Still Life Paintings by Artist Chuck Rosenthal

Chuck Rosenthal is an oil painter. His beautiful still life paintings adorn homes and offices and galleries. Although he does not paint still life exclusively, he does paint them brilliantly, with contrasting colors, gently cascading sunlight playing on fruits, wine, baskets, bowls, glass and flowers.

In his painting “Daffodils and Grapes,” Mr. Rosenthal exhibits a masterly use of painting of textures where the smooth texture of the grapes contrasts to the uneven texture of the linen tablecloth. The cool smoothness of the glass vase contrasts with the lively, crinkled daffodils. This use of textures makes Mr. Rosenthal’s work outstanding.

Another interesting composition that shows such contrasts is “Fruit Harvest,” where a well used basket is next to a cool metal goblet. The goblet alone is an astounding piece of work – the artist used a wide variety of hues from very dark to nearly white to express the metal piece. In the foreground are pears that have fallen out of the basket – one feels if one put his finger on them, they would feel like ripe pears, in contrast to the hard shiny apple in front of them.

The composition of “Fruit Harvest II” leads the eye around the painting from the bright fruit in the foreground to the textured bowl behind, then to the smooth cool bottle of wine and finally to the brocade tablecloth that foretells the rest of the room in which this painting is set. One can imagine brocade drapes and thick carpets and elaborate furniture in the scene. The contrast of the bright fruit and dark background pulls one into the painting.

In “Teapot and Fruit” light barely seeps in through the dark blue background – possibly a thick curtain covers a window there. In any case, it makes a nice contrast to the hand thrown teapot in light hues, and the grapes and apples in the foreground. Perhaps this scene is in a kitchen – the table on which these objects rest is more like a work table, not a dining table.

Soft pears in the foreground of “Roses from the Garden” give depth and contrast to this painting showing the difference in textures with the hard glass bottle and frilly roses in that bottle. The brightness of the three different colored roses also contrasts with the very dark background. And the dark bottle that holds the roses is beautifully painted – although it is dark, it still pops out from the dark background because of the light falling on it.

Mr. Rosenthal exhibits a bright and lively style of painting in still life, in contrast to the motionless objects he is painting and the dark rooms where they sit. Certainly the artist has studied paintings of past centuries when still life paintings were so popular. But he brings to this kind of painting a modern touch, his own style.

The paintings reviewed here are on display at The Park Place Gallery in Leawood, Kansas and one can see them on their website www.theparkplacegallery.com, under the artist’s name.

Look at the Fine Art by Chuck Rosenthal