Dec. 5, 1987
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Realistic scenes richly painted"
by Victoria Donohoe
Kurt
Solmssen's self-confident landscape paintings at Marian Locks are natural
and appear to be executed effortlessly.
Focusing on the locale, its light and atmosphere,
Solmssen takes his subject matter from a sojourn last winter on the rugged
Costa Blanca of Spain, a summer vacation at Puget Sound and autumn visits
to his parents' Main Line home.
Lately, he has begun introducing single
figures into his landscapes without compromising his objective of capturing
the character and flavor of a scene through use of color.
The artist is evolving a real richness in
his method of painting. A tendency toward a warm, sensual handling of
paint was already evident in Solmssen's smaller show at Locks in 1985.
Those pictures, though, were more turbulent, and he used a more heavy-hued
palette.
His current works are pictures of easy realism
in pleasant, bright colors directly recorded on canvas, not reproduced
from sketches or memory. It is a pure way of painting, one that expresses
a live painterly presence.
Solmssen uses a hearty, vibrant, stroke,
juicy but not thick, To create seductive, beautiful surfaces. This exhibit
projects a refined depth of sensibility. Its outstanding feature is the
wonderful liberties that the art Kurt
Solmssen's self-confident landscape paintings at Marian Locks are natural
and appear to be executed effortlessly.
Focusing on the locale, its light and atmosphere,
Solmssen takes his subject matter from a sojourn last winter on the rugged
Costa Blanca of Spain, a summer vacation at Puget Sound and autumn visits
to his parents' Main Line home.
Lately, he has begun introducing single
figures into his landscapes without compromising his objective of capturing
the character and flavor of a scene through use of color.
The artist is evolving a real richness in
his method of painting. A tendency toward a warm, sensual handling of
paint was already evident in Solmssen's smaller show at Locks in 1985.
Those pictures, though, were more turbulent, and he used a more heavy-hued
palette.
His current works are pictures of easy realism
in pleasant, bright colors directly recorded on canvas, not reproduced
from sketches or memory. It is a pure way of painting, one that expresses
a live painterly presence.
Solmssen uses a hearty, vibrant, stroke,
juicy but not thick, To create seductive, beautiful surfaces. This exhibit
projects a refined depth of sensibility. Its outstanding feature is the
wonderful liberties that the artist now takes with naturalistic color
to describe air, sea and land.
Marian Locks Gallery, 1524 Walnut St. 546-0322. Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m.
to 6p.m., Saturday 10a.m. to5p.m. To Dec. 30