Snack

Laura and I have a black dog, part Lab, part Chow, and part other mutts. A recent article I read characterized black Labs as having "innate food greed" ... and ours could be the poster dog for that description. There's the narrative of this painting.

Snack

2023, oil on linen, 21" x 21"

The color harmony is a range of blue tones and green and black against a warm background. The two reds - the snack and the interior of the dog's mouth - add energy to the overall tone of the painting. Geometrically, the composition is anchored with triangles and diagonal movements balanced by the rectangle of the man in the window.

The man at the window may be a subconscious homage to Fra Filippo Lippi, one of my favoite artists working in 15th century Florence, and his painting, Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement. The work is thought to have been painted for the wedding of Lorenzo di Ranieri Scolari and Angiola di Bernardo Sapiti, and it is believed to be the first double portrait made in the Italian Renaissance. Angiola is seen in profile, a point of view that Lippi was one of the first artists to use; these profiles have been a significant influence on my images of single individuals.

Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement
Fra Filippo Lippi
1435/1440, tempera on panel, 2' 1" x 1' 4"
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

clockwise from upper left corner:

Woman Wearing a Red Hat: 2014, oil on linen, 16" x 10"

Mollie: 2008, oil on linen, 5.75" x 3.5" [Private collection]

Olga: 2020, oil on linen, 7.5" x 6"

Cherie Likes Yellow: 2009, oil on linen, 4.5" x 3"

Lola Likes Red:2016, oil on linen, 8" x 5.75"

Marko: 2013, oil on linen, 6.25" x 4.5" [Private collection]

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For additional information please contact me or the the Adelson Gallery [New York and Palm Beach]:

mailbox@andrewstevovich.com     or      adam@adelsongalleries.com

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Cosmetic Ads, in progress

 On the easel:

Cosmetic Ads [in progress]

oil on linen, 24" x 24"

The initial drawing for this composition was done several years ago and floated around the studio until this past August. Why some ideas take much longer than others to coalesce has no obvious explanation but when I looked at the drawing again this summer, the time was finally right. The new drawing below was made:

Cosmetic Ads, drawing #2

2022, pencil on paper with red oxide pastel tone on reverse, 24" x 24"

Unlike my usual process of making numerous preparatory drawings, it was used to transfer the image to canvas. Perhaps a mistake to be so quick. The woman's face on the left, her hair and beret, were the first parts painted. After that I became uneasy with the composition. The right and left halves did not integrate. After several days of contemplation, it became evident that a second woman, overlapping the advertisement was needed. She unites the halves and creates a better visual flow.

Cosmetic Ads drawing #4

2022, pencil on paper with red oxide pastel tone partially on reverse, 8" x 12 1/2"

Cosmetic Ads [detail, in progress]

oil on linen, approx. 11" x 12"

As the painting developed, two more faces - also advertisements - were added in the far background.

Cosmetic Ads [detail, in progress]

oil on linen, approx. 12" x 24"

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Subway Checkpoint

Subway Checkpoint

2021, oil on linen, 24" x 28"

In this recently finished painting I departed from my usual harmonies of unified colors and instead used a discordant color palette. The blue-green and light-yellow walls contrast with the rich deep tones of the clothing. The narrative depicts a possibly tense or unpleasant moment, and I felt a discordant palette would work best.

In comparison, my 1987 painting, The Truth about Lola, has a similar composition of people in line to gain entrance, but it uses a harmony of closely-related reds and dark greys. The reds hopefully add an element of anticipation and excitement.

The Truth about Lola

1987, oil on linen, 32" x 42"

Private collection, Massachusetts

Subway Checkpoint took seven drawings to develop, and an eighth when I decided to turn the blonde woman's face from profile to three-quarter view:

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #1

undated, pencil on pieces of graph paper taped together, ca. 7 1/2" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #2

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 8 3/4"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #3

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #4

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #5

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #6

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #7

2021, pencil on paper with pastel tone on reverse, 24" x 28"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #8

2021, pencil and ink on paper with pastel tone on reverse, 8 1/2" x 11"

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Subway Checkpoint, in progress

A painting on the easel that's close to completion:

Subway Checkpoint, in progress

24" x 28", oil on linen

As with most of my compositions this piece took multiple drawings to develop. Over the course of the drawings, I try to work out the spatial problems that emerge. Here is the final drawing that was used to transfer the image to canvas:

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #7

24" x 28". pencil on paper with green oxide pastel tone on reverse

No matter how much the composition has been worked out, however, there are always changes that need to be made once I start painting. Sometimes the changes are minor, but in this painting, there were three significant changes. 

First, the boy in a baseball cap went away, and then - though I'd already painted her face and hand - his mother went after him. A faint ghost remained where she used to be:   

Finally, the blonde woman on the right turned her head to look at the man showing his ID:

Each change improved the flow and made the composition stronger. 

The major parts left to paint now are the interior of the booth and the walls.

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September

I spent July through December working on the painting below, titled September. 

Compositions with an abundance of leaves are among my most complex and take a lot of time to paint. The placement and color of each leaf, the flow they generate together with the branches and trunks, are always a challenge. 

September

2020, oil on linen, 34" x 22"

Private collection, Florida

The color organization puts cool greens and a blue sky in the upper part of the painting, and warm reds and browns in the lower. In a way opposite of what I did in another recent painting, Subway Interior, where the warm colors are on top and the cool below.

Subway Interior

2020, oil on linen, 26" x 15"

Below are my two largest leaf paintings. Each took a year or more to complete. 

In the Garden

2006-2007, oil on linen, 62" x 72"

Private collection, New York

Woman with Autumn Leaves

1992-1994, oil on linen, 36" x 72"

Private collection, California

Meanwhile, during the last two months I've been working on a painting of a woman playing with a cat and developing drawings - including a large one of an audience at a theatrical performance.

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Loop

New painting:

Loop

2020, oil on linen, 13" x 13"

Courtesy of Adelson Galleries

This painting is closely related to another, Subway Loops.

Subway Loops,

2009, oil on linen, 40" x 50"

Collection of the Wen Long Foundation, Taiwan

When I first started painting Subway Loops in 2008, the composition was smaller, 30" x 32", with two rows of seated figures and three figures holding the loops.

After finishing the heads of two figures, I decided to rework the composition, increasing the size to 40" x 50", and adding another row of seats and one more figure holding a fourth loop. A new canvas was stretched and the first version was abandoned.

However, I liked the two faces I'd painted on that first version, and cut them out of the canvas, saving the two pieces and restretching them. One - Woman Wearing a Red Hat - was finished in 2014. This second unfinished canvas, Loop, remained hanging on a wall in my studio until a few weeks ago when it finally returned to the easel and the red dress, the loop, and the background were painted. 

Subway Loops, drawing #9

2008,  pencil on paper with pastel tone on reverse, 30" x 32"

Courtesy of Adelson Galleries

Above: the final drawing for the first version of the composition. 

Below: the expanded composition for Subway Loops. 

Subway Loops, drawing #11

2009, pencil on paper with pastel tone on reverse, 40" x 50"

Collection of the Wen Long Foundation, Taiwan

Here's the other figure that was saved and finished a few years ago: 

Woman Wearing a Red Hat

2014, oil on linen, 16" x 10"

Courtesy of Adelson Galleries

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May - June 2020

An Online Exhibition
About the Artist: Andrew Stevovich

Adelson Galleries
New York      Palm Beach

click to view the online exhibition

The Fuller Building
595 Madison Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212) 439-6800

318 Worth Avenue
Palm Beach, FL 33480
(561) 720-2079

www.adelsongalleries.com

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Subway Interior

New painting:

Subway Interior

2019-2020, oil on linen, 26" x 15"

In this painting, I originally planned to use a harmony of cool blues and blacks complemented by the warm note of the woman's blond hair. However, while resolving the advertisements along the top, reds began to predominate ... it's an unusual harmony and juxtaposition, but I think it works quite well. 

Subway Interior, drawing #4

2019, pencil on paper with yellow ochre pastel on reverse, 26" x 15"

Subway Interior, drawing #5

2020, pencil on paper with green oxide pastel on reverse, 8 1/2" x 15'

Subway Interior, drawing #1

undated, pencil on graph paper, 7 1/2" x 6 3/4"

Subway Interior, in progress

I'm working on a new subway painting. Drawings for the composition have floated around my studio for a couple years and the painting was finally started last September, at the same time as I was working on Flying Torpedo.

Here's how the painting looked recently:

in progress, 16 Feb

26" x 15", oil on linen

The following was originally planned for the advertising at the top:

However, the partial face of a woman, her hand holding a card, no longer seemed right. After exploring new ideas, I decided to split the ad into two separate ones:

A red-faced Tengu - a creature found in Japanese folklore - on the left. A woman on the right holding a photo of another woman with her eyes shut. The tiers of space and narrative, running from the small photo to the advertisements themselves, and then to the overall composition, had a rhythm and energy that felt right and created an interesting flow.

The painting yesterday, after these changes:

in progress, 26 Feb

26" x 15", oil on linen

As for why Tengu? I've always wanted to include one in a painting on account of a significant personal event that happened at the Tengu Restaurant in San Diego in 1982. Great sushi too, but  the restaurant is now long closed.

Subway Riders

Subway Riders

30" x 40"     2014     oil on linen

Subway Riders is finished, framed, and now at the Adelson Galleries in New York. This painting - and Mr. Epps - will be in the inaugural exhibition celebrating the gallery's new location at the Crown Building, 730 Fifth Avenue. The opening reception is next Tuesday, May 20th, 5:30 to 8. 

As I worked on this painting, it quickly became an exploration in complementary colors, starting with the bright green and red of the woman's jacket and blouse. Those colors are counterpointed by the complementary yellows and blues of the men's jackets on either side of her; this is then set against the complements of the muted blues and yellows that echo in the background. Meanwhile the dark notes hopefully work to keep the eye moving.

Subway Riders, in progress

I've been working on a 30" x 40" painting of a subway scene: two riders and a driver, with a third passenger visible as a reflection in a window.

The final drawing of the composition:

Subway Riders, drawing #5

30" x 40"    19 -21 January 2014      pencil on paper w/ pastel tone on reverse
Private Collection, Massachusetts

I use the final drawings to transfer the image to the canvas, so putting pastel on the back is purely utilitarian.  I lay the drawing over the canvas, trace the lines, and the pastel acts like carbon paper. When finished and the drawing is removed, I'll lightly pencil over the pastel lines left behind. This allows me to keep the amount of pencil work on the actual canvas to a minimum.

Here is how the painting looked two weeks ago:

Subway Riders, in progress on 26 March 2014 

And a week ago:

Subway Riders, in progress on 3 April 2014

I try to keep unfinished areas clean and white, and never underpaint or block in colors beforehand. I want my colors to be as luminous as possible - as if the light source was from within and behind the image - and I think working this way contributes to that end.

The desire to leave unpainted areas of the canvas as white as possible is also one of the reasons I don't like to draw directly on the canvas beyond what is minimally necessary.

Paintings from 2010

Ollie's Pizza

16 1/2" x 12"     oil on linen     2010

On the Stairs
54" x 60"    oil on linen    2010
Private Collection, Texas

Subway: East Street Station
10" x 10"     oil on linen      2010