094 http://www.AmericanArtCollector.com
T
he Scottish-American naturalist John Muir wrote,
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded
to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was
really going in.”
In a statement for his exhibition, New Landscapes,
at Gallery 1261 in Denver, David Grossmann writes,
“Over the past year and a half so much of the world
around me has shifted toward a new reality, and these
paintings have taken shape during that season. The
shutdowns and unrest made nature even more of a
refuge to me than before; I watched the colors of the
sky, wandered through the woods, and somewhere
along the way, I shed a bit of my anxiety. In that
process of letting go I thought about how intricately
the landscapes around me have shaped my inner
landscapes through each chapter of life.”
Grossmann’s landscapes have their own inner-outerquality. “I have the composition worked out ahead of
time,” he explains. “Design is always important—how
the shapes interact with each other. The textures and
colors evolve as I paint. It’s a joy for me to lean into
the more intuitive part of the process.” The top layer
of paint is often applied with a nearly dry brush. He
says, “I lightly drag the brush across the surface and
the paint picks up the texture of earlier brushstrokes as
well as the texture of the linen panel. Up close you can
look down into the layers of paint to the warm glowing
base of burnt sienna.”
He often has five to 15 paintings in his studio in
different stages of completion. They converse with
one another and with the artist. As each painting
progresses, it suggests directions for the artist to
pursue. In Composing Dusk in the Wildflower Meadow,
he knew he wanted a large blue-green field with theDAVID GROSSMANNInner Landscapes
UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / GALLERY 1261
11 /6-11/ 30 Denver, CO1
Dusk in the Wildflower
Meadow, oil on linen
panel, 30 x 50"
2
Flight into Golden Sky, oil
on linen panel, 18 x 24"
3
Ducks and Last Light
Reflected, oil on linen
panel, 12 x 12"1