Alexander Purves “Watercolors”

Blue Mountain Gallery

poster for Alexander Purves “Watercolors”
[Image: Alexander Purves "Banana Palm" Watercolor 12x16in.]

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Watercolors by Alexander Purves will be exhibited in a soloshow at the Blue Mountain Gallery.

The watercolors of Alexander Purves are made from the directobservation of nature. His approach emphasizes the immediacy of the medium andits ability to capture the ephemeral quality of light. The watercolor isapplied in transparent layers, the unpainted white paper often acting as apositive element in the composition. Rock formations are a recurrent subject,as is the winter landscape of northwestern Connecticut where he maintains astudio. In this exhibition, however, Purves has gathered images that focus onpatterns of light and shadow in dense woods – their moods changing as themonths of summer pass into autumn. Other paintings look at the rhythm of leaves– the wild grape of New England, the banana palm of Florida. In commenting onhis 2006 show at the Blue Mountain Gallery, William Zimmer observed, “[His]subjects are innately unglamorous, yet following Ruskin in this tendency toembrace the overlooked in nature, Alec Purves keeps coaxing eloquence out ofbrambles and rocks.”

Purves’s watercolors have been included in many group shows.Major exhibitions of his work have been held at the Blue Mountain Gallery inNew York City (2006, 2010, 2013), the Bar des Artistes in New Haven (2010), theWashington (CT) Art Association (1987, 1992, 2003), and at the Woodbury Galleryof Antiques and Fine Art in 2004. In 2013 the Whitney Humanities Center at Yalemounted a show entitled “Alexander Purves: Roman Sketches” which presented acollection of his drawings and watercolors made over the previous twelve years.In 2002 his travel drawings were exhibited at the Hunter College LeubsdorfGallery in a show entitled “On Site.”

Having coordinated and taught design studios at all levelsin the Yale School of Architecture, Purves currently restricts his teaching to“Introduction to Architecture,” a course he developed which is open to anystudent in the University, Additionally for the last fourteen years he led anintensive drawing seminar in Rome for graduate architecture students.

Purves has lectured widely and participated as a visitingcritic at schools including Harvard Graduate School of Design, ColumbiaUniversity, University of Pennsylvania, Carleton University, Rhode IslandSchool of Design, and Ohio State University. He has also led many YaleEducational Travel programs, study tours that have included Italy, France andthe British Isles as well as Eastern Europe, the Turkish coast, Egypt andJapan.

Purves received his design training at the Yale UniversitySchool of Architecture, graduating in 1965 with a Master of Architecturedegree. His professional career has been primarily that of an architect and ateacher of design. He has drawn and painted all his life and is now focusing onhis career as an artist.

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Schedule

from October 04, 2016 to October 29, 2016

Opening Reception on 2016-10-06 from 17:00 to 20:00

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