ArtistsNetwork.com 45Eiffel Tower behind it is dissolving into
the haze in a blur of soft lines. “Having
them both at the same level of focus
would have just destroyed the paint-
ing,” says the artist. Note, too, the
spectacular wet-into-wet brushwork at
the base of the arch and the way that
vehicles and people are suggested with
deft and delicate flicks of the brush.
Laguë’s capacity to exaggerate color
is strikingly on view in Over Florence,
(below), in which the city’s tiled roofs
are rendered in brilliant reds. “I may
have simply used a pure cadmium red
light,” says the artist. The resulting
splendor of color increases the sense of
powerful sunlight on the scene.
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THE GOAL
A keen student of painting, Laguë
cites several key influences for
his work, including Charles Reid,
Jeremy Mann and Tibor Nagy, all
painters who combine an energetic,
painterly approach with highly
descriptive painting; however,
Laguë reserves his highest praise
for another artist: “I think the
blocky brushstrokes came from
the influence of master watercolor
painter, Frank Webb. I took a work-
shop with him some 30-odd years
ago and was fascinated by the way
he applied paint with large flat
brushes,” he says.While Laguë’s work can be enjoyed
from a simply technical point of view,
the artist has greater ambitions. “The
ideal viewer for me would see beyond
the subject matter in my work,” he
says. “Although my paintings are
representative, I want the viewer to
appreciate the abstract quality and the
feelings they evoke.” With their joyous
touch, resplendent light and energetic
spirit, Laguë’s paintings certainly suc-
ceed in connecting with the viewer on
every level.John A. Parks is a painter, a writer and
a member of the faculty of the School of
Visual Arts, in New York.