Thursday, December 31, 2009

North End, Boston - Old North Church

"View from the Bottom of Salem Street - North End" (24"X18", Oil on Canvas, $750)

This is the first painting I ever did of Salem Street or the Old North Church, about three years ago. The view is actually from the intersection of Prince and Salem Streets, facing away from Dino's Diner on the opposite corner. The row of cars in the shaded street going up the hill give depth but don't detract from the shock-white spire of the wooden steeple, where they lead the eye. I also liked that they hadn't yet taken down the rows of small italian flags going across the street in the distance. They're a standard element of the yearly Italian festivals held throughout 'The Neighborhood' in the summer.

Some residents don't like the festivals. They're certainly ubiquitous. Every weekend of the summer you can hear the same parade band playing the same Italian standards you heard them play the previous year. The sound wafts in through open windows from the designated corner of 'The Neighborhood' where that particular weekend's festival originates. The food is always the same, too. All the Italian favorites, of course, and some random items being hawked from stalls lining the blocked-off streets where whichever festival takes place. I don't mind the bands at all. Maybe it's my mother's influence. She loves any kind of parade and loves marching bands, especially when combined with Italian food.
I've also had some great times entertaining out-of-town friends at the festivals. It's a unique experience for all first-timers, which loads of the attendees seem to be. I like the feeling that I can be a vicarious "Italian/Bostonian" for a night of eating and drinking - and a day of parades.

North End, Boston - Sal's Lunch

"Sal's Lunch on Thacher Court - North End" (24"X18", Oil on Canvas, $750)

This is one of my paintings that has been noticed the most and which I feel has the neighborhood feeling that I go for whenever I paint the North End. The raking sunlight through the fire escapes gives me a feeling of evening coming. The children and adults on the street level almost show how big this building really is. The side in shadow extends the length of the block and occupies all of Thacher Court. The "smaller" Sal's Lunch side fronts onto Thacher Street, which also hosts the famous Pizzeria Regina further up.
When the owner of Sal's Lunch (the lady in the doorway) recently saw the painting at a show I was part of in Paul Revere Park, she wanted me to give her the painting, since it was of her building. She looked at the rack I had of matted prints and note cards featuring the image and she said, "'Ey! You give-a me this painting since-a you make-a money off-a my building!" She was really only teasing (I think), but I should have offered her a free matted print in exchange for a couple chicken parm subs (still my standard favorite sub).

North End, Boston - Hanover Street

"Walking by Il Villaggio in the Morning - North End" (24"X18", Oil on Canvas, $750)

This building is another one of the gems of the North End. The scale and detail of this building - gracefully tall and narrow; two copper bay window columns capped by a beautiful copper overhang going around to the left; the delicate fire escape trailing down the building into the alley - make the restaurant on the ground floor particularly easy on the eyes. The restaurant has recently been updated, but the building itself thankfully hasn't (except for the windows).
It was fun to paint the couple walking by in the morning sunlight wearing shorts and a miniskirt. I think they lend scale to the looming building which seems to be almost looking down to watch them pass.
I've had more than one good meal at Il Villaggio, and I see this lovely building from the front windows of the Cafe Paradiso every Sunday morning while enjoying an apricot croissant and the best Caffe Latte the North End has to offer. In fact it was that view (and probably the coffee) that inspired me to paint it in the first place.

North End, Boston - Cooper Street

"Tenements on Cooper Street - North End" (20"X16", Oil on Canvas, SOLD)

This is one of my favorite paintings and probably the most beautiful copperfront in the whole North End. It's at 18 Cooper Street and is also known as the Segel building. The graceful curves of the bays extend to the original panes of glass themselves (thankfully not replaced by the usual energy-efficient extruded aluminum flat panes during a recent and very tasteful condo renovation). This is one building that I'd love to see inside of and to live in. The only thing I would further wish is that the copper on the outside of the building could be inside as well. Imagine that beautiful sight in your living room! If I were an architect, that would be my signature element to every apartment or condo that I designed.
The "light" in this painting comes from behind and to the side of the buildings, as seen in the bright orange bricks on the side of 18 Cooper and the alleyway of the next building. The various sandstone window caps going up the gray brick portion of the building are another feature that make this building one of the prettiest in 'The Neighborhood'. One of the details that I intend to paint in the future (as mentioned in a previous post) is the lovely pair of twisted sandstone columns and the sculpted cap element that makes the entrance of the Segel building so grand.

North End, Boston - Copper on Prince St.

"Copperfronts Looking down Prince St - North End" (20"X16", Oil on Canvas, $650)

This is one of the views of Prince St. showing a good portion of the massive brick-and-copperfront building that dominates the street. There are two more narrow copper columns to the right of the wide column that anchors the painting, terminating with Dino's Diner and continuing around the corner part way up Salem St. (see some of my earlier posts).
The Cable TV wiring hangs limp from window to window and reminds me of the hanging laundry lines that are all over apartment buildings in Rome and throughout Italy. The "Roma" flag hanging from the window makes the point further for me.
The wide-open windows shown all over tell you it's summer, and like in other views of this building, the actual "light" in the painting comes from the sunlit facades across the narrow street, reflected in the shaded windows seen here. The decorative brickwork makes for cockeyed saw-tooth patterns on the glass. The other clue to the time of year are all the air conditioners sitting on the sills, waiting for the days when the windows need to be shut to keep out the stifling heat.

North End, Boston - Copper Patina

"Corner of Prince and Salem - North End" (20"X16", Oil on Canvas, $650)

This is another variation on a favorite North End view. This is essentially a close-up of the patina'ed copper column above the entrance of Dino's Diner on the corner of Prince and Salem streets. The cloudless summer sky allows the sun to fall brightly and fully from right to left. This brings out the angularity of this corner element while also throwing plenty of reflected light on the shadow side from the sunlit buildings across the street, reflected in the lower windows.
I like focusing on edited aspects of the buildings sometimes, and I intend to do more like this in the future. It allows me to paint my favorite elements larger and to fill the canvas with wider strokes of color. This way I can bring out the details while not getting fussy about them.

North End, Boston - Prince St. Evening

"58 Prince Street in the Evening - North End" (20"X16", Oil on Canvas, $650)

This is a slightly different angle on one of my favorite views in the North End: 58 Prince St and the corner of the adjacent building. The early evening hour makes the windows glow with interior light while leaving the beauty of the architecture visible, but with slightly washed-out color on the copper patina that I love so much. The main idea here is the calm that settles over the North End for an hour or two as people return from work and eat dinner, but before the rest of the city and the tourists swarm in for their later meals in the many restaurants (over 100) that make 'The Neighborhood' a food destination known all around the country.
The 'six-up, six-down' wooden window frames have been replaced with new, energy-efficient extruded aluminum-style windows since this painting was done, featuring a single double pane of glass top and bottom. I'm sure the tenants are much more comfortable, and the landlords are getting a savings on the heat, but I'm also sure that some of the visual charm of the graceful and intricate copper bay window columns is gone forever.

North End, Boston - Paul Revere Statue

"Walking Under the Green Canopy in the Prado - North End" (24"X18" Oil on Canvas, $750)

This is one of my paintings of the Paul Revere Park (also known as 'The Prado'), showing the statue for which it's named. The cool slate sections are nicely set off by the brick walkways and lend a sense of depth and scale to the painting. The dappled sunlight falling on the statue and the pink marble pedestal worked out pretty well and have drawn more than a few nice comments from various viewers of this composition.
One of the subjects here is the young man walking by the statue, essentially ignoring it while talking on the phone. It's easy to take history for granted when you're surrounded by so many reminders in the form of statues, buildings, memorial parks and other landmarks. It's also easy to be hypnotized by the natural and man-made beauty all around Boston, and particularly the North End, to the point that the historic significance rather pales in comparison. I can imagine the tourists and residents sitting and walking in the distance are getting the most out of both.

North End, Boston - Old North Church

"Sunset Clouds over Salem and Sheafe - North End" (16"X20", Oil on Canvas, $650)

This is another view of the Old North Church, this time from lower on Salem Street, near the corner of Sheafe Street, and across from the North Bennett Street School. The school is famous for its excellent training in fine arts and crafts. It also looked quite beautiful with the abstract shadow-shapes of the buildings across the street that were cast on it as the sun set during the 'Golden Hour'.
The leggy purple pansies in the window boxes on the left and the sapling growing suckers in the distance lets the viewer know that it's late summer in the North End.
The brickwork and the dormer windows of the school are classic turn-of-the-century flourishes that add weight and drama to the building and the painting.

North End, Boston - 58 Prince St.

"58 Prince St. in Autumn - North End" (20"X16", Oil on Canvas, SOLD)

This painting is one I alluded to in an earlier post about one I did of Dino's Diner. This one shows the other end of the Dino's building (the one with the stripey bricks on the right) right up against another beautiful North End copperfront - 58 Prince St.
The subtly different tones of the copper patina shows well in the pale light of Autumn and are an appropriate portent (along with the dried and dead maple leaves overhead) of the cold season to come. The elaborate details of the copper sheathing makes me think that there must have been a sort of competition between builders to make their building more beautiful than the next one, in spite of the fact that these were tenements and not destined to draw the wealthy occupants of the much tonier addresses in boston.
I actually made a smaller version of this painting (18"X14", Oil on Canvas, $550) because I liked this larger one so much and wanted to keep it available for anyone else who wanted it, even after it was sold at a show I had up in a coffee house on Salem St. last year.


North End, Boston - Old North Church

"Salem Street Summer Evening - North End" (14"X11", Oil on Canvas, SOLD)

This small painting is one of my favorites. Having one of the most historic sites in Boston ("one if by land, two if by sea") socked right up against the brick tenements of a later time is the type of juxtaposition that endears the area to me. The long, low shadows of early evening and the purple reflected light on the white wooden steeple are what makes the painting work for me, along with the tightly packed buildings leaning in over the narrow street below.
The architectural details of the windows and facades on these "low-rent" buildings are surely things that would be out of the question on modern construction, no matter what the budget might be.
I like making a record of the old buildings of the North End, trying to get a feel for the generations of families that have lived in the rooms and walked up the stairs to their flats, making them well-used throughout their century or more of existence.

North End, Boston - Salem & Prince Corner

"Walking Toward's Dino's for Lunch - North End" (18"X14", Oil on Canvas, $550)

Here's another look at one of the 'copperfronts' in the North End. Lunchtime on a summer afternoon is the true subject, along with the anticipation of taking a break from touring around the North End to finally sit down and eat a chicken parm sub (my standard favorite).
This building actually occupies a full block of Prince Street and has lots more copper bay window columns than I could show here. I have other paintings of other parts of the building, but none vast enough to show the whole thing.
I like the feeling of the haze and the heat of August that this painting captures, as well as the look of the hungry travelers consulting each other and deciding, "This looks good, let's eat here".
The view down Salem Street shows the modern city of boston in the distance. Quite a contrast to the brick tenements and fire escapes of 'The Neighborhood'.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

North End, Boston - North Square in Autumn


This was done in Autumn after the season of tourists and before the season of Christmas decoration. The light feels cool, the girls are covered up and the tree in the distance gives the final clue as to the time of year.
North Square is the oldest "piazza" in North America and features one of the most spectacular Copper-fronted buildings in the North End: Gennaro's Five North Square Restaurant. I love all the copperfronts in 'The Neighborhood', and I love painting them in all their patina'ed green glory. People are constantly stopping to take photos of the building as well, which I think attests to my good taste in turn-of-the-century architecture.
This horizontal-format painting doesn't show the three copper bay window columns that go up all four floors, but I do have another wintry scene in a vertical format that includes the tree in the square (and the battleship chains shown here) covered in snow.