Teachers of the Art
Students League of New York:
Daniel Greene, Burton Silverman, & Sharon Sprung
at Gallery Henoch
By
RAYMOND J. STEINER
Art
Times October 2005
SHORTLY AFTER WE began publishing ART TIMES, perhaps
around twenty years ago, I was having dinner with the painter Jack Levine
at a small restaurant in Greenwich Village. During the course of the
evening, I confided to him my doubts about surviving for very long on
the current artscene because of our conservative view. “Hang in
there,” Jack said. “With the way the artworld goes, you
keep on covering representational artists and some day you’ll
be in the vanguard!” Well, we continued keeping to our long view
on art, and though we may not be in any vanguard position, we have endured.
“M
Nude” (oil on Panel) 36" x 46" by Sharon Sprung |
So it seems has Gallery Henoch which has also persevered
in its dedication to featuring only the best of representational artists,
the present show of Daniel Greene, Burton Silverman, and Sharon Sprung*
only the latest in a long history of quality exhibitions. All three,
in fact, have had an extended association with the gallery, Sprung since
1982, Greene since 1996, and Silverman since 2001 — so ‘vanguardism’
aside, it seems that academic realism is here to stay and, in view that
Sprung was a student of Greene’s, that the tradition is still
being handed down.
And a good thing that is, as “Teachers of the
Art Students League of New York” so handsomely illustrates.
By any standards, these three representatives of the League are
masters of the realist genre. Sprung’s female nudes are extraordinary,
their soft flesh tones so close to living flesh that they not only invite
the eye, but also the touch of the hand. Even when not depicting the
nude, but in the simple head-on representation of a female, Sprung attains
a verisimilitude that few portrait artists of today can match. If the
figure seems to be her forte, she is less convincing in her cityscapes
— though obviously competently handled, I found her “Viaduct”,
“Commuter Line”, and “Smith & 9th”
somewhat sterile, airless vistas that breathe less of life and more
of a surreal dreamscape that invites no entry. As for landscape, her
single example, “Thistle”, densely rendered in a sea of
green, allows for no general judgment.
“Jean-Grand Central”
Pastel on Granular Paper 24" x 18" by Daniel Greene |
Daniel Greene, recently dubbed a “superstar”
(a term once reserved for avant-garde abstractionists who ‘made
it big’ in the art market) by Paul Soderberg in Plein Air Magazine,
has long been known and admired for his “subway series”,
a precisely rendered chronicling of New York City’s subway system.
Though rightly lauded for the series (those included in this exhibit
are “Franklin St. Station II”, “Wall St.-William St.
Exit”, and “Wall St. Platform”), Greene also gives
us a taste of his range in such paintings as “Cat’s Cradle
& Gameboards”, “Antique Star Gameboard”, “Blue
& Orange Antique Gameboard w/Orchids”, and “Black, Red,
& Orchids”, all examples of the still life, and all showing
evidence of his meticulous attention to details of texture, form, and
color. Among his strongest paintings is “Jean—Grand Central”,
an extremely effective composition showcasing his facility with the
painting the human face in conjunction with his signature subway series.
“Jean”, caught in a somewhat distracted and pensive mood,
is tenderly captured in all her beauty. (Less successful, to my eyes,
was the figure included in “Wall St. Platform”, which appears
to be almost “painted” on the tiled wall rather than standing
in front of it.) Though I am familiar with Greene’s French land-
and townscapes, there are none in the show for comment — and that,
perhaps, is unfortunate since it would give us a more comprehensive
overview of his expertise.
Burton Silverman is most fully represented, with a generous
balance of works that gives the artist plenty of scope to display his
facility in rendering objects, figures, and landscape. In this respect,
Silverman “steals” the show in that we have the opportunity
of seeing the full range of his skills in realistic painting. “Study
in Black & White” (a particularly fine portrait study), “Beach
Figure”, “Hanging Out”, and “Beach Chairs”
are remarkable in their depiction of the human figure, all believable
as “real” people, with “Chelsea Square” including
the additional pleasure of his signature “trick” of viewing
a group of people through a reflective plate-glass window that allows
for an eerie “double exposure”. Likewise, his companion
pieces “Hiddenbrook Pond” and “Fishing Hiddenbrook
Pond” reveal a sensitive appreciation for nature, both paintings
especially fine examples of the landscape genre. Almost all of the paintings
give evidence of his equal facility to render objects (largely a characteristic
of the still-life), with architecture, musical instruments, furniture,
and the like, serving as prime examples.
“Beach Chairs” (oil
on Canvas) 37"x55" by Burton Silverman
|
Mounted to celebrate the Art Students League’s
130th Anniversary, this exhibit not only pays homage to one
of New York City’s prestigious art schools, but also to the long
tradition of representational painting. Gallery Henoch could not have
chosen three more outstanding painters.
*“Teachers of the Art Students League of New York:
Daniel Greene, Burton Silverman, & Sharon Sprung” (thru Oct
8): Gallery Henoch, 555 West 25th St., NYC (917) 305-0003
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