“The Reader” by Thomas Reis

Image: M Gallery, Charleston, SC

“The Reader” by artist Thomas Reis is another fine painting… Fred and I were in M Gallery a few weeks ago (when I told you about the painting “Life” by Scott Christensen) and wanted to share with you another amazing piece of work. It’s a captivating painting and it definitely keeps your eye in the painting, amazing! Here’s the blip about the painting as shown on the M Gallery website:

My model posed wearing a traditional dress called a hanbok, which is still worn in South Korea– generally on special occasions. The painting process involved the appropriation and merging of disparate elements in order to create an overarching narrative and mood. I was struck by the glowing light in the studio and the model’s contemplative absorption in her text. I was also interested in depicting a still ubiquitous dress that is so deeply rooted in Korean cultural tradition. The painting’s composition is circular–that is, I’ve attempted to lead the viewer’s eye from the subject’s face and book down to the baskets, along the hem of the dress, up the arc of the bamboo and, finally, along the arching arrangement of frames, back to the model’s face. The leading lines of the sofa also intersect at her face.

I think the artists’ information is so interesting. What they were thinking when they were painting, the circumstances, what was happening, it’s just so interesting! I bought a book at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine one year, ANDREW WYETH AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Andrew Wyeth and Thomas Hoving, (click HERE for more info on the book!), and it was a description of each painting. It was so interesting! I loved that book!

Here’s a blip about Thomas from an M Gallery newsletter…

Thomas Reis began work as senior art director for JP Morgan Chase in New York City, shortly after receiving his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1993. Two years later, he was illustrating for nationally-known publications, including Time magazine, Rolling Stone, the Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, Business Week, TV Guide, Barron’s, Forbes and Smart Money. Corporate clients have included MGM, Dupont and Colgate. Throughout his career, Reis has also worked as a fine artist, producing work with all the refinement that one would expect from a classically trained painter. His paintings are represented in numerous permanent and private collections throughout the United States. Tom currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

(Text provided courtesy the Museum of Arts and Sciences.)

If you’re in Charleston, SC pop in and check out this artist at M Gallery of Fine Art on Broad Street. Catch you back here tomorrow!