New Horizons

In the mid 70s I followed up on my earlier Horizons series (see Divided Canvases) with a group of large paintings consisting wholly of bands of stained, flowing color in the foreground against a clear, sky like background, with no attempt at perspective or other gestural accents.  
These can be seen as abstract landscapes or not, depending on the interpretation of the viewer.  Here are two examples from 1976.

Dawson City Horizon

The Great Yukon Gold Rush

images ©Richard D. Perry All rights reserved

These paintings are for sale. Dimensions and prices given on request: dartnall@cox.net

Doors, Domes, Chimneys and Columns

Chimneys 1973

In the mid 1970s, following my brief exploration of hard edged building facades, I returned to a softer approach focusing on individual aspects of architectural form—some within a grid format and others as stand alone pieces.
Realistic, frontal depiction of buildings gave way to their portrayal in landscapes, at unusual angles and with softer, more intense colors.
Once again much of my inspiration came from buildings and townscapes seen in Mexico and Mediterranean countries.

Four Domes (1973)

Cretan Quarter (1975)

Domes Horizon (1973)

Moroccan Sky  (1973)

Mexican Facade  (1973)

Mudejar (1975)

Barococo (1975)

Blue Column (1975)

images ©Richard D. Perry. All rights reserved

These paintings are for sale. Dimensions and prices given on request: dartnall@cox.net

Facades

Lucy's Restaurant (New York)

In the mid 1970s I returned briefly to my love affair with architecture in a group of large scale, harder edged, more realistic paintings that explored the colors and textures of facades from my travels in Mediterranean countries and Mexico as well as New York.

The grid style format I had used in earlier work lent itself to this group of frontal building fronts.  This is a selection from 1975:

Cordoba (Mexico)

Agencia Hipica (Puerto Rico)

Carmona  (Spain)

images ©Richard D. Perry All rights reserved
These paintings are for sale. Dimensions and prices given on request: dartnall@cox.net

My Blue, Mauve and Purple Period

The Painter's Hands 1973

In the early 1970s, in New Jersey and during a year back in England,  I continued to experiment with various divided formats—stripes, grids and other irregular geometric figures—using large canvases, often over 72" in at least one dimension. 

I also expanded my vocabulary of forms with particular interest in the tension between juxtaposed stained and impasto passages.  For some reason, at that time I seemed to be especially attracted to a range of colors from reds to blues and in between.  

This is a selection from that period (these somewhat fuzzy images were taken some years ago when the canvases were still on stretchers)  

Blue Grid

Blue Windows 197

My Greek Grid

Bonnard's Bathtub

Blue Diptych 1972

Mauve Grid 1972

Purple Diptych  1972

images ©Richard D. Perry All rights reserved

These paintings are for sale. Dimensions and prices given on request: dartnall@cox.net

The Divided Canvas

Horizon 4 (1969)

Although this new openness of color field painting and composition felt initially liberating and exhilarating, my need for some structure soon reasserted itself.

In subsequent paintings, during the late '60s, I endeavored to combined the freedom of flowing paint and color in a number of divided canvases—diptychs and triptychs. I also re introduced some textured and gestural elements from my New York days while further exploring the effects of staining.

This is a selection of large canvases from that time, which I entitled the Horizon series, although they may be viewed either vertically, as here, or horizontally.

Horizon 7 (1969)

Horizon 6 (1969)

Horizon 5 (1969)

These paintings are for sale. Dimensions and prices given on request: dartnall@cox.ne

Across The Color Field

Red Hand (1969)

Then in 1968 I left New York. This was when color field painting was in full sway, under the influence of artists like Morris Louis, Larry Poons, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler and others.

I moved to New Jersey where I set up a large studio.  My painting took a radical turn. Architectural compositions, muddy oil colors, collage and found materials gave way overnight to stained canvases bright with acrylic colors and based on flowing organic shapes drawn from the human body. 

All these are very large paintings, over 72' in at least one dimension.

Green Hand (1969)

She Said, He Said (1969)

Mauve Elbow, Green Knee (1969)

Red Elbow (1970)

Orange Knee (1970)

images ©Richard D. Perry All rights reserved

These paintings are for sale. Dimensions and prices given on request: dartnall@cox.ne

New York and Mexico

"W" 1967

After art school I moved to London where I pursued a career in advertising. Although I had little time for painting, I explored various aspects of printmaking‚ primarily lithography and some etching.

In 1966 I relocated to New York to attend college. While pursuing a degree (in Latin American Studies) I also resumed painting as well as printmaking at the Pratt Graphic Arts Center.

At that time my work became freer and more abstract, incorporating collage and found materials, the structural concerns explored in my earlier painting continued to play a central role

"Bobby"  1967

During an extended trip to Mexico in the summer of 1966, I was greatly impressed by the ancient and colonial buildings there, especially their forms and textures. 

On my return I made some paintings inspired by these impressions. Clearly more architectural in character they continued to employ the same techniques of collage and roughly textured paint.

"Yecapixtla" 1966

Mission 66

images © Richard D. Perry All rights reserved

These paintings are for sale. Dimensions and prices given on request: dartnall@cox.net

Early Days

Southampton Docks 1959

This is a new blog documenting, as a form of retrospective, my work as an artist over the decades.


Ever since my art student days I have been primarily focused on painting and printmaking.

My work has always been informed by architecture or, more broadly, clear  structure and composition, whether in abstract or more representational modes—which I consider as a continuum rather than opposite poles.

My earliest paintings were done on board with heavy impasto using household or oil paints, often thickened with plaster or sand.

For this inaugural post I show two paintings in this style from my student days in Southampton, England, both with maritime themes. 


The painting above, although  geometrical in composition, also incorporates an oil slick—an accidental effect introducing a theme that reappears and even dominates in much of my later work.


In the rather densely composed work below, I attempted to integrate architectural with other forms—trees, sky, water, boats, etc.  I remember being strongly influenced at the time by the work of Cezanne as well as that of my cousin, the British architectural artist and watercolorist Ronald Maddox.  

Mediterranean Harbor 1958

images © Richard D. Perry All rights reserved