Portrait of Jim French 

Curator: Adrian Gottlieb created this striking likeness titled "Portrait of Jim French". The piece, primarily in oil paint, offers a contemporary take on classical portraiture. Editor: My initial reaction is one of profound simplicity and quiet strength. There's a stillness, almost a sculptural quality, achieved through the deliberate layering of oil. I'm curious about Gottlieb’s approach to material. Curator: Gottlieb is known for his meticulous approach rooted in academic art traditions, specifically his dedication to Renaissance painting methods. We can examine how academic art became more widely popularized because of atelier's and the spread of realist and naturalist art at the time this was painted. Editor: Exactly! And look at the facture. There is an awareness and control with the oil; from thick impasto defining forms, to transparent, scumbling washes in areas, creating contrast, directing our vision towards his countenance. I wonder about Gottlieb’s choice to emphasize this level of precision? The brushwork also subtly reveals an exploration into contemporary explorations of labor of making, contrasting his chosen classical painting and historical training. Curator: This ties to my interpretation. There is this simultaneous reverence to academic training while depicting Jim French. I suspect French is rendered by Gottlieb to represent intellectualism in his rendering that elevates the sitter. Editor: Yes, there is a connection with how French’s figure emerges from the background of darker oil tones! Notice Gottlieb manipulates the medium through shadow; light delicately graces the upper parts of the sitter. And this direct connection to painting from reality emphasizes our culture’s obsession of fine arts to memorialize loved ones! Curator: Considering art history at large, we are witnessing an effort of fine art painting making a comeback, to take up the social role that the age of photography overtook. Here we see Jim French rendered through a modern artistic context while nodding towards social portraiture as we see in historical Western painting. Editor: Agreed! It also brings attention to material, value, and production. The materiality isn't just mimetic representation; it's actively constructing meaning and demanding a slowed consumption of the work. It goes beyond being a straightforward, recorded impression and brings the production process to bear. Curator: This discussion really opened new ways to think about historical methods making a comeback, and the ways art’s public presence transforms with time. Editor: And the careful process serves to make you more aware of what goes into painting! It becomes not just what you see, but how you see.