Page 232 - Masters

master

IRA STARk

Lives and works in Moorestown, NJ, USA

SEARCH THE ARTIST ONLINE www.irasart.com

Ira Stark grew up in the 1960’s on Long Island, NY where he developed like van gogh’s Bedroom at Arles both artists are depicting their vision
his talent and passion for drawing and painting. In those early years, the of their surroundings.”
paintings of the impressionists bewitched him. “As a teenager, I would Many of his other paintings during his impressionism phase depicted
take the railroad to New York City to visit the art museums, I would city scenes from his travels to Italy, Paris, Prague and at his hometown
be drawn to the section of the museum exhibiting the masters of the of Philadelphia. These can be viewed at irasart.com.
Impressionists, the Monet’s, van gogh’s, Renoir’s. I closely examined Like most artists, his paintings have changed over the years as he
their techniques, brushstrokes, lighting and colors and I would quietly experimented with technique and color. “Flowers” and “Still Life 103”
say to myself, I can do that!” are two examples of paintings during the transition from impressionism
It is easy to see that his earlier paintings emulated the Impressionists. to a more modern style of art. Both of these paintings depict flowers in
“I like to use bright, vivid colors and impasto in my paintings. The bright a more expressionistic style and still retaining his signature bright colors
colors and thick paint strokes allow me more control over the play of light and thick brushstrokes.
and adds expressiveness to the paintings. The heavy textures help convey “Lady and her Bike”, “Madonna by the Tree” and lastly “Suze in a Better
the energy and 3- dimensional reality from the surface of the canvas.” Place” demonstrate the progression towards expressionism. The
After seeing his paintings, Ronnie Meyerson President of Ronnie Mey, same subject matter in these three paintings, a woman, becomes less
Inc. , an art gallery owner from Hoboken, NJ wrote “ I find Mr. Stark’s and less interactive with her environment. In addition, she is almost
work to show a richness of colors, and although reminiscent of the realistic looking in “Lady” and is progressively becomes more abstract
French and American Impressionists they are done in a more “naïve” so that in “Suze” she is monolithic, flat with limited colors. Note how
and modern style than the works of Monet and van gogh. I especially her environment retains its bright colors almost depicting a dream-like
love the richness of his colors. If you see Ira’s work in terms of paintings environment. You can get more information at www.irasart.com.
LaDY aND Her BIKe, 2006 OIL ON CANvAS 30x24 IN. / 75x60 CM 
 sUZe IN a Better PLaCe, 2006 OIL ON CANvAS 30x40 IN. / 75x100 CM.  maDONNa BY tHe tree, 2006 OIL ON CANvAS OIL 30x24 IN. / 75x60 CM.

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