Painting the Invisible

Giuseppe de Nittis, The Sea during a Tempest, 1877.
Attilio Pratella, Fisher boats on the sea by Capri.
Giovanni Fattori, Storm.
Pietro Fragiacomo, Nocturne.

These Italian marines first struck me as slightly boring in their simplicity, but the more I looked at them, or into them, the more evocative they became.
The main subject of the composition seems to be just a boat or a bush, but the real subject of each painting is something less concrete: the power of a storm, the stillness of a shallow bay, the marine wind on a deserted beach, or the soothing wonder of moonlight on water.
These invisible inner qualities make a painting great.

Winslow Homer Exhibition

Only a couple of weeks left to see an exhibition of late works by Winslow Homer, produced while he was living on the coast of Maine.
The exhibition, at the Portland Museum of Art, closes on December 30th.

For more information about the exhibition, visit the website: portlandmuseum.org

Michal Wywiorski (Polish)