Innovative still lifes that mesmerize with the play of sunlight: Hyperrealist Scott Pryor

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

If you are a fan of hyperrealism, then getting to know the work of an American artist Scott Pryor will be a real discovery for you. Once you see his delightful paintings, built on a subtle sense of sunlight, a harmonious palette of colors, as well as amazing hyperrealism, you will never forget them.

The most outstanding in the work of the recognized master of painting Scott Prior (Scott Prior) is still lifes. It would seem, what else can surprise a modern artist working in a genre in which everything has been said for a long time. It turns out that maybe … And how. Paying attention to Pryor's still life performances, you will see how the simplest things that the author “built” on the windowsill unexpectedly transform a small piece of the world and sound so harmonious that it is sometimes impossible to look away from the picture.

They are romantic, subtle, graceful and, if I may say so, mood-altering. At the first glance at them, it is as if you are plunging into the atmosphere of warmth and light, with which the artist literally permeates every corner of the picture plane. And after looking closely, you understand that the background to all the master's paintings gives the mood, which is the landscape, which we look at through the window. And the soft light of the sun setting behind the horizon gives the master's work coziness and harmony.

But this is not all that the still lifes of the American painter conquer. In his original compositions, the most ordinary objects are involved: bottles of different configurations, various kitchen trinkets, which are full in any home, as well as flowers, vegetables, fruits and, of course, sunlight. It is he who is the main "character", the main conductor of the artist's pictorial compositions. It is the light that permeates every petal, every glass container and makes shadows, reflexes, and glare play. This is the real miracle that the artist brings to the viewer with his work.

Landscapes by Scott Pryor

I would also like to note that Scott Pryor works not only in the genre of innovative still life, he also paints in other styles and genres. Its delightful landscapes are no less charming and beautiful. The same soft sunlight, the same hyperrealism in the transfer of images, shape, texture, volume, the same warm colors … The same pacification, soulfulness and a sense of peace.

Portraits of Scott Pryor

Separately, I would like to say a few words about the artist's portraits, which are also characterized by a thorough drawing of images of people and an elegant detailing of their habitats, ordinary things, and the interior. For example, in the painting "Nanny and Rose" the artist depicted his wife Nanny together with his pet dog Rose, who settled down on the veranda of a house in Northampton on a summer day. In this work, the master is most struck by Scott's skill. He incredibly subtly painted not only the images of the foreground, but also the neighboring buildings, a terrace and a flowering bush of white lilacs. And to look at the peacefully dozing dog, red knitted socks on Nancy's legs, her checkered robe, as well as the beautiful sophisticated face of the woman herself is just a pleasure.

However, the crown of the whole creation, as always in the artist's works, is the warm sun glare passing into the room through the window frames. I repeat once again, it is the light in Pryor's works that symbolizes the atmosphere of quiet peace and comfort. It is he who has an incredible ability to give charm and originality to ordinary objects.

About the artist

Scott Prior is an American artist, representative of American hyperrealism. Born 1949 in Exeter, New Hampshire, attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, graduated in 1971 with a BA in graphics. Since 1980 he has been writing his works in the style of modern realism and hyperrealism. From the time of graduation to the present, he lives and works in Northampton, Massachusetts.

The originality of the idea and mastery of the secrets of the play of light, color, texture, volume leave no one indifferent. Therefore, Prior's innovative still lifes and landscapes are very popular among lovers and collectors of modern painting. Scott Pryor's paintings are also in many public collections, including the Boston Museum of Art, the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and the New British Museum of American Art in Connecticut. In addition, the artist regularly participates in group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. To date, Scott has held several solo exhibitions around the world.

The mesmerizing property of sunlight is very often attracted to contemporary artists, and they use it in their painting sometimes in a very unpredictable way. About this - in our publication: Magical paintings by the Lithuanian artist Petras Lukosius, who paints light.