At first, I wasn’t sure why I thought of the nineteenth century painter Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema as I viewed the opening reception of Philippe Vasseur at Axelle Galerie in Chelsea. For both in terms of style and content the artists differ enormously. Alma-Tadema, of course, depicted with mythical clarity and discipline, scenes of grandeur and repose of the classical Roman Empire. Philippe Vasseur, on the other hand, with impressionistic freedom, displays humble views of a more everyday world.

But both, it seems, follow one rule with their painting: they succeed in creating sublime grace with scenes that are not dominated by natural landscapes. Instead, their works focus on settings created or woven with the lives of humans and portray a potential for beauty.

That beauty is not without its eeriness. Just as darkness lurks behind the stories in Alma-Tadema’s paintings (i.e., who could forget, those lovely roses petals in the Roses of Heliogabalus actually smother people), a certain melancholy haunts Vasseur’s works. Cafe bleu – which is nothing short of mesmerizing in both its depth, glow, and color – depicts a loneliness as all the patrons in the room sit alone at their tables. One hopes that they are able to appreciate the peace that exists in that moment of time.

Vasseur’s melancholy is one we can live with. Indeed, it makes his flashes of experience and light in life (often that come combined with the most unassuming seconds) so much more appreciated.

Vasseur is, fortunately, not alone in his successful style of merging impressionism with a strong awareness of physiological depth. Axelle Fine Arts Gallerie hosts other such fine artists. Also, recently, I reviewed a work by the elusive Jerilyn Jurinek who displayed similar skill. These artists and their galleries should be commended for their vision of art that respects classical traditions, while at the same time enables the development of work that is wondrous and new.

And Philippe Vasseur succeeds marvelously at creating awe in this show. His work is grand in that it evokes in awareness that life can be so extraordinary beautiful, yet at the same time these moments are not of a past time or society that we cannot attain. Though they are mythical, they are real: two men in silence in a room at sunset (Sans titre); an old weathered boat on a grey beach (Epave); a man sitting on the ground near a hound dog (Sur le trottoir). These are not the false legends which Alma-Tadema teased us with, but scenes of life that we live. And – though they may be without opulence – these “ordinary” times of our lives are filled with sensational beauty. We just have to make a choice in opening our awareness. And Vasseur inspires us to awaken our souls to the delicacies of our simple human world.

Philippe Vasseur is on view from June 3 – July 3, 2010 at Axelle Fine Arts

The New York Society of Women Artists
The Meaning of the Line Exhibition
February 8-28, 2010 @ The Broom Street Gallery

Some Serious Ladies Show Their Works

In a artistic climate in which one walks into “hip” contemporary art galleries often feeling that they have encountered “civilization at the end of its tether,” it is refreshing to find a group show in which the participants are not only able speak to the current times, but also display technical skill. The New York Society of Woman Artists’ The Meaning of the Line which opened February 8th and runs through the 28th at the lovely Broom Street Gallery contains some such wonderfully inspired works. And as a whole this ensemble should be commended for veering away from the sensational, and displaying sometimes humble, sometimes quiet works which hold a great power and resonance.

There are the deceptively simple acrylic paintings of Gloria Schar, whose Cooling and Reds and Purple have a Rothko style, but instead of using the swaths of color as imposing forefronts, she casts the colors as seeming shadows to some home in our memory. And Tina Rohrer’s uncanny Accent Aqua III and Blue/Green Progression are series of green shades checkerboards that elude both to the modern world of computer mapping and code, yet create a mirage of natural landscapes. One might also spend some time contemplating Lea Weinberg’s love-filled bronze’s Whereto and Attachment. The two human sculptures are evocative of geological formations, formed by a miraculous wind or water.

Another very worthy composition is that of Diana Freedman-Shea, whose Dusk: Long Island City Winter uses almost translucent oil paint and sometimes even just-outlined figures to capture the feeling of those shortest of days. Despite her dreamy hues and strokes, the painting carries a deep reality; so that it is almost like an old photograph. Inviting you to walk into it, the painting gives one the gift of solace even in a dreary, winter day.

And one should not leave the show without spending a considerable time contemplating the profound work of Jerilyn Jurinek, whose oil Crossing the Delaware River is a profound multi-dimensional work that first gives almost geometric surface impressions, but upon time becomes deep and expansive human and environmental landscape in the viewer’s gaze. Indeed, once the painting amazingly becomes three dimensional, one is able then to understand that the colorful shapes are indeed figures on a terrifying, yet hopeful journey across a deep cold river. On one side is a silhouetted figure that almost floats over the canvas, and it is balanced on the other side by a seemingly distant moon. The painting is a daring work – a robust hybrid of abstract power and well crafted figures – combined to produce a scene filled with beauty and cathartic pain.

Crossing the Delaware River

Peter Neofotis
New York
February 8, 2010