Robert Clarke, a long time friend of my husband’s from London, paints dogs… and they are fantastic. Robert has a very casual attitude about his paintings, talking about how quickly he makes these dog portraits, with some of them taking just minutes. When he first told me about his paintings, before seeing them, I almost thought he was joking. Once I saw them, I understood. What I understood was Robert’s incredible ability to capture not just the gesture and life in the animal, but he really seems to get its personality. That is true talent in my book and the less time it takes him to make a portrait, the more brilliant it is.
I once heard a quote about talent and ability in relation to compensation – I cannot remember who said it, but it always stuck with me… It said something to the affect that you cannot put a price or an hourly wage on a craft because its value is in the culmination of all the previous years of honing and perfecting that craft. Robert has been a painter for a long time.
Mr. Clarke will be exhibiting his dogs at Rebecca Hossack Gallery, 262 Mott Street in Nolita (NYC) and the opening is this Wednesday, November 16, from 6-8pm. It is DOG FRIENDLY, so please bring your pup! RSVP on Facebook.
