In 1859, the French poet and critic Charles Baudelaire wrote about photography, “This industry, by invading the territories of art, has become art’s most mortal enemy.” In 1902, the Photo-Secession established photography as a fine art. In 1998, the Metropolitan Museum of Art put together an exhibition on a great French impressionist painter—Edgar Degas: Photographer. Degas produced a body of photographs that were never exhibited during his lifetime but the medium’s influence on his paintings is obvious, especially in his cropping figures entering or leaving the picture frame.
Photography as art, and photography as reference tool, continue to be debated.
Thicket 42 Innsbrook, oil and acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 in.
The painter Jeffrey Vaughn photographs the landscape with a medium-format film camera creating transparencies that are artful in their own right. Creating his paintings, he enhances the images rather than slavishly duplicating them as in photorealism.
When you look at an object, your eyes focus on a very shallow depth of field—the object is in focus and the space in front of it and the space behind it are relatively out of focus. The effect of a greater depth of field can be accomplished with the camera by adjusting the lens. In painting, it’s accomplished by contrasting high color and detail in the foreground with cooler color and less detail in the background.
Morning Light, oil and acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60 in.
Vaughn takes several photos, adjusting the camera for each one. In his painting, Roses in Warm Light, the principal rose and leaves are in sharp focus. Focus softens as the image recedes. Otherwise, the painting would be a cacophony of detail. In Lilies in Soft Light, Vaughn has enhanced the soft focus of the lily pads at the top as well as the clarity of detail in the foreground flowers, lily pads and puddles of water.
In Morning Light,he says, “there is one flower surrounded by leaves and pads. Colors develop as I work. The painting has more warmth than the photograph since I lean towards a warmer color palette. I paint a bit more contrast and color and, sometimes, simplify the shapes. Here, I love the shapes of the reflections on the water and have brought them out in a more abstract manner. Sometimes, I severely crop the original transparency which can make the composition more interesting.”
Roses in Warm Light, oil and acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 in.
Initially, Vaughn painted in plein air, always at the mercy of nature itself. “I wanted to spend more time with the image before the light changed,” he says, “so I started making sketches and making color notes. Later, I started to take snapshots and, gradually, I began working from the photographs. I do a lot of shooting and save a lot of images. I now have a stockpile. I choose images that have an attractive quality of light and abundant detail. Dramatic light enhances the translucent interplay of light and shadow on blossoms and leaves. Soft light allows for purer color and subtle explorations of shadow. Through these abstract concerns, I hope to convey the quiet beauty of nature.”
In the studio, Vaughn tones his canvas with a warm, light raw sienna and a grisaille-like under painting in burnt umber—all in acrylic. He then applies a clear gesso which gives him a surface on which the oil paint of his colored image can adhere.
Lilies in Soft Light, oil on acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 in
“There is a sense of freedom that I experience when painting landscape,” he explains. “The quality of these kinds of images allows for expression and interpretation, yet they can still be viewed as landscape. I generally choose to depict the quiet, peaceful aspect of the natural world as opposed to its threatening or volatile side…I’m captivated by the beauty of nature. People recognize beauty when they see it. There’s a truthfulness about it. I hope to capture that aspect of nature and to share what I experience with others.”
Vaughn’s recent paintings will be shown at George Billis Gallery in Fairfield, Connecticut, from March 26 through April 25. —
George Billis Gallery 1700 Post Road • Fairfield, CT 06824 (212) 645-2621 • www.georgebillis.com
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