Night Scenes

One year of posting passed me by last November without me even noticing. I made a short comment about my 100th post and nothing whatsoever about 200. So in celebration of nothing in particular, I've decided to post this slightly different format. It is sort of a curated show if you will, the theme being, obviously, "Night". For a few years now my own work has been almost exclusively night scenes, and so I am always fascinated to see how others approach the subject. These pieces have all been posted on this blog before. Here they are again with occasional comments and links to the individual artists' websites.
(also, I will be in Santa Fe trying to find a gallery so there will be no new post until I get back, next Wednesday)

Many of these can be viewed quite a bit larger. Just click on the image.


Possibly my favorite night painting of all time, an absolutely fascinating visual narrative mystery and a unique capture of the contrast between warm man-made light and a brightly moonlit snowy landscape.
Amy Bennett "Surviving Winter" 9" x14"

I would love t see what this piece looks like in real life. Leaving more than 3/4 of the painting in absolute darkness is a bold and visually arresting move, and really evokes the feeling of night blindness driving on the snow.
Owen McAuley "Madison NY" 12" x 16" 2004

Of course the night is readily used to create a haunting atmosphere and that is definitely the case here in this portrait of a decrepit and empty insane assylum.
Maya Kulenovic "Sanitarium" 48x36"

Combining the narrative visual structure of graphic novels with a diagrammatic interpretation of a house the artist tells the tale of it's occupants' nocturnal lives.
Mark Andres "Ice Palace"

The lights of man and the the unfathomable depths of the night blue sky are employed to prove that painting the dark need not be colorless and somber.
Linden Frederick "No Exit" 2005, 45" x 45"

Nobody does nocturnal cityscapes like this guy, whose career, if I'm not mistaken, is on a well deserved and rapid upward trajectory.
Kim Cogan "Night Owl" 38"x50" 2009

Night scenes are also immensely rich soil for the seeds of myth and fable.
Kathleen Lolley "The Creation of Fireflies" acrylic on wood 2007

Jesus as a nightlight. And lovingly rendered in egg tempera. What's not to like?
Dennis Harper "Jesus Nightlight" 1995 11" x 9"

This simple composition captures perfectly the feeling of a fairly plain roadside hotel and piling on all kinds of emotional inferences for anyone who has ever traveled alone.
Dan Witz "Sherburne Hotel Lamp"

Ever since I stumbled across this sketch it has had a special place in my heart right next to another one of his, of a woman flying through the front windshield of her car. Clifford Elgin "Cop Finding body in Road"

Another narrative fable, the title works like a story unto itself.
Amanda Blake "When The Sea Turned Purple They Knew They had Gone Too Far" 14x14" oil on panel

Another night time tale, this one features zombies. It's the distant panoramic viewpoint that makes the fate of the rooftop archer so compelling.
Daniel Danger “I came to know an archer”
24×24 three color screenprint with hand painted elements

Night time is also of prime time for the dubious goings on of young men, captured here with deft photo-realism.
Alex Roulette "The Deal" 19x18" oil 2007

Technically this may be more of a twilight scene but night is imminent and the nightmare is already present, and it may well be one of the coolest paintings I have ever seen.
John Brosio "Fatigue" 48" x 60" 2009