Stone Roberts: New York City Paintings Opens at the Museum of the City of New York

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Stone Roberts 1 / Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 28, 2012

Stone Roberts: New York City Paintings, a special installation at the Museum of the City of New York, features the public debut of contemporary realist painter Stone Roberts’s newest work Grand Central Terminal: An Early December Noon in the Grand Concourse (2009-2012). The monumentally scaled painting, which stands prominently in the Museum’s second floor Marble Court, captures both the hustle of Grand Central and the finest nuances of each character and architectural feature in view.

Also included in the exhibition are Roberts’s three other major New York scenes—canvases that capture his take on the city:

Early Autumn Looking South (2001), the artist’s first New York cityscape, features a slice-of-life scene with workers and pedestrians, set against a red brick brownstone backdrop.

A Bend in the Road (2003-2004), challenges the eye as the canvas appears to gently curve along the row of townhouses, traveling the length of a sidewalk full of busy New Yorkers. Like all of Roberts’s paintings, the work highlights his mastery of light and perspective.

Finally, The Market at Union Square: Fall 2006 (2006-2008) captures the essence of the New York street market and the energy of the city’s public spaces. Here, the Union Square market is overflowing with activity, but Roberts grounds the painting with a line of white farmers’ tents. The close proximity of the painting’s characters absorbs the viewer into the scene.

“These paintings provide a true slice of New York City. With his classic technique and exquisite use of color, Stone Roberts crafts scenes that explore different aspects of city life. We are so pleased to have his works at the Museum on the occasion of his newest painting,” said Susan Henshaw Jones, Ronay Menschel Director of the Museum.

Stone Roberts moved to New York City in 1975 after studying art at Yale and at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and Rome. His rich works were inspired by 17th century Dutch masters and early 19th century French academic painters. In New York City, he made a name for himself with striking realist paintings of interiors, portraits, and still lifes, but it was not until he was in his late forties that he became interested in painting the city itself. While walking for hours in his Upper West Side neighborhood he considered the light, mood, and characters he encountered. Roberts applies trompe l'oeil precision to the details of his cityscapes and finely crafted characterization to the figures that move through them.

Often presenting many figures in each painting, he allows each to function individually of each other, rarely interacting with other characters in the scene and rarely posing for the picture. Instead these figures are individuals, and appear as if they are just caught in one moment of many.

Stone Roberts: New York City Paintings was curated by Sarah Henry, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Museum of the City of New York, and designed by Cooper Joseph Studio. The exhibition is on view at the Museum through September 16, 2012.

About the Museum of the City of New York
Founded in 1923 as a private, nonprofit corporation, the Museum of the City of New York celebrates and interprets the city, educating the public about its distinctive character, especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation. The Museum connects the past, present, and future of New York City, and serves the people of the city as well as visitors from around the world through exhibitions, school and public programs, publications, and collections.

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