Karl Maughan has dedicated his career to creating his characteristic horticultural paintings. Over an extraordinary career spanning more than 30 years, Maughan has found endless inspiration in gardens, which for him bridge dreams and nature. Gow Langsford Gallery presents a new exhibition by the widely recognised and highly sought after artist, entitled Athenree, a body of work which celebrates the Spring landscape in all its floral glory.
Viewed from a distance, the skilfully executed landscapes of Maughan’s paintings appear naturalistic; but although the genesis of his paintings is with photographic records, Maughan’s primary artistic concern is with the interplay of colour and form. Maughan paints alla prima, or wet on wet, lending his lush paintings a sense of urgency: colours bleed in and out of loose brushstrokes describing each individual leaf and petal. In some compositions, paths beckon the viewer in close, revealing areas of thickly applied paint and rhythmic patterned brushwork, aligning the artist’s practice more with Impressionism than Naturalism.
Maughan’s paintings transport the viewer into fantastical environments where the vegetation has been suspended in a state of perpetual full bloom as if in a dream.
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