Influences

Salvador Dali was strongly influenced by the painting of Jan Vermeer, a Dutch painter of the 1600's whose incredible detail and rich use of light and shadow produced remarkable effects.

As noted earlier I found vast worlds open up to me through the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, a contemporary of Pieter Bruegel whose complicated peasant scenes and landscapes created memorable visual experiences. It seems strange to me that in college I would develop a disdain for art history, taking an interest only in that which had evolved in the previous hundred years. This is, of course, one of the side effects of the modern mindset, that forgets its roots and thinks relevant only what is now.

The result, besides failing to learn from history, was that I ended up one grade point shy of a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and settled for a Bachelor of General Studies. Though I do appreciate the modern artists, it doesn't take long to be awed by the Renaissance masters when you stand in the presence of original works.

I consider myself fortunate to have grown up on the East Coast with its many superb museums. In 1964, when we moved to New Jersey, one of my most memorable impressions from the World's Fair was seeing Michaelangelo's Pieta. It was literally stunning to see what a man could evoke with a piece of marble.

In contrast to these my own work is somewhat primitive, but I have enjoyed the process and it is not totally devoid of evocative impressions. Hopefully you can visit The Venue @ Mohaupt Block sometime in July, or the open house the evening of July 21st, and take in the 130+ pieces in my retrospective.