On the Walls and Outside Too: Katonah Museum of Art

Study of Monterey Bay, 1918, E. Charlton Fortune[Katonah, NY] Last weekend, I went to the delightful Katonah Museum of Art to see the wonderful exhibition, All Things Bright and Beautiful California Impressionist Paintings from the Irvine Museum. I arrived in time to take an informative docent led tour through the exhibition of over 60 works created by 40 artists during the early decades of the 20th century.

The paintings depict, "lush summer gardens, tranquil picnic scenes, sweeping views of the Sierra Mountains, and sparkling seascapes glow with the vivid colors and intense light that characterizes the “Land of Sunshine." Enjoy California's rich Impressionist heritage, without having to leave Westchester, until October 5.

In the Project Gallery, Under the Radar: Leslie Lerner is currently on display. Lerner’s narrative paintings are part science fiction, part psychedelic apparition, and can be found in many museum collections throughout the country. Also on the walls until October 5.

In the Marilyn M. Simpson Sculpture Garden, and on the South Lawn are two life-size fiberglass models by sculptor Philip Grausman. Eileen and Susanna, "serve as essays on the distillation of the human figure and the potency, albeit abstracted, of nature studies." Both were sited outdoors in homage to Grausman's "sensitivity toward the organic- the flowing, pooling, undulating, burgeoning of surrounding nature- which breathes en plein air." Here are a few photographs that I was able to take, with explanation provided by the Katonah Museum of Art:

"The Legacy of Grausman's earlier imagery of awakening seeds and buds can be seen, in part, in his enlarged portrait heads, particularly when viewed in profile or from the rear. The abstracted description of Susanna's coiffure is diaphanous. One senses a bud coming into life, a seedling unfurling in the warmth of the day. Reference to the natural world and the beauty of the human form waltz effortlessly and endlessly."

"In the great white monolith Eileen, he preserves the dignity of her facial features: arched brows, diminutive nose, strong cheek bones, and emphatic jaw line. There may have been other lesser attributes, but Grausman seizes upon those which he can translate as the structure of his own creation. Against the crispness of the aforementioned details, there is an equal compassionate emphasis placed on the passages of flesh between them. In this softness there is a tenderness, even at such a scale, which suggests an inner life. "

For more information: Katonah Museum of Art