Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
DiGiorgio, Joseph |
Title |
Virginia Dogwood |
Date |
1983 |
Medium |
oil on canvas, diptych |
Culture |
American |
School |
Pointilism |
Object ID |
1995.85 |
Collection |
Contemporary Art (1970-present) |
Object Name |
Painting |
Credit line |
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Small, Jr. |
Didactic Information |
Created in the style of the Pointillists with the brilliant color palette of the Fauvists, the paintings of New York artist Joseph DiGiorgio are composed of small elliptical dashes of paint in contrasting and complementary colors which cause the optical illusion of vibrating motion and energy. DiGiorgio started painting in the early 1950s, influenced by his studies at The Cooper Union’s School of Art in New York and the Abstract Expressionists, in particular Hans Hoffman, with whom he studied in Provincetown, Massachusetts. DiGiorgio is best known for his monumental images of the American landscape painted as if the viewer is standing on a promontory overlooking a scene and for intimate views of the lush density of a forest. April 2015: New York artist Joseph DiGiorgio is best known for his monumental and romanticized images of American landscapes, created from a majesterial viewpoint as if seen from a high promontory overlooking the scene. DiGiorgio started painting in the early 1950s, influenced by the many noted Abstract Expressionists he knew and by his studies at The Cooper Union's School of Art in New York. He also studied under noted painter Hans Hofmann in the summer of 1955 at Provincetown, Massachusetts. Maintaining a studio on the Lower East Side of Manhattan from 1952 to 1961, he then established a studio at the Old Washington Market, where he lived and worked for the next ten years. In 1971, he moved to The Bowery where he lived until his death in 2000. His first solo exhibition was held in SoHo in 1975. DiGiorgio worked in a style that combines elements of Pointillism, the brilliant color palette of Fauvism, and the optical clarity of Photorealism. In the early 1970s, working from notes and cursory photographs rather than en plein air, he painted with broad brush strokes and grand gestures to emulate the Abstract Expressionists. He eventually developed his own system of short brush strokes and modular dashes of color, layering them transparently to enliven the canvas. He eventually loosened his approach to incorporate large and irregular-shaped dots and smudges. In the 1980s, DiGiorgio worked in series including views of the Grand Canyon, the California coast, the Hudson River, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, often capturing the changes of season and shifts in times of the day. |