SCOTT PRIOR
PAINTINGS STOCKBRIDGE STATION GALLERY
Nanny and Ezra in the Backyard 2019 Oil on linen 24 x 24 inches
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COVER: Nanny in the Garden 201?? Oil on panel 54 x 38 inches
Vivid portraits of his cherished life, Scott Prior’s paintings absorb us with their unique blend of realism and fantasy. We glimpse Arcadia in his finely detailed, strikingly colored, compellingly arranged compositions. He reverently portrays the tangible, deftly painting landscapes, figures, and objects with exquisite finesse, while simultaneously expressing the underlying emotions of life. He captures the seeable images and the intangible feelings of a moment. In his native New England, the opportunity for visual and experiential beauty abounds and Prior is a master at wrangling both on a single canvas. What differentiates Prior from other realist painters is how he turns up the volume, creatively placing objects to maximize narrative possibilities, intensifying the impact of light, or amplifying the color. Some paintings contain people, who at times exist in blissful ignorance of the audience. Nanny and Ezra in the Backyard, on the surface a personal depiction of Prior’s son and then-wife, is also a metaphor for summer pleasures. A tranquil moment of rest for a mother is coupled with a furtive peek at freedom beyond the fence for the child. Prior artfully juxtaposes the unabashed naturalism of his subjects with the more artificial trappings of domesticity, like the oversized ball and fawn statue. The vacant Adirondack chair sits imposing, as if occupied by some unseen force presiding over the scene. In Beach at Sunset, a series of vignettes and a nimble use of light carry the eye around the canvas. We move from the umbrella, lit from within to illuminate the two readers, to the blazing fire warming the beachgoers, to the sunset casting its fiery light across the sky, and finally to the luminescent ocean beckoning late-day surfers. Other figural pieces, such as Nanny in the Garden, create a direct dialogue between subject and viewer as Nanny’s strong pose and captivating gaze hold our attention. The vibrant red stripes of her robe echo throughout the canvas in the saturated flowers, luring us away from the figure and into the deep and lush brambles of the garden.
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Laundry at Sunrise 2018 Oil on linen 36 x 32 inches 4
Works without people are nonetheless portraits of how we curate nature and our surroundings to design our own Edens. River at Sunrise is populated by its very absence of humans. As the sun lifts from the horizon, light bounces off the clouds and casts its florid hue across the water, where the river’s mist shifts the color and light around in atmospheric grace. Brightly lit canoes, chairs, a table, and a discarded pair of flip flops await the arrival of their inhabitants, when the peaceful morning reverie will be supplanted by the vitality of a summer’s day. In Roses by the Sea, nature is contained in a bottle, which sit in proximity to, yet is still separated from, the unbound expanse of the sea. While we endeavor to, and temporarily succeed in, bringing the beauty and power of nature indoors, the tangle of the roses’ roots alludes to wild origins. Community Garden in Autumn also depicts how man attempts to reign in and cultivate nature, driven by an innate desire to live more naturally, even in the most urban environments. By season’s end, nature defies our imposed order and flourishes in unruly tumbles below the warm autumn sun. With admiration for the Flemish and Dutch masters (who depicted nature and objects in painstaking and brilliantly lit detail), Edward Hopper (who could enliven the most mundane objects with light and knew how to draw viewers directly in), and the Magic Realists (who combined reality and dreams), Scott Prior offers visually stunning and richly layered compositions that both pay homage to the life he lives and loves, and invite us to imagine ourselves in a familiar and deeply personal space.
By Jeanne Koles
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Sunrise, Brant Point, Nantucket 2017 Oil on canvas 36 x 48 inches
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Train near the River 2019 Oil on panel 12 x 20 inches
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Path to the Beach 2019 Oil on panel 20 x 14 inches
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River at Sunrise 2019 Oil on canvas 36 x 32 inches
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Low Tide 2017 Oil on canvas 36 x 36 inches
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Bonfire on the Harbror 2019 Oil on panel 18 x 18 inches
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Beach at Sunset 2015 Oil on panel 12 x 12 inches
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Beach on the Lake 2019 Oil on panel 8 x 10.5 inches
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Sunset in June Window 2016 Oil on panel 24 x 36 inches
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Community Garden in Autumn 2019 Oil on monoprint on panel 15 x 13 inches
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Roses by the Sea 2018 Oil on panel 20 x 16 inches
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Candy and Flowers 2019 Oil on panel 14 x 11 inches
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First Snow with Gnomes 2018 Oil on panel 14 x 8 inches
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Winter House on the River 2019 Oil on canvas 12 x 20 inches
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Tomatoes 2015 Oil on panel 6 x 5.5 inches
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Oranges 2015 Oil on panel 6 x 5.5 inches
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Old Barbeque in Autumn 2019 Oil on gouache on paper on panel 6.5 x 6 inches
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photo: Sabine von Falken
Scott Prior lives and works in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he has been a resident since 1971. Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, he received a BFA in printmaking from the University of Massachusetts in 1971. He has artwork in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the DeCordova Museum, the Danforth Museum, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Rose Art Museum and other major public and private collections. He has shown extensively in one-person and group shows in the United States and abroad. In 2001 he had a mid-career retrospective at the DeCordova Museum. Scott Prior is represented by the Alpha Gallery in Boston and William Baczek Fine Arts in Northampton, MA.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS American Express, New York, NY Berkshire Art Museum, Pittsfield, MA W.C. Bradley Co., Columbus, GA Comptroller of the Currency, Washington, DC Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA Gardner Carton and Douglas, Chicago, IL The Gund Collection, Cambridge, MA IBM, New York, NY Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT New England Life, Boston, MA
Northeastern University, Boston, MA On Technology, Cambridge, MA Ropes & Gray, Boston, MA Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA Seven Bridges Foundation Smith College Museum of Art, Smith College, Northampton, MA St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY Texaco, White Plains, NY Wellington Management, Boston, MA Ruth & John D. West Collection, The RahrWest Art Museum, Manitowoc, WI William Brinks Olds Hoefer Gilson & Lione, Chicago, IL
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SCOTT PRIOR
Couple on the Beach at Sunset 2019 Oil on panel 24 x 36 inches
Design: Jeanne Koles and Kim Saul © Schantz Galleries, 2019
PAINTINGS August 2–September 2, 2019
Stockbridge Station Gallery 2 Depot Street, Stockbridge, MA 01262 (413) 298-5163 www.stockbridgestationgallery.com contact@stockbridgestationgallery.com