For several years I occupied my studio time making homages of old masterpieces. Most of these were painted between 2003 and 07. This batch of paintings built my confidence. Reinventing a masterwork with modern materials is so much easier than inventing one from scratch. That is obvious, but the rewards of doing so kept me coming back. I studied my subjects like a free climber studies a rock face. I followed their guidance like a trusted guide’s footsteps. I tried to scale their brushwork, color choice, composition logic, etc. It’s never about perfection, but one hopes to get a reference point for the fine motor skills, dilated senses, and unconstrained imagination of the virtuoso, in ones own nervous system. To attempt to recreate each work with nothing but a freehand, a patient eye, some fine paper and acrylic paint- it impresses me now that I was willing to invest the time. These weren’t commissioned works, just studies. But for me, each one was a worthwhile masterclass from a genius.
