About

When it comes to landscapes, John Varriano insists upon being out and painting directly in front of the scene, “en plen air” so to speak. He believes that to truly convey the sense and feel of a place in a painting, you should be there smelling the air and feeling the weather.

He went out to this location in New York City’s Carl Shurz Park on numerous frigid days to create this painting. The weather was bitterly cold but the sun was strong in order to capture the light that he desired. This painting reveals a number of masterful juxtapositions such as light against dark, freezing cold against a warm sun, wooden trees against hard rock, and nature against built structure. The sky is a brilliant blue, but of the kind you find on the coldest of winter days. The trees are lined up like figures on a chessboard facing off for a battle of will. You can sense the Artist on those cold stone steps, just out of sight, playing his game of visual chess and bringing the viewer under the spell of his powerful Art.