In 1874, Claude Monet decided to abandon his studio and never again paint a single stroke except in front of the motif. So he got a little boat, fitted it with an umbrella and easel, and set out along the Seine to explore the moods and the effects of light on the river scenery. So inspired was contemporary Edouard Manet, that he painted Claude working in his boat. (The painting now hangs in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich.)
Following Monet’s example, impressionist Frank Corso has been known to use a specially-rigged kayak as a floating outdoor art studio. “I paint from the kayak,” Corso told American Art Collector magazine for their February 2007 feature story (Vol. 16), “and am able to go down little rivers, drag an anchor and start painting on an easel I have bungee chorded to the kayak.”
The rig allows Corso to access parts of the Everglades few people have ever seen. It also enables him to paint into the evening, which permits him to capture twilight and night scenes such as Big Cypress Sundown, Misty Evening Sundown, Golden Moonrise and Moonlight Pathway. “The great thing about painting with the moonlight,” Corso said in the American Art Collector interview, “is that it’s so bright you can paint with no assisted light and it’s surprising at how accurate you can be. The kayak also lets me maneuver through the mangroves and the mazes of waterways that are part of [the Everglades].”
More recently, the kayak has inspired Corso to move into his own lily pad phase with works like Lily Patterns and Lily (emulating Claude Monet once more).
If you’re not into Everglades scenes or lily pads, Corso still has something to offer. The exhibit which opens tonight at Gardner Colby Gallery in Naples includes a handful of breathtakingly luminous beach scenes, including Tranquility, Water’s Edge and Inlet Beach.
This is Corso’s 14th solo show at Gardner Colby Gallery, which is located 386 Broad Avenue South in Olde Naples. For more information about the artist, "Change of Latitude," or the gallery, please contact Gallery Director Pamela Campe at 239-403-7787.
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