With its glitz and glamor, New York City is known as the center of cutting-edge style and culture. But it is the city’s history and agelessness that gives it gravitas. Paul G. Oxborough is a master at capturing this timelessness in paintings of bar scenes, lobbies and intimate human gatherings. A show of his latest work opens at Cavalier Gallery on November 2, with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m., and remains on view through December 9.
Hotel Hassler Roma, oil on linen, 36 x 48"
Take the painting Old King Cole, a portrait of two bartenders at work behind the bar at one of Manhattan’s most iconic venues. The King Cole Bar is legendary. Famous patrons have included Salvador Dalí, John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe. Opened in 1932, the bar claims to have invented the Bloody Mary. Oxborough’s painting includes a slice of a famous mural by Maxfield Parrish, which features turn-of-the-century business magnate John Jacob Astor IV playing king, with jesters to each side of him.
Given the illustriousness of the bar, Oxborough’s choice of subjects is compelling—an homage to the working people who keep legends alive.
Old King Cole, oil on linen, 36 x 48"
Ask Oxborough about his themes, and his answer may surprise. “I don’t usually start with a theme,” he says. “In this show, the recurring theme revealed itself to be light passing through or bouncing off of things, such as the way light behaves as it passes through glass.”
New York is not Oxborough’s only muse. The show includes a painting of a famous hotel lobby in Rome, a domestic scene of a family having tea and a self-portrait.
Berber Tea, oil on linen, 30 x 40"
Whatever the subject, Oxborough strives to create a timeless feel with his use of light, but also wants to retain a contemporary vibe as well. “The sense of light in my work and its play across the subject gives my work a timeless feel,” he explains. “Interestingly enough, it can also add a certain modernity, as if the light source is a cool blue light of a computer screen.”
Ronald Cavalier, president of Cavalier Galleries, calls Oxborough a modern master. “The paintings in the current show represent some of the most extraordinary works ever created by this gifted artist,” he says.
Freddy’s Bar, oil on linen, 36 x 48"
According to Cavalier, Oxborough’s work has overtones of Rembrandt, Velázquez and Sargent. Like his forebears, Oxborough is dedicated to the power of portraiture to convey something about the age we live in. Not being beholden to wealthy patrons for commissions, Oxborough immortalizes regular people, giving them a nobility once only bestowed on the elite. His paintings place scenes of contemporary life within a historical context, and quietly illuminate everyday beauty. —
Cavalier Gallery 530 W. 24th Street • New York, NY 10011 • (212) 570-4696 • www.cavaliergalleries.com
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