artist work

DAN RUPE

Paintings

EXHIBITION DATES:

Friday August 21 thru Thursday August 27 2009

Opening Reception: Friday August 21, 7-9pm

Art New England

"Rupe's palette is high key. [He] captures the essence of the street theater that embodies P-town in the summertime. He animates familiar landmarks such as the A-House, Duarte's Garage, and the Monument. Dan Rupe's work is part of a tradition that goes back to the beginning of Provincetown's art colony. The town's buildings have been painted throughout the past century by some of America's most important artists as well as the students who continue to paint in the streets today. Rupe's caffeinated vision documents the town as it is now, as it enters its second century of attracting artists with its picturesque character."

Cape Arts Review

"Dan Rupe paints the town he loves with expressive abandon and a high-keyed palette. Inspired by the animated summer energy, the rhythms of Commercial Street, the diverse architecture and color of the jumbled mix of historic and commercial and community landmarks, Rupe likes to be out on the street first thing in the morning, taking in the sensations of town and composing his eye, and singing with the summer spirit of Provincetown.
He paints only from life, his composition ruled by his intuitive sense of formal order. He begins covering his canvas with a deep crimson wash. This ground gives his brilliant pure color , applied with an expressive, direct gesture, an electric charge. No matter how often or how long one looks at a Rupe painting, it is always the present tense. The tone of his palette, the freshness and clarity of primary colors, reflects an optimistic attitude, an intrinsic love of life."

Gillian Drake

Artscope Magazine

"Rupe has received acclaim for his Prvincetown scenes and their mouthwatering palettes. Familiar houses and landmarks shine in the summer sun in Rupe's paintings, captured with an interpretive realism that brings residents and visitors alike to familiar spaces."

 

Dan Rupe paints the town he loves with expressive abandon and a high-keyed palette. Inspired by the animated summer energy, the rhythms of Commercial Street, the diverse architecture and color of the jumbled mix of historic and commercial and community landmarks, Dan likes to be out on the street first thing in the morning, taking in the sensations of town. A virtuoso painter, Rupe is composing his eye-music -- jazzy and snappy, and singing with the summer spirit of Provincetown. He's our artist town crier, for he absorbs that convivial summer spirit and gives it back in his painting, immediately, intuitively, so that his paintings call out to the viewer to stop and pay attention, to take it in and be a part of this storied town.

Rupe paints only from life. He wonders around town, on the lookout for the right subject, the right approach. His composition is ruled by his intuitive sense of formal order. He then begins by covering his canvas with a deep crimson wash. This ground gives his brilliant pure color, applied with an expressive, direct gesture, an electric charge. His work is defined by that movement of color. Look twice at the telephone lines; they seem to be quivering with silent conversation. No matter how often or how long one looks at a Rupe painting, it is always the present tense. The tone of his palette, the freshness and clarity of primary colors, reflects an optimistic attitude, an intrinsic love of live.

Like the long history of modern painters that Rupe brings to his work, the painting process is what matters:

"It ends up as a piece of art, but the process is what has captured me. It comes from observation, altered by life experiences, emotional status. I want to be honest, to be true to the experience, true to the process, not confined by external expectations, or technique, always changing."

It is "walking the tightrope of possibility," and being conscious of it, that excites Rupe.

Rupe began his life as a painter in high school at Interlochen Arts Academy. He attended Kansas City Art Institute, and then finished his formal training at Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. His work has been shown in many one-person and group exhibitions in Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Kansas City, and Provincetown, and internationally in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. For many years, he exhibited at Ellen Harris Gallery in Provincetown. In 1998 Rupe was selected by Altos De Chavon in La Romana, Dominican Republic, as International Artist in Residence. His work is included in numerous private, corporate and museum collections throughout the USA and Europe, among them AT & T, Bank of Oklahoma, Ameritech Mobile, Midwest Museum of Art, State of Illinois, Mission Hills State Bank, Heineman Bakeries, and Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Rupe was the annual featured artist for Provincetown AIDS Support Group in 1996. He has many individual collectors in Provincetown, Boston, Hudson, NY, and across the country, including former Governor of Illinois, Jim Thompson and former Mayor of Chicago, Jane Byrne. Rupe has painted numerous commissions of portraits, pets, and residences for his collectors.

ERNDEN FINE ART GALLERY is pleased to represent Dan Rupe. For more information on Dan’s work, please contact Dennis Costin, Gallery Director at 508-487-6700 or 1-888-304-ARTS or vial email erndengallery@att.net