Tuscan Passageway
Oil on Canvas 16" X 20"
This is my post for the co-op blog a group of artists are doing on the subject of doors. For links to the other participants, visit Frank Gardner's blog--a link to him is on my list of favorite bloggers on the below right.
This is the only painting I ever did where a door is the focus. I spotted this scene in a photo in a book about Tuscany, but since I had been there, I felt I was entitled to paint it. Actually, I've done it twice. I sold the smaller one, but when I have this at shows it invariably attracts admirers, but I haven't sold it. Maybe it's too dark, and threatening. But that's the thing about doors. You never know. What's behind them? Who uses them? It's that mystery that Frank mentioned. And the mystery deepens because in this scene you have to enter that dark passageway to get there.
Italy is great for doors. Arguably the most famous is the "Gates of Paradise"--the doors to the Cathedral in Florence created by Ghiberti in the 1400s. They are spectacular. But for me the Kingdom of doors is Ireland, specifically in Dublin. Doors are an artform there. When we were there a few years ago, my wife took dozens of photos of doors and buildings. You can find all about Ireland doors on the website www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/landmarks/doorsofdublin. Or just Google "Dublin Doors" and you'll have more info about doors than you can handle. There was a poster a few years ago that showed a montage of doors in Dublin. It was widely shown here. If Irish doors lack anything, it's that brooding mystery that attracts us. They are in bright colors, many highly decorated, very welcoming. Maybe that's why artists don't paint them much, no?
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