deal of some of the realist painters in Israel like Uri Blayer and Daniel Enkaoua. I find the effect of wet atmosphere in "Pipe entering the Sea" a truly masterful handling of paint and an intense observational experience.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look up the artists you mentioned. And your right, any museum would benefit from these pieces.
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