Robert Ross: The Architecture of Light | Museum of Art - DeLand
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Explore transitional spaces, scenes of quiet stillness, and the mystery of the commonplace in the paintings of Robert Ross, where light and form create a palpable sense of anticipation.
The paintings of Robert Ross are meditations on “visual moments” — views that seem to be suspended in time due to the way shapes, spaces, and light come together. When Ross paints, he begins by reproducing what he sees, then taking apart and reworking the images and shapes to find fresh interpretations. His subjects range from urban landscapes and interiors to people in moments of candid activity.
As a boy in Flint, Michigan, Ross remembers watching an artist create painted Christmas window displays for his father’s retail store. It was the first time he saw an artist at work. Ross drew horses, airplanes, and rock album covers — a way to amuse himself and impress adults and his friends. In college he took art history and studio classes, but didn’t pursue a degree in art. He loved art, but the thought of being an artist scared him. He couldn’t imagine how that was possible in Flint.
Then, in 2002, he saw an exhibition of painted portraits by Rima Jabbur at Rollins College and was mesmerized by her balance of medium and message. When Ross learned she taught life drawing at Crealde School of Art, he signed up. Her class and a plein-air landscape painting workshop with Stuart Shils a few years later convinced him to take art seriously.
Ross paints the world around him. On his daily walks and driving around town, he takes note of scenes that catch his eye. He looks for the way trees, houses, streets, and sky interact and create ever-changing compositions. He see shapes and spaces first, then light, shadows, and colors. Sometimes it is the process of painting that reveals visual moments to him. His work conveys a certain suspense, the sense that something has just happened, or is about to happen.
Image: Robert Ross, Coffee, 2023, Oil on Canvas, 20 x 24 in.
Photo: The Canovas Photography
The paintings of Robert Ross are meditations on “visual moments” — views that seem to be suspended in time due to the way shapes, spaces, and light come together. When Ross paints, he begins by reproducing what he sees, then taking apart and reworking the images and shapes to find fresh interpretations. His subjects range from urban landscapes and interiors to people in moments of candid activity.
As a boy in Flint, Michigan, Ross remembers watching an artist create painted Christmas window displays for his father’s retail store. It was the first time he saw an artist at work. Ross drew horses, airplanes, and rock album covers — a way to amuse himself and impress adults and his friends. In college he took art history and studio classes, but didn’t pursue a degree in art. He loved art, but the thought of being an artist scared him. He couldn’t imagine how that was possible in Flint.
Then, in 2002, he saw an exhibition of painted portraits by Rima Jabbur at Rollins College and was mesmerized by her balance of medium and message. When Ross learned she taught life drawing at Crealde School of Art, he signed up. Her class and a plein-air landscape painting workshop with Stuart Shils a few years later convinced him to take art seriously.
Ross paints the world around him. On his daily walks and driving around town, he takes note of scenes that catch his eye. He looks for the way trees, houses, streets, and sky interact and create ever-changing compositions. He see shapes and spaces first, then light, shadows, and colors. Sometimes it is the process of painting that reveals visual moments to him. His work conveys a certain suspense, the sense that something has just happened, or is about to happen.
Image: Robert Ross, Coffee, 2023, Oil on Canvas, 20 x 24 in.
Photo: The Canovas Photography
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