Excited that my gouache on paper painting "A Walk With Obama" has been included in the new Gouache Paintings Collection on Saatchi Art.
Barack and Michelle Obama were recently seen dancing with Bruce Springsteen at his concert in Barcelona. Michelle was onstage with Bruce, The E Street Band, Patti Scialfa, and Kathleen Sue Spielberg (Kate Capshaw) during the song Glory Days. Barack was offstage hanging out with Steven Spielberg.
Megan Wright, Senior Curator at Saatchi Art put the collection together and writes:
"When artists seek the richness of opaque color but the fluidity of water-based paint, they turn to gouache. Discover the unique charm of the medium in this expertly-curated collection."
This artwork and a group of my recent works on paper will be featured in my next open studio on May 13th from 5-9 PM.
In Japan the first dreams of the New Year, hatsu-yume 初夢, traditionally provide markers for the dreamer's upcoming year. In that spirit, perhaps the first artwork sold in a new year provides inspiration for the months to come. My painting Ponte del Castelvecchio (Verona) is the first sale of 2023. On this first day of the new year, I am busy packing up my Verona painting for shipment to its new home.
I think back to the genesis of the painting. I was perched above a Renaissance era bridge in Verona watching a light rainfall and the swollen river rushing by. The smell of rain filled the air. Swifts darted across the milky sky. Like gauze stretched across a stage set, the mix of rain, bus exhaust, and a distant sun breaking through the mist cloaked the moment in a spell of timelessness. I thought of the late Russian emigre writer Joseph Brodsky and his idea that water is the image of time. Often on trips to Europe, I will carry a battered copy of Brodsky’s verse to help inspire my ramblings. Here in the Veneto, I am reminded of Brodsky’s love of Italy and Venice in particular. I turn the pages of Brodsky’s Watermark and find the passage I am looking for:
“I always adhered to the idea that God is time, or at least that His spirit is. Perhaps this idea was even of my own manufacture, but now I don’t remember. In any case, I always thought that if the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water, the water was bound to reflect it. Hence my sentiment for water, for its folds, wrinkles, and ripples, and — as I am a Northerner — for its grayness. I simply think that water is the image of time, and every New Year’s Eve, in somewhat pagan fashion, I try to find myself near water, preferably near a sea or an ocean, to watch the emergence of a new helping, a new cupful of time from it. I am not looking for a naked maiden riding on a shell; I am looking for either a cloud or the crest of a wave hitting the shore at midnight. That, to me, is time coming out of water, and I stare at the lace-like pattern it puts on the shore, not with a gypsy-like knowing, but with tenderness and with gratitude.”
I look up from by book and peer down at the river’s edge. In the reeds and shallows small fish chasing food dart where the current eddies. In this reverie, my mind creates stories — If Brodsky is right these pools hold time in stasis. If I had a long net, maybe I could dip into the water and pull out living memories.
I rush back to my studio on Via Filippini and lay in with liquid oil paints the initial layers of my first study for Ponte di Castelvecchio.
Gregg Chadwick
Study forIl Sole nella Pioggia : Ponte Castelvecchio Verona
oil on canvas
private collection — Verona, Italy
On the canvas, I brush in greens, milky blues, and brick reds. The structure of the bridge begins to emerge as I cut into the wet paint with a loaded brush of lighter color. It is a large canvas in my small 16th-century space and it quickly becomes a presence in the room. After the initial surface is complete, I lean the wet painting against the plaster wall.
Gregg Chadwick’s Via Filippini Studio, Verona, Italy
I stand across the room and gaze at the painting. Even at this stage, the artwork has taken on a life of its own and I need to respect that. I see hints of Corot, maybe Degas? Perhaps I was thinking of Giorgione’sThe Tempestnow housed at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, Italy?
Giorgione Banner with Detail of The Tempest
I spend time with the painting, then out into the vibrant Veronese streets for dinner. Tomorrow, I will look at the painting again and maybe, if the paint is dry enough in the humid summer air, add more layers of color. In the morning light with an espresso in hand, I will see more clearly.
A few weeks later upon its completion, I left the study with a new collector in Verona and started on a much larger final version in my Santa Monica studio upon my return from Italy.
As a painting progresses, I will often find hints of its future shape in historical artworks as mentioned above, or in films, or books. When I was in graduate school at NYU, I studied not far from Verona in Venice. I often think of my instructor Giovanni Soccol who provided the art direction for Nicolas Roeg’s eerie Venice-based film Don’t Look Now. The film is based on a story by Daphne Du Maurier and stars Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. Soccol’s artistic vision is evident throughout the film and I remember traveling to sites in Venice with Giovanni where the film was shot. As a Venetian, water is an important subject for Soccol and is often poetically referenced in his film work and his paintings.
Another striking element from Don’t Look Now has found an echo in my painting Ponte di Castelvecchio (Verona). The color red is a character inDon’t Look Nowas much as Christie and Sutherland. That pop of color against the green-blue water, blue and grey skies, and tawny stone of Venice finds an echo in my painting. In my painting, the splashes of red and orange that mark the umbrellas swiftly carried across the bridge find their antecedent in Soccol and Roeg’s film. Water and time.
On this day artist Mark Rothko was born in 1903 (and my Dad in 1929) Honored that Saatchi Art has included my painting "The Music of Time"in their Rothko inspired collection - "Color Field Paintings Inspired by Mark Rothko"
Erin Remington writes- "Turning away from the gestural motions characteristic of action painting, Mark Rothko focused on formal elements of his work—color, depth, shape, and scale—creating large swathes of luminous color known as color field painting. Meet the contemporary artists exploring this iconic style." 50 Artworks curated by Erin Remington Manager of Art Advisory & Curation at Saatchi Art
On this day artist Mark Rothko was born in 1903 (and my Dad in 1929) Honored that @SaatchiArt has included my painting "The Music of Time"in their Rothko inspired collection - "Color Field Paintings Inspired by Mark Rothko"https://t.co/ne918uIvdopic.twitter.com/lazG65wmyL
Day turns towards night on State Street in Chicago. Above us glows the marquee of the timeless Chicago Theatre. Built in 1921, the building just celebrated its centennial last year. I am reminded that as a child - my father, a career military officer, taught me to be aware of my surroundings. "Always look up," my Dad would say. And as an artist, I heed his words and look up to see what is above.
Honored that my painting, Promenade, is included in the new Art for Someone You Love collection on Saatchi Art curated by Erin Remington (Assistant Curator at Saatchi Art). Erin writes,"Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight––art history is full of extraordinary and remarkable love stories. Discover a new work in this collection of artworks inspired by passion, love, and all things romance."
Collectors With Their New Painting at The Other Art Fair, Barker Hangar 2018
Gregg Chadwick
Love In a Blue Time 7"x5" oil on panel
Private Collection, Los Angeles, California
I enjoy painting couples. I continue to create a series of artworks depicting partners caught in moments of intimacy.
Gregg Chadwick The Runners 5"x5" oil on panel 2018 Private Collection, Los Angeles
With Valentine's Day coming up I would like to remind you that commissions are available for me to paint you and your loved one. Please contact me at greggchadwick@icloud.com for details. I like to make my small 7"x5"oil on wood panel paintings easily available so they are affordably priced.
Gregg Chadwick Timeless 7"x5" oil on panel 2019 Private Collection, Virginia
"Art has the power to change the world—it can give viewers a new perspective or make a political statement. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, celebrate artists that are using their artwork to present and encourage a hopeful, more equitable future."
On this auspicious day, I am honored to have a painting included in Aurora Garrison's curated collection Art With a Message on Saatchi Art. My painting The Future Is Woke celebrates those who march, organize, and create change in the spirit of Martin Luther King.
Today we honor the civil rights leader whose courage inspired millions - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
His words were true then. They are true now. #MLKDay
Listen to the entire speech MLK gave on campus below:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to more than 5,000 people on April 27, 1965 on UCLA’s campus, roughly one month after the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights marches took place. #MLKdayhttps://t.co/vgvAWxqcb6
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, celebrate artists that are using their artwork to present and encourage a hopeful, more equitable future: https://t.co/2PN3uL7bgY
In Japan the first dreams of the New Year, hatsu-yume 初夢, traditionally provide markers for the dreamer's upcoming year.
In that spirit, perhaps the first artwork sold in a new year provides inspiration for the months to come. My painting Monk Station is the first sale of 2022.
I was honored that Saatchi Art included an artwork of mine in their new Seeds of Optimism collection.
"Manifest a happy and bright new year with a joyous artwork by one of our top artists from around the globe." Curated by Bethany Fincher - Assistant Curator at Saatchi Art
"Twenty years ago in Thailand, I woke up at dawn and spent the morning quietly and carefully observing the saffron robed monks on their morning pilgrimages. On my return to the U.S. later that week, I began to paint Buddhist monks, privately at first - as a form of meditation. Only later did I grasp the dharmic sense of responsibility inherent in this new body of work. I needed to paint these paintings. And I found that the audience I had developed over the years felt the need to see them also. They have given me their trust that I will create paintings that speak of our times but also provide clues to a future path into the unknown."
My painting Monk Station continues this theme and brings a saffron robed pilgrim into a 21st century urban moment. Inspired by a subway station in Montréal, this painting looks at the place of the spirit in our fast paced lives.
Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez created headlines around the globe with her Tax the Rich Dress worn at the 2021 Met Gala.
The socially provocative dress was designed by Aurora James who said in the New York Times: Listen, it would be a lot easier to go to the Met Gala and just wear a really beautiful dress and look really beautiful and have a good time. But that was not her intention, right? Her intention was to take a conversation that’s largely existing in working-class communities and bring it into rooms where that conversation might be a little bit more uncomfortable. It’s not easy to show up in a room like that, with a statement like that.
There’s a lot of people who gain access to rooms like that and are too afraid to rock the boat."
My painting celebrates AOC, Aurora James, and everyone rocking the boat. Thanks to everyone who commented on and enjoyed the painting at @theotherartfair
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