Dean Richardson The Traveler Hasteth in the Evening, oil on linen
(image courtesy Providence Art Club, click to enlarge)

Dean Richardson's probably my favorite living painter. Thinking of what he can do with sheets of color and a palette knife, my eyes mist up, just as his did when describing Goya's work to us as young posturing RISD painter-bees.

His show at the Art Club (with Merlin Szasz, opening Sunday) is a rare return to Providence for the former Providence Giants 3B – he's been showing up at the Chase Gallery in Boston for the last decade (images here.)


Dean Richardson Night on the River, oil on linen
(image courtesy Providence Art Club, click to enlarge)

As an Instructor, his quietness (shyness, actually – once saw him at an opening of HIS OWN WORK hiding out at the ice cream stand across the street) was intimidating – but with a few deft marks and quiet comments, he could cut to the heart of the painting like none other.

later, when I had not painted for several years, his words again resonated:

"I was not a good painter in school. Painting sense eluded me. It took me years to get a feeling for it. Some of my inability must have come from frustration with that, but mostly it was that I didn't know who I was.

Art school teaches you a stance. It's not about art. Art is doing what you feel. I crept up on my sense as a painter, a feeling that I had a point of view. It took me a while to get there, but once I did, I had no choice but to paint."

more images, and an artist's statement, here.

Dean Richardson and Merlin Szasz
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 27, 2-4 pm
Providence Art Club 11 Thomas St Prov RI 401.331.1114
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PSA#2 – My work's still up on the walls at Chez Pascal – and if you needed an excuse to drop in, here it is, gift wrapped: the Knockout combo of their mighty kitchen and Andrew Shotts (Food TV's top chocolatier in America) come together for their annual chocolate dinner this Monday, Apr 28.

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