Jacob Collins – Rediscovering the American Landscape:
The Eastholm Project
May 8th - June 13th 2008
The Eastholm Project
May 8th - June 13th 2008
Hirschl & Adler Modern is pleased to present Jacob Collins – Rediscovering the American Landscape: The Eastholm Project, which opens on May 8, 2008. The centerpiece of the artist’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery is a 50 x 120 inch panoramic landscape view from Eastholm, on the island of Vinalhaven in Maine. The exhibition features more than forty related works created during this two-year project, including drawings, oil sketches, studies, and fully realized landscapes, ranging in size from 5 x 7 inches to 36 x 70 inches. David B. Dearinger of the Boston Athenaeum contributed the introduction to the 16- page exhibition catalogue.
The Eastholm Project is a culmination of numerous visits to specific locales on Vinalhaven, planned at different times of the day and in changing seasons, during which the artist found himself “rediscovering” the American landscape by connecting with the land. Rather than approaching his subject through the lens of impressionism or abstraction, Collins found himself studying, in great detail, each of the unique and particular components that constitute the landscape.
In his essay, David Dearinger notes that, as an accomplished classical-realist painter of the figure and nudes, Collins uses his careful study of drawing, superb draftsmanship, and his deep understanding of human anatomical structure in painting these landscapes. “For Collins,” writes Dearinger, “anatomy itself proved to be the catalyst for epiphany. This was not only the anatomy of the body, although that is basic to Collins’s painting, but the anatomy of all things, solid, liquid, or ethereal: rocks and soil, leaves and wood, wind and water. It was this, especially, that made the Eastholm project a journey of discovery of method and technique and of rediscovery of landscape and nature for the artist.”
The small and medium-sized sketches produced for the Eastholm project range from loosely painted to highly finished, detailed to minimalist, and panoramic to concentrated. Each showcases the artists’ intense investigations of the specific elements realized in the larger painting: from clouds and weather patterns, tree formations and moss-covered rocks, sunrises and sunsets, to wave perspectives and light refraction. Many were executed en plein air, as observed on site, waterside on Vinalhaven. Others were realized back in his New York studio, fueled by memory, as Collins recalled or re-imagined the specifics of what he had seen and felt.
The definitive view featured in The Hen Islands from Eastholm, and the grand-scale format in which it is painted, evidences Collins’s unflagging commitment to incorporating the artistic, social, and spiritual values of the Hudson River School painters into contemporary landscape painting. While paying homage to the historic and compositional legacies of the nineteenth-century masters, Collins builds a new movement in American Art. His rediscovery and reconnection to the landscape has enabled Collins to contribute both to the art world and the conservation movement, underscoring what he views as “an urgent need for a renewed reverence for the land.”
Collins continues to lead the way for a new generation of representational artists striving for excellence, for whom tradition is held in the highest esteem. In addition to founding and directing his own private art school, The Water Street Atelier, Collins continues to champion the importance of classical training as a founder and Director of the newly opened Grand Central Academy of Art in New York and the Hudson River School for Landscape in Hunter, NY.
Jacob Collins: Rediscovering the American Landscape: The Eastholm Project opens Thursday, May 8 and runs through Friday, June 13. Located in a landmark townhouse, Hirschl & Adler Modern is open Tuesday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Closed May 24-26. Summer hours (as of May 27) are Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
The Eastholm Project is a culmination of numerous visits to specific locales on Vinalhaven, planned at different times of the day and in changing seasons, during which the artist found himself “rediscovering” the American landscape by connecting with the land. Rather than approaching his subject through the lens of impressionism or abstraction, Collins found himself studying, in great detail, each of the unique and particular components that constitute the landscape.
In his essay, David Dearinger notes that, as an accomplished classical-realist painter of the figure and nudes, Collins uses his careful study of drawing, superb draftsmanship, and his deep understanding of human anatomical structure in painting these landscapes. “For Collins,” writes Dearinger, “anatomy itself proved to be the catalyst for epiphany. This was not only the anatomy of the body, although that is basic to Collins’s painting, but the anatomy of all things, solid, liquid, or ethereal: rocks and soil, leaves and wood, wind and water. It was this, especially, that made the Eastholm project a journey of discovery of method and technique and of rediscovery of landscape and nature for the artist.”
The small and medium-sized sketches produced for the Eastholm project range from loosely painted to highly finished, detailed to minimalist, and panoramic to concentrated. Each showcases the artists’ intense investigations of the specific elements realized in the larger painting: from clouds and weather patterns, tree formations and moss-covered rocks, sunrises and sunsets, to wave perspectives and light refraction. Many were executed en plein air, as observed on site, waterside on Vinalhaven. Others were realized back in his New York studio, fueled by memory, as Collins recalled or re-imagined the specifics of what he had seen and felt.
The definitive view featured in The Hen Islands from Eastholm, and the grand-scale format in which it is painted, evidences Collins’s unflagging commitment to incorporating the artistic, social, and spiritual values of the Hudson River School painters into contemporary landscape painting. While paying homage to the historic and compositional legacies of the nineteenth-century masters, Collins builds a new movement in American Art. His rediscovery and reconnection to the landscape has enabled Collins to contribute both to the art world and the conservation movement, underscoring what he views as “an urgent need for a renewed reverence for the land.”
Collins continues to lead the way for a new generation of representational artists striving for excellence, for whom tradition is held in the highest esteem. In addition to founding and directing his own private art school, The Water Street Atelier, Collins continues to champion the importance of classical training as a founder and Director of the newly opened Grand Central Academy of Art in New York and the Hudson River School for Landscape in Hunter, NY.
Jacob Collins: Rediscovering the American Landscape: The Eastholm Project opens Thursday, May 8 and runs through Friday, June 13. Located in a landmark townhouse, Hirschl & Adler Modern is open Tuesday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Closed May 24-26. Summer hours (as of May 27) are Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.