Tuesday, April 21, 2020

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE



PAINTING IN PROGRESS


Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague we are all
suffering through .


THE UNDER PAINTING
( what lies beneath)


Siena Daylilies  (detail)
James Aponovich
oil on canvas, 30" x 28"


I sketched these 'Elizabeth Salter' daylilies from our garden last
season. They are a personal favorite. I'll finish them this summer when
they bloom again.

I have chosen a cityscape of Siena, Italy. In 1347 everything seemed fine,
they had defeated ( for the first time) their traditional enemy, Florence,
and had commenced building what would be the largest
cathedral in Europe. The nave can still be seen ( upper left).
Then, by 1348 the 'Great Mortality' arrived, we know it as the 'Black Death'.
From a population of 40,000 people only 14,000 survived.
As now, population density was a factor and like now
there was no treatment.






No comments: