The Art Room

Caspar David Friedrich's (German, 1774- 1840) paintings usually intimate a sense of the earth's vastness, and are essentially metaphors for our deep and complex spiritual path through life.
The public regard for Friedrich's style of romantic mysticism has risen and fallen a few times, both during his lifetime and after. In 1945 art historian Kenneth Clark found his style "frigid", and wondered if his intentions might be better expressed...

John Marin (American, 1870-1953) is known as one of the first American modernists and a major influence on Abstract Expressionism. Alfred Stieglitz recognised his importance early on, showing his work in his 291 Gallery nearly every year from 1909 until...

Fairfield Porter (American, 1907-1975) grew up in an intellectual household, and attended both Harvard and the Art Students' League. He became a well-respected art critic, but had to learn to set aside his educational background in order to paint freely...

April Gornik (American, b. 1953) has painted landscapes since the 1980s, at first working primarily from her imagination. After a trip to the American Southwest, she decided that some of the desert environments around her were stranger and more compelling...