NYAB Event - Frederick Brosen "New Watercolors"

Frederick Brosen "New Watercolors"

Hirschl & Adler

This event has ended.

The artist’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery will include nearly 20 new cityscapes in watercolor, featuring views of the dynamic streets and magnificent architecture of New York and Paris. Ranging in size from 3 x 5 inches to 30 x 40 inches, these new works celebrate and chronicle both the familiar and changing character of two of the world’s most iconic cities.

A native New Yorker, Brosen has spent a lifetime wandering its streets, discovering its long history and witnessing its constant metamorphosis. The city is his muse and his primary subject. He finds inspiration in both its grit and its grandeur, painting iconic monuments and rickety fire escapes, shining fountains and pot-holed alleys, keenly aware of the importance of each to the city’s character. It is this unique urban quality that Brosen endeavors to capture in all his work. And, while New York is his favored subject, Paris holds a particular allure for him as well, and he has returned to it many times over the course of his career. Whether painting his native or adopted city, Brosen demonstrates a profound understanding of the impact of the architecture and shared spaces of our common urban experiences.

Brosen begins each new painting through a process of careful looking. He favors early morning walks, when he can be alone with the city. He returns repeatedly to his chosen locations, noting the changing light, shadows and details of the scenes. After sketching onsite and completing small studies in watercolor, he begins with a graphite drawing upon which he builds layers of subtle pigment. The final scene, when realized, is as much about the city and the place as it is about the forms that comprise it. Brosen’s streets and the structures lining them are expressions of formal qualities of rhythm, geometry, palette and texture – the foundations of our visual delight in urban architecture.

[Frederick Brosen "West 10th Street" (2012) watercolor over graphite on paper 33 x 38 in.]