Artwork-Michael Ryan

Amedeo Modligliani in the Orangerie, Paris.

Here are a few of the many gems from the exhibition “Nicolas de Stäel” seen yesterday at the Musèe d’Art Moderne de Paris”.

The paintings of Mark Rothko are so large, so subtle and the color relationships so beautiful that you have to see them live. No photo can do them justice. So I’m sharing photos of people in relationship to his paintings. From the exhibition yesterday at Fondation Louis Vuillton in Paris.
Incredible.

A beautiful Matisse at the entrance to the exhibition “Stein/Picasso” at Musée de Luxembourg, Paris

Jumped back into this piece inspired by a late evening walk through the center of Amsterdam this past summer.

100x120 cm. oil on linen

A recent commissioned portrait.
“Leonie” two canvases each 40x40 cm. oil on linen

A recent commissioned portrait.

“Leonie” Oil on two linen canvases each 40x40 cm.

My most recent art purchase:
“How Beautiful” 25x30 cm. Acrylic on wood panel
by the Dutch artist Ceseli Josephus-Jitta

“Light of Key West” 60x40 cm. oil on linen

It hangs again.

“Evening hymn-Singelgracht,
Amsterdam nr. 2”

100x120 cm. oil on linen

“Evening hymn, Singelgracht, Amsterdam”

100x120 cm. oil on linen

Letting this one simmer awhile….

Working title:
“Silver sunset w/ birches”

100x140 cm. oil on linen

Dutch light

Beginning a new painting, establishing a mood in color.

Inspiration: evening on the Singelgracht in Amsterdam.

oil on linen 100x120 cm.

“Night Lights (Vondellaan, Bussum)”

100x120 cm. oil on linen

Fluency in the Dutch language didn’t exactly open up the world to me as Spanish, French or Mandarin Chinese would have, but to open this book and read Vincent’s letters to his brother Theo in their native tongue is an exceptional and inspiring experience.

Having visited “Van Gogh in Auvers. His Final Months” on the final day of the exhibition this past weekend in Amsterdam, lent even more poignancy to his words.

A must read for any serious artist in any language.

An abandoned canvas is starting to look interesting again…

An obsessive type?
Who? Me??
Well, I CAN be.
Especially when it combines my love of art and music.
And I admit the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and its orchestra have been a bit of an addiction over the years.
Quick sketches and notes made during the concert are followed by studies and smaller paintings back in the studio before a really large work is finally realized.
The hanging of “At the concert” in the Concertgebouw itself was a moment of deep connection for me. Not only with this great orchestra but also with my adopted country.
The selection here is a small sampling of the many pieces created over the years.

Looking through my art books I came across this one published by the ING Bank. ING’s art collection, one of the largest in The Netherlands is dispersed among the bank’s offices worldwide.
The collection remained a great supporter of my work from off my early years in Holland, eventually acquiring more than 140 paintings and pastels.

“At the Bolhoed” 104x85 cm. oil on linen 1994

“‘Red Manhattan” 95x80 cm. oil on linen 1994

Drawing.

A self portrait made in the ‘90’s when we would every year spend the most brutal of New York’s winter months in a tiny fishing village on the island of Tobago.
I clearly recall catching a fleeting glimpse of myself in a mirror as the sun set over the Caribbean and immediately going to work with my pastels.

“Caribbean self portrait” 1995
pastel on toned Caran d’Ache paper
25.5 x 19.5 in.

This past week I came across a quote by the Dutch composer Joep Beving. It struck me immediately, as if he spoke for me as well. I did my best to translate it from the original Dutch.
In my work I think I sometimes approach something similar. The experience itself is transcending and indescribable.
My best analogy is diving down towards an incredibly beautiful, sacred place. You know you can’t stay, you have to get back to the surface and yet you want to bring something back with you. What I return with is the painting.

“Arrangement in pink and grey” 40x40 cm. oil on linen

“Arrangement in indigo, turquoise and violets nr. 2” 30x30 cm. oil on linen

“Rue Saint Dominque, Paris”
130x100 cm. oil on prepared aluminum panel

The ongoing aftermath of the flooding of my studio floor has taken the energy and attention normally reserved for my daily creative routine these last weeks and months.

Unimaginable that I’d have voluntarily taken so much time away from my art. The forced break initially provoked anger, frustration and bitterly accepted surrender.

Quite surprisingly there exists an immense inner sense of space now in the drastically reduced size of my physical studio.

This ‘out of the blue’ series of pastel self-portraits made during this period has provided me an unexpected and intriguing path to follow through the tumult and chaos.

Summer day

Procreate painting on iPad Pro

Painting and muse, Amsterdam.

This painting entitled “Spoleto” is now hanging in a group exhibition at Galerie de Twee Pauwen in The Hague.
In the summer of 2017 I packed my car with painting material and 50 prepared panels and drove from Amsterdam to Spoleto, Italy.
For the next 7 weeks I immersed myself in the light, color and atmosphere of this inspiring city and also later, in Todi.
I was extremely fortunate that an American friend who lived and worked parttime in Lagos, Nigeria made his beautiful 15th century home available to me. In the adjacent garden I made a number of studies including the one pictured here (second photo).
Back in Amsterdam I looked back at my many drawings and notes and decided to experiment with a large painting based on that same view but under overcast conditions, seeing the buildings in silhouette. This allowed me to play with strong, rich color relationships.

“Spoleto” 100x130 cm. oil on prepared aluminum panel

Fellow artist and friend Michael Ryan stopping by to see my summer exhibition at Casa Luna, Leliegracht 14, Amsterdam . . #michaelryanartist #artexhibition #amsterdamartist #coolsummer #artcollecting #abstractart #geometricart

Currently hanging in Galerie De Twee Pauwen in The Hague.

“night garden” 120x100cm. oil on linen

A painting done on the Leidsegracht, Amsterdam in 1982.

One of the paintings featured in my current exhibition at Galerie De Twee Pauwen in The Hague.

“Orchids in deep blue” 120x100 cm.
oil on prepared aluminium panel

Rediscovered Procreate sketch on my iPad. Rue de l’Universite, Paris, February 2023.

Not producing much art these days. My creative energy is currently cleaning up the debris of destructive energy in my lower studio.
A small flood wiped out my oak floor but luckily no artwork was damaged.
Hopefully I’ll be posting new work very soon!

“November morning nr. 3” was sold during the exhibition at Galerie De Twee Pauwen in The Hague this past weekend.
Hoping our living room finds a nice place to hang in the living room of the new owners.

“November morning nr. 3” 115x140 cm. oil on linen

Found time this afternoon to wrestle with this self portrait in pastel. Continually reducing, knocking it down, searching for its essence.
Gonna let it simmer here awhile….

Pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes paper
70x50 cm.

Now hanging in Galerie de Twee Pauwen, The Hague.

“California reader nr.2” 130x150 cm.
oil on linen

Hanging now in The Hague, Galerie De Twee Pauwen.

Another self-portrait in pastel. Getting reintroduced to pastel (I hadn’t worked with the medium for a few years) during the workshop I led in early June had a strong effect on me.
The always surprising and often inspring work of my students and the joy of having handfuls of brilliant color to play with reignited my love of the medium.

Pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes paper 48x54 cm.

Hanging in The Hague, exhibition opens on the 25th.