Margaret Coe American, b. 1941
The Ethos of Venice, 2018
Oil
30 x 40"
Margaret Coe: The City of Light, 2018 The Karin Clarke Gallery, located at 760 Willamette Street in downtown Eugene, will exhibit the latest collection of oil paintings by Margaret Coe...
Margaret Coe: The City of Light, 2018
The Karin Clarke Gallery, located at 760 Willamette Street in downtown Eugene, will exhibit the latest collection of oil paintings by Margaret Coe from October 17 though December 1. “The City of Light” features 22 large and mid-sized paintings that were created during and Coe’s five week stay in Italy earlier this year.
“In 2017, I spent two weeks in Venice, and found that I stayed very close to areas that I was familiar with. When I returned this year, I was able to spend much more time exploring the city, which really had a significant impact on the work I was able to create” says Coe. “I really felt like I was able to make a much deeper connection to my surroundings, and to my work this time.”
Working in both the plein-air style and studio setting, this exhibition features some paintings that were created using a mixed method approach where Coe started select works on site, and finished them later in her studio. In these examples, Coe was able to create pieces that were highly interpretive to her surroundings, but also took inspiration from the canvas itself.
Prior to her trip, Coe invested in fine-grade, linen canvas, which was a departure from her normal selection of standard cotton canvas. As a result to using a new material, her paintings took on a new lightness and transparency. She found that the softness of the linen inspired her to use a more tender approach to her pieces that were painted on site.
“This collection of work really shows the connection that I had made with Italy during this last trip. I was able to experience the beauty of Venice through painting on a very responsive canvas,” says Coe. “During my time there, I found that I was in a place where myself, the canvas, and Venice were all in harmony.”