“I try to listen carefully to what the painting wants to be. I paint quickly because the light is constantly changing. I tell the truth as I see it.” —Larry Horowitz
The evocative autumn landscape of Larry Horowitz’s painting Barnet Fall will resonate with those who are intimately familiar with the atmosphere of a Vermont farmstead late on an October day. The color of the brilliant foliage sandwiched between the lavender sky and the shadowed green grass aptly depicts the dramatic glancing light of an autumnal late afternoon.
What is hard to see in a photograph of the painting is Horowitz’s signature use of texture. The Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) pioneered this method of paint application, called impasto, which involves applying thick layers of undiluted paint to the canvas, creating high relief and visible, textural brushstrokes and palette knife marks. Using this technique, Horowitz roughly builds up layers of paint, creating a three-dimensional sculptural surface that enhances both depth and light on the canvas. He often uses a uniquely coarse, heavy-textured hemp canvas. The heavy impasto of Barnet Fall serves to collect the light and create actual shadows. Impasto adds an expressiveness to Horowitz’s work, and we can sense the speed and strength of his brush and palette knife building up the paint. In tandem with this thick paint application, Horowitz uses very thin, diluted paint in some areas, allowing the texture of the hemp to peek through (note dark shadows on the grass).
By focusing on the transient nature of light and atmosphere, Horowitz imparts a deep sensitivity to nature in his work. Light can be fickle, fleeting, and awe inspiring. Claude Monet (French painter, 1840-1926), who also employed the impasto method, famously said, “The real subject of every painting is light.” Horowitz shows us how true that can be.
Larry Horowitz shows in galleries across the United States and Canada, and his work is included in many major corporate and private collections. He has an exhibition at Edgewater Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont, from October 10 through November 28. He also teaches masterclasses and workshops, including at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill in Massachusetts. He may be reached through his website.