Sebastian Blanck 2025 by Miles McEnery Gallery

SEBASTIAN BLANCK: MODELS FOR THE FAMILIAR

Rebecca Schiffman

In New Hat (2024), a crocheted yellow sun hat drapes dramatically over the face of a woman in a floral bathing suit, her figure set against a serene expanse of lake, trees, and sky. But this tranquil scene is not confined to one work; it recurs with subtle variation across Sebastian Blanck’s latest series of eleven paintings. Extending beyond the conventional confines of portraiture, this body of work is a phenomenological study of presence and perception, echoing the aesthetic rigor and mindset of Claude Monet in his series of wheat stacks, cathedrals, and water lilies. Like Monet, who pushed the depiction of his subjects beyond mere objecthood to reveal them as manifestations of temporal and atmospheric flux, Blanck transforms the figure into a sustained inquiry of surface, pattern, and abstract form. All the works are of Blanck’s wife, the artist Isca Greenfield-Sanders, and though they capture her likeness, the primary aim of these paintings is to immerse viewers in a rhythmic, almost performative process of re-engagement with the subject. The constancy of her image—filtered through varying colorations, light conditions, and minute disruptions from the floppy straw hat, necklace, and sunglasses that she wears—becomes less about the subject’s fixed identity and more about the act of seeing.

Though these works could be considered portraits in the realist tradition—in the art historian Linda Nochlin’s words, they offer “a truthful, objective representation of the real world based on meticu-

lous observation of contemporary life”1—I would argue that Blanck’s style leans closer to abstraction. Even the most realistic depictions have within them seeds of the abstract; as the poet and theorist Charles Bernstein, in quoting Oscar Wilde, aptly notes, “No painting is so figurative that under certain conditions it will not look abstract.”2 Blanck’s work, like that of his former mentor Alex Katz, combines a realist foundation with simplified forms and saturated colors, creating a composition that feels both specified and generalized. Anchored by Isca’s, each work gradually shifts us further from reality, allowing vibrant blocks of pure color to dominate and transform the scene. The boundary between figuration and abstraction dissolves, revealing a liminal space where likeness and pure visual form coexist and interact, inviting us to engage as active participants in this oscillation. In this series, Wilde’s assertion takes on a tangible reality, as the vibrant hues and geometric patterns propel us into a realm where figuration serves as a gateway to abstraction. Here, the colors—deep yellows, lush greens, and rich blues—become protagonists in their own right. They are not merely supporting characters within a narrative but active agents that redefine our acumen.

In Pink and Brown (2024), Isca’s bust is painted in neon pinks, magenta, and violet, amid a blueand-green lake landscape. Her pendulous sun hat, rendered in hues of pink and red that mirror her complexion, breaks apart into abstract forms: a lighter pink triangle suggests a highlight from a ray of sunshine, while clusters of gestural dark red strokes gather in certain areas and fan out in others, creating a sense of shadow and depth. The sun hat’s silhouette marks her face, with the holes formed by the crocheted stitches allowing light to filter through and cast intricate patterns on her skin. In Cadmiumbrella (2024), Isca sits under a flat plane of red—a slight undulation denotes it as an umbrella—that contrasts with the woven texture of the sun hat. Here, the holes of the sun hat meld into the water in the background, with a repetitive pattern of light flickering between her face and the lake’s ripples. This interplay of light and shadow not only defines the textures of her face but also emphasizes the dynamic relationship between form and void, gradually depersonalizing Isca into an abstract presence. When we zoom in on these details, in works like Back (2024), where Isca’s back and her

1Linda Nochlin, Realism (New York: Penguin, 1972), p. 2.

2Charles Bernstein, “Disfiguring Abstraction,” Critical Inquiry 39, no. 3 (2013): 486–97.

hat are the only indications of a body, we can discern an emerging abstract composition; yet when the painting is viewed as a whole, the figure of Isca reappears. Just as in Pink and Brown, the various shapes that make up the sun hat become just a sun hat and reveal Blanck’s seamless integration of abstraction and representation—a balancing act that transforms personal likeness into something both intimate and universal.

Blanck’s abstraction relates more closely to the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists than to the Abstract Expressionists, reflecting an emphasis on color, illumination, and emotional resonance. Blanck has said that he admires the Impressionists’ quest to capture the ephemeral effects of light and atmosphere in their portrayals of everyday life. This is apparent in his paintings: The short, broken brushstrokes; the use of pure color to render highlights and shadows; and forms that are suggested without being fully defined all evoke the spirit of works by Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and even Mary Cassatt. All can be seen in New Hat, where the dappled light peeking through the underside of the hat is rendered in quick, visible brushstrokes, while the shadow of the hat on Isca’s shoulders is painted in bright pastel greens, blues, and pinks, elevating the representation into a realm of dynamic expression.

Not only does Blanck’s painting echo the techniques of the Impressionists; so do his subject matter and his settings. Like the Impressionists, he focuses on scenes of suburban and rural leisure, an interest that in art history has come to represent modernity through images of boating, bathing, and quiet vacation escapes in nature. This fascination with transient, unguarded moments outdoors finds an updated, contemporary counterpart in Blanck’s recurring scenes of Isca by the lake near their home in upstate New York, where the family spends the summer. In Isca in a Floral Dress Sunhat (Yellow) (2024), Isca stands in front of a wooden fence, while untamed wildflowers and a body of water stretch into the distance. The water’s surface is dappled with golden flecks of sunlight that dance across the ripples. Here, Blanck captures a quiet timelessness, freezing a moment, a place, and an atmosphere that feels spontaneous yet deeply intimate, rooted in history but inherently modern.

Édouard Manet, Madame Manet (Suzanne Leenhoff, 1829-1906) at Bellevue, 1880, Oil on canvas, 31 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches (80.6 x 60.3 cm). The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1997, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Blanck diverges, however, from the Impressionists’ famed practice of en plein air painting in his structured, multistep process to his work. First, he photographs his subjects. Then, he sketches the composition in pen and ink. Finally, he translates these studies into oils. This method introduces a deliberate, reflective stage into his creative process, imbuing the final painting with a heightened intentionality. Through this approach, Blanck captures fleeting impressions in a way that feels both authentic to his subject and deeply meditative, merging the immediacy of observed life with a controlled, layered execution. In Isca in a Floral Sundress Sunhat (2024), Isca appears in profile, her face largely hidden by the brim of her hat, against a shaded forest in the background. This deliberate concealment of her face recalls Édouard Manet’s Madame Manet (Suzanne Leenhoff, 1829-1906) at Bellevue, 1880, where the subtle obscuring of Madame Manet’s expression conveys an understated intimacy and a sense of private contemplation.

Blanck’s portraits, which border on realism, Impressionism, and even Fauvism, are compelling because they invite us to consider not only the scene before us, but also the very act of its depiction— where color, texture, and form reshape our perception of both the subject and the medium. Isca’s recurrent appearances in this series—as well as in Blanck’s past work—are not diaristic nor are they a matter of convenience. On the contrary, her appearance as a constant, in various outfits and settings,

Claude Monet, Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), 1890-1891, Oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 39 9/16 inches (60 x 100.5cm). Gift of Arthur M. Wood, Sr. in memory of Pauline Palmer Wood, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

serves as a vehicle for deeper emotional expression. Like Alex Katz’s numerous portraits of his wife, Ada, in which the repeated use of a single model reflects an ongoing experience of the world, Blanck’s portrayal of Isca transcends individual identity, evoking a broader emotional resonance that speaks to universal themes of connection, time, and presence.

In 1891, Monet exhibited his wheat stack paintings at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris. When Camille Pissarro saw the show—which was a critical and financial success—he wrote to his son that when hung together on a single wall, “the canvasses seem to breathe contentedly.”3 There was no particular sequence in which the paintings looked best; rather, any combination proved to be powerful. The same can be said for Blanck’s exhibition, where repeated motifs or forms do not aim for identical representations, but instead serve as vehicles for exploring a subject through subtle variations. For Blanck, as with Monet, repetition transcends a mere formal constraint; it becomes a means of revealing the nuances of time, light, and insight within a single thematic framework. In this sense, repetition serves as a tool not only to capture the passage of time visually but also to engage in a deeper philosophical inquiry into perception and memory.

3John Russell, “Art: A Ramble with Impressionists,” The New York Times, July 18, 1984.

Rebecca Schiffman is a New York-based art historian, researcher, and writer.