On August 30, 2018, the art world became less vibrant when artist Larisa Aukon, known for her impressionistic landscapes, passed away after a brief battle with brain cancer. Living in Scottsdale, Arizona, during her last 20 years, the Latvian artist never shied away from interpreting the world around her with movement and color. As she stated, “I truly believe there is an inner ‘pulse’ that runs through everything. There’s no greater artistic inspiration for me than to identify this pulse and move it from my heart onto the canvas.”
Highlights, oil, 24 x 30"
Forest Blend, oil, 12 x 16"
January 23 through February 6, Paul Scott Gallery in Scottsdale will host the exhibition Studio Stories featuring works from Aukon’s studio. The paintings range from her desert scenes through forests, showing a cross section of the work that she became recognized for over the years.
“People might be a little surprised to see some of Larisa’s early works from her years in Latvia. There are some very contemporary architectural scenes as well as geometric works of still lifes, figures and animals. She was searching for an identity. When she came to the U.S., her first years in Boston were still spent searching,” says Paul Eubanks, owner of Paul Scott Gallery. “She told me the story of her looking out of the plane window on her first trip to Arizona and seeing all of the open spaces, mountains and new colors. At that point, she recalled, she felt renewed and inspired. From that point on, Larisa was at home in the Western landscape, which became the focus of the majority of her future paintings. She loved Arizona, Colorado and Utah. It was really exciting to see her paint a famous canyon or mountain that so many artists had painted previously but in a way that was so unique. She thrived on this originality.”
Bright Desert, oil, 12 x 16"
Alley, oil, 12 x 16"
Perhaps the hallmark of Aukon’s paintings was her use of color that was often pushed to the extremes, while retaining accurate values. This can be seen in paintings such as Forest Blend and Highlights. The first sees the colors mixing together to show all the hues of the dense space, while the latter has vivid purples and oranges.
“Color is hard to miss in Larisa’s paintings, and she was devoted to being daring with it. The amount of technical color layering Larisa did was pretty extensive and gave her palette an illuminative quality,” Eubanks says. “This advanced skill with color resulted from not only her natural talent but also from her years of training at the Latvian National Academy of Arts during Soviet times. One of the other big reasons why collectors are attracted to Larisa’s paintings is the abundance of energy and passion. The paintings go so far beyond just technical mastery, and people clearly see this difference.”
Paul Scott Gallery
7103 E. Main Street • Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 596-9533 • www.paulscottgallery.com
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