Nick Patten

Telephone: 518-828-3555

Email: nick@nickpatten.com

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Reviews

In The Fresh Air

Gallery Walks, July 22, 2010

(Excerpt)
By Keith V. Shaw

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Even in this age of installations and institutional funding, some artists still make money the old-fashioned way: selling representational paintings.

In "Contemporary American Masters," the Harrison Gallery showcases three of its main artists. I've written before on these distinguished painters, who are either in their mid or late careers. The exhibit impresses both with its talent and breadth of subjects.

Nick Patten's quiet interiors of older homes slow down the pace of life to a painting, helping us observe and absorb the unheralded beauty around us; THIS IS LIFE ENHANCING ART. I look forward to his solo show at the Harrison in December.

Harrison Gallery shows Contemporary American Masters
(Excerpt)

Posted: 06/30/2010 11:12:02 PM EDT

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Harrison Gallery will present a show comprised of contemporary American paintings by three master artists, Hale Johnson, Nick Patten and Evan Wilson. The show will run from July 3-28. The artists will be attending the show’s opening reception on Saturday, July 3 from 5 to 7 p.m.

The three painters represented in the upcoming show have undoubtedly reached the level of master within their trade. The skill with which they portray their subjects, each in their respective style, conveys an amazing capacity and control of technique, style and representation. Reaching a level of expertise with their craft allows the artist to reveal their inner genius and flair, powerfully depicting scenes that inspire them. Wilson comments that with mastery of technique comes the freedom to focus on the power of the image itself rather than the methods with which they are constructed.

Nick Patten, often described as an American Vermeer, invokes the Dutch genre style but infuses it with a fresh, vibrant and uniquely American flavor that conjures a wide range of emotions within the viewer. Typically depicting furnished household scenes devoid of human presence, Patten describes shadow and light to create scenes that are hauntingly still, serene, and calming. The lack of narrative allows for the viewer to interpret the scene on an entirely personal level. Patten remarks, "I don’t try to manipulate the observer’s emotions. If someone sees melancholy in the empty room, fine, if someone gets a feeling of pleasant nostalgia for a home once lived in, that’s just as valid."

Patten’s paintings with their geometry and tonality remain simple yet austere, serving to reveal the everyday beauty that exists around the corner. While drawing largely from the Dutch style, these works are distinctly American. The architecture and furnishing, as well as the earthy palette, are unmistakably ours and infuse the Vermeer tradition with a traditionally American flavor.

Patten, schooled in Abstract Expressionism, discovered his realist style outside of the contemporary academic system. Born in Troy, N.Y., his career has taken him to the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York City, Chatham, Mass., Cape Cod, and then back to his home along the Hudson where he currently paints in his windowless studio in a barn behind his home. Patten’s prowess and mastery of shadow and light have earned him a national reputation. His works reside in public and private collections throughout the country.

The Harrison Gallery is located at 39 Spring Street in Williamstown. Gallery hours are Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For further information, contact The Harrison Gallery at 413-458-1700 or visit their website at www.theharrisongallery.com.

A Certain Slant of Quiet Interior Light

By Keith V. Shaw, Special to the Eagle

Updated: August 13, 2009

NICK PATTEN

"AMY'S CORNER"

Oil 30" x 20"

WILLIAMSTOWN -- An American Vermeer is how I described Nick Patten last year, when reviewing a group show at the Harrison Gallery. He returns to that venue with a one-man exhibit, and that designation still fits the bill.

Like a 17th-century Dutch painter, Patten specializes in one subject, and through practice, excels. Typically working on small to moderately-sized panels, he depicts the interiors of older homes. These spaces are nicely furnished but uninhabited. Without narrative or emotional intent, Patten treats these rooms, hallways and stairwells as monumental still lifes.

Rooms -- with their geometry, tonality, and furnishings -- can be silently beautiful. Dutch genre scenes capture this, but their narrative action often diverts attention from it. Patten removes us from a room so that we may better see it. His work performs a primary function of art: to reveal the everyday beauty around us.

Patten's artwork echoes the language of Dutch genre paintings. A clean geometry resides in these tidy domestic interiors. Windows, picture frames and doorways rationally compartmentalize the composition. Frequently one interior telescopes into another. Also like Dutch painters, Patten patiently describes visual texture, luster and reflections.

The evocation of Vermeer comes from Patten's soft touch and sensitivity towards ambient light. Harsh lines can create an "airless" environment in paintings. To avoid those conditions, Patten takes great pains to dissolve edges. By softening the boundaries that separate objects, light-filled atmosphere filters through his spaces.

In these homes, light always behaves properly. It beams from primary sources and bounces off secondary ones. Shunning corners, light rays gravitate toward flat, central areas. Such basic principles play out in Patten's rooms as illumination gradates over surfaces; the nuances are immeasurable.

But Vermeer is only half my designation; Patten's work is wholly American. Architectural details, window hardware, furniture -- all of it -- encapsulate our unique experience. This is our space, and these walls enshrine our conversations, from the Civil War on. His simple palette -- earth tones, white, black and occasional accent colors -- also resonate as traditionally American.

The show has numerous standouts. An especially lovely piece is "Amy's Corner," the picture of tranquility. Its smooth, creamy surface sets off the painterliness of the cushions. Bathed in a warm tonality, "Hobnail at Night" depicts a tactile wall lamp snapped into relief by the flatness of its shadow and gridiron background. This dialogue between 2- and 3-dimensionality often surfaces in Patten's work.

In "Light and Shadow," an unseen, illuminated window projects its design on a wall and couch. The deviant, central mullion summarizes the dual nature of painting: flatness and illusion. A flat geometry imprints the depicted scene. Couch and nearby table read almost as silhouettes. Window panes and picture frames scaffold the composition. The black and white palette complements this perceptual duel.

Although Patten attended an art program, that's not where he learned to paint. Schooled in Abstract Expressionism, his professors cared little about technique, and knew even less. After graduating, Patten discovered for himself how to put together a painting. He belongs to a growing number of successful artists who learned their craft outside today's academic system.

Patten methodically constructs his images beginning with a gray underpainting that resembles a black and white photo. Next, he nudges the work into color by gradually applying multiple layers of pigment. This is an old painting system, whose tradition culminated with the academic art of 19th-century Paris.

Against all odds, American masters like Nick Patten have essentially reinvented painting. Art critics and academic programs regard this movement as irrelevant. Like 19th-century Paris, the current art establishment is convinced of its own importance and permanence. But these New Masters are an unforeseen strain of Postmodern avant-gardism, and from a historical perspective, it represents the most vital development in art today.

If you go ...
What: Nick Patten solo show at the Harrison Gallery
Where: 39 Spring St., Williamstown
When: Through Aug. 27.

Gallery open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Exhibit goes through the looking glass and into Patten's rooms

By Melora B. North

"THE PROVINCETOWN BANNER"

Thu Jul 16, 2009

"A Sense of Balance"

Light, shadow and reflection are the essence of Nick Patten's paintings

DENNIS, MA - Speaking recently to artist Nick Patten, who is represented locally at the Rice-Polak Gallery in Provincetown, it becomes apparent he has found his niche in his work and his life in a roundabout way.

Patten has an upcoming exhibition at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis July 18 through Aug. 23. He will give a talk at 2 p.m. on July 18.

Originally from New York, he and his wife Amy had the Patten Gallery in Chatham from 1992 until their move to the Hudson River Valley in New York 12 years ago where he now has a converted barn studio, all to himself.

“It was very cool having the gallery,” he says, speaking from his New York home, of those years. “But we got a little bit weary of the lifestyle. I painted in the gallery and Amy did the books. I’m not as friendly as I used to be and people would talk to me all the time when I was working, it was a recipe for disaster. I was getting deeper into painting and wanted to concentrate. At the same time I was trying to keep a mindset as a retailer and was entering more shows outside my space. I was being offered more opportunities than I could handle.”

Creating anywhere between 40 and 50 works a year, it is easy to see why the couple had to make a move to a quieter lifestyle.

“It was the perfect storm,” he says. “I felt like I could go off on my own. The real estate market was good; we were still drawn to New York and took a week to explore the Hudson Valley where we found our house in Stockport. I love the Hudson Valley painters but don’t identify with them.”

Patten has a B.A. in fine arts from the College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y., and has studied life drawing at the Arts Students League in New York City.

“I didn’t want to be a teacher,” he says. “I wanted to be an artist. The last two years of college I was an art major. They taught me to relax, to paint with a brush on large canvases. I said I wanted to paint drapery, more detailed stuff.”

“For a long time I painted still lifes,” he says. “Then I gravitated to bottles on tables, like Georgio Morandi, a 20th century Italian painter who painted the same bottles for 60 years. He played with the light, moved them around. I had never heard of him. I was doing bottles on large canvases and submitted some to a New York gallery. They told me this had been done before. That’s when I learned of Morandi.”

So he changed direction and began concentrating on his still lifes. In the process he began to take an interest in the backdrops of his studies and made the transition to paintings of rooms.

“I started to notice the rooms behind the still life and began to paint them,” he says. “A friend told me my work was just like my still lifes, only I had backed up further. Virtually all I work on now are rooms, some from my own home, and I occasionally do some still lifes.”

For the exhibition Patten will have 15 paintings, two of which are still lifes, the remainder all rooms, none of which are occupied by people — which he finds too distracting.

He works with oils on panels and occasionally linen; he prefers panel because it is rigid and he likes to push the brush against a solid surface. But then again he likes linen because “it is so luscious, it has give and take, a little texture.”

For practical reasons panel is his preference.

“It is the most durable,” he says. “It is easier to ship, it travels better. I know it will travel at least two times, to the gallery and then the buyer.”

Patten’s work is known for its shadows, light and reflections — the way the sun shines in the window, the rays bouncing off furniture casting shadows into dark recesses. His work is alive, almost an invitation to enter the painting and take a seat. The paintings are realistic imaginings and reminiscent of rooms you may have visited before or just dreamed up, but most certainly want to enter. They are comfort zones where the imagination can wander and conjure up a magical potion full of wonder and delightful, unknown treasures.

Working from photographs in a studio where the light is all artificial, he takes license and adds or deletes items that will detract from his vision. At any given time he will be working on four to six paintings because he likes the layering process, applying anywhere from five to seven layers, and wants the paint to have time to dry.

When asked if any of his paintings are ever complete he chuckles and says, “I only use retouch varnish on the surface in case I want to go back. They all need something, every painting in my house needs something more done to it.” Spoken like a true artist.

DEVIANCE ART - EZINE- ISSUE 3 JULY 2009

SIMONE YVETTE:

DEVIANCE ART - EZINE- ISSUE 3 JULY 2009

Nick Patten

Master of Light and Shadow

Nick Patten sits squarely in front of his easel in his windowless studio where the only light comes from three overhead spots pointed at the painting he's working on.

“I don't have any natural light in here,” he explains, “because I don't want it or need it. When this painting is seen in a gallery or on the wall of someone's house, it'll be illuminated by artificial light. So I prefer to paint a picture that looks best in the light it will actually be seen in.”
To demonstrate his point, Patten, a husky man in his mid-fifties with glasses, dark brown, silver-flecked hair and a propensity for dressing in black, swings open the loft door of his converted-barn studio near Hudson, New York. The room floods with daylight. He looks pleased when his visitors agree that the painting suddenly looks faded. “ I also think,” says Patten, pulling the door shut, “that most people who own my work enjoy seeing it after dark when they come home from work…long after the daylight's gone.”

Ironically, this perfectionist who shuns light in his studio is a master at putting light into his paintings. To most viewers, Patten's paintings of rooms are all about light—how it comes in through the window, falls gently on a bed or table, reflects off a polished floor and eventually gets swallowed up by shadows in the far reaches of the room.

His virtuosic and dramatic treatment of lights and shadows, his impeccable selection of subjects and his extraordinary technique at rendering his paintings has made Patten one of the most accomplished realists in the country. Keith V. Shaw who writes art criticism for the Berkshire Eagle has called Patten an American Vermeer. “High praise indeed,” says Patten. “I certainly don't consider myself in Vermeer's league, but I do share his attraction to interior scenes and his fidelity to the way light behaves.”

Unlike Edward Hopper, with whom Patten is frequently compared, Patten doesn't set out to create any specific emotion in his viewers. Where some of Hopper's paintings intentionally evoke a sense of loneliness, Patten's paintings affect people in a variety of ways, depending on their personal experiences. Some see them as serene or sad, some as haunting or romantic or even unsettling. “I never try to manipulate the viewers. Whatever reaction they get from my paintings is strictly up to them,” says Patten. “If they feel nostalgia for a house once lived in, that's fine. If they find my painting wistful or melancholy or romantic, that's fine too. I totally expect there will be people who say my work is depressing because many of them look for vibrant color in a painting and you're almost never going to see that in my work.” Some people see in Patten's paintings exquisite patterns of light and dark that stray from the realist tradition into the realm of representational art where the artist takes more liberties with his subject than a realist would.

There are no people in a Patten painting. “People only add a narrative element,” he says, “telling a story I don't want told.” He feels that a human figure in a work of art makes it less timeless and causes the viewer to ask himself, for example, “what is that guy doing standing on the staircase?”
For Patten, that takes the focus away from the room, which, for him, is the essence of the painting. Keeping the viewer inside one of his painted rooms is important to Patten. In most paintings he makes the windows translucent with the wash of incoming light so the viewers' eyes don't wander to the scenery beyond.

Using halogen lights to illuminate his work is not the only way Patten departs from the conventional wisdom of the art community. “We were told in art school not to use photographs as sources for painting. I guess they thought it was cheating. That's nonsense,” says Patten, “I paint from photographs all the time—unapologetically—because they help me get the job done.”

“I'm a pragmatist. Whatever tool I can use to help me make a successful painting, I'll use it.” He pulls a long piece of tape off a spool. “Look,” he says, “I'll show you how I paint venetian blinds.” He sticks the tape horizontally across a window he's painting and brushes white paint along the edge. Then he takes a small, soft brush and painstakingly feathers the edge of each slat to soften it. “I'll try anything that works to make a better painting,” says Patten. “I never saw the point of hammering a nail in with a spoon.”

Patten is a motivated, self-disciplined artist who puts in ten-hour days, five days a week to produce an average of fifty paintings a year. He works in solitude in his studio with just his eclectic music to keep him company, listening to everything from Sting to Gregorian Chants. He takes occasional breaks in his work to exercise with a set of barbells he keeps in his studio. Away from his studio he keeps in shape playing tennis with his buddies three times a week.

When Patten finds a room or part of a house he wants to paint, he takes a series of photographs and goes back to his studio to find the exact angle and cropping he wants. “I never stick slavishly to a photo,” he says. “I practice what I call ‘the process of exclusion' and eliminate anything that doesn't contribute to the image I want.” Patten takes extraordinary measures to make sure the proportions, angles and scale are exactly right when he transfers the image from a small photo to the 36” by 40” panel on which he'll paint. His tools of choice for this job are a proportion wheel (the round version of a slide rule) and a calculator. When he's sure the measurements are exact he does a pencil drawing on the gesso-coated, gray painted panel. “Then I do a complete black and white painting over that. And when that dries I do the first layer of color—the part of the process I most dislike because it turns a very good painting into a mess.” But after two or three more layers of color the painting takes shape and moves toward the final two coats of varnish.

Patten and his wife Amy, who ably manages the artist's business affairs, moved to Stockport, New York, five years ago after twelve years as art gallery owners in Chatham on Cape Cod. “Because I painted in the shop every day, I was exposed to anyone who wanted to look over my shoulder and comment on my work. Through that experience, I learned that most people are polite when they encounter an artist at work. People don't come to a gallery to trash the artist—they save that for when they're out of earshot. I discovered in those days,” says Patten, “that the most honest compliment an artist can get comes in the form of a check. It's not just the money that's satisfying, but anybody who's willing to part with hard earned money to own one of my paintings compliments my work in the most sincere way.”

Before living on Cape Cod, Patten worked in New York City for eight years where he got into the groove of painting still lifes of bottles. At one time, he had a one-man show in Brookline, Massachusetts, called “Bottles on Tables.” “It was a minor critical success,” he says. His art education came at the College of St. Rose in Albany where he earned a BFA in Fine Arts. In New York, he participated in life drawing classes at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design.

During the five years since Patten left the Cape, his reputation there has not diminished. From July 19th to August 23rd, the Cape Cod Museum of Fine Arts is paying him the honor of a museum show where fifteen of his paintings will be on exhibit. “I've had one-man shows in galleries all over the country and won some prestigious awards,” says Patten, “ but this is probably the most important tribute to my work I've ever had.” Locally, Patten's work can be seen at the Harrison Gallery in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Jo Ellen Harrison, owner of the gallery recently announced she's holding a one-man show of Patten's works this year from August 1st to the 27th. “I love Nick's work,” says Harrison, “because of the way the drama of his light lures us in and then gives us the freedom to create our own narrative. For the five years we have worked together,” says Harrison, “his portfolio has never faltered. In fact, it has grown stronger. Nick's were the only paintings selling in my gallery during the drastic economic crash last fall. The appeal of his work.” Harrison adds, “seems to transcend hard times.”

Harrison Gallery

American Realists are for Real

By Keith V. Shaw, Special to the Eagle

Edited

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

WILLIAMSTOWN — Still think of American painting as a bunch of flat squares and gestural pyrotechnics? Come to the Harrison Gallery and discover that "American Realists" are for real.

"American Realists" presents five artists whose style can be collectively called realistic. This label differs from the broader term representational. Realist art closely corresponds to the experience and expectation of human vision, and its forms are generally well defined.

Realism has deep roots in American painting. After having been art critically shelved 50 years ago by New York modernism, this older path is making new inroads. What can I say? Art history is cyclical.

Nick Patten is an American Vermeer specializing in quiet interiors of old houses. His rooms are uninhabited; narrative action would detract from their silent poetry. Vintage furnishings, architectural details, and ambient light provide Patten his subjects.

Geometry predominates his compositions. Far walls parallel picture planes, and in the intervening spaces, oblique and horizontal lines parry. Each time planes converge, new systems of tonal gradations emanate like pond ripples.

Patten masterfully dissolves line. With painted interiors, objects can appear hard and the space airless unless the artist properly softens the edges. Patten perfects the transition from solid to void, and his rooms breathe atmosphere. His interiors are so experiential, owning one is like having an addition to your house.

NICK PATTEN

” Votives in Daylight ”

Oil 24” x 36”

American Realists at Harrison Gallery

By Seth Rogovoy

Edited article from “The Berkshires ”

October 10, 2008~ www.berkshires.org

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. ) -- The Harrison Gallery will present a show of five realist artists – Nick Patten Hale Johnson, John MacDonald , Evan Wilson and Kim Denise – from December 6 through December 24 . The artists will attend the opening reception at the Harrison Gallery on Saturday, December 6, from 5 to 7 pm .

Artists in the realist tradition paint honestly what they see – with no embellishments or interpretation -- yet their paintings can stir the emotions as surely as the works of impressionists, expressionists, abstractionists or any other school of painting.

Nick Patten finds his subjects indoors in the rooms of older houses. He works from photographs to develop haunting compositions that include highly reflective surfaces and dramatic lighting with high contrasts of light and dark. His images can be serene, sad or mysterious depending on the interpretation of the viewer. “I don't put narrative into my work,” says Patten, “and I don't try to manipulate the viewer's emotions. If someone feels melancholy looking at my work, fine, and if they feel nostalgia for a home once lived in, that's just as valid.” Patten is a master at creating spaces that speak not through people or movements but through shadow, light and reflection. He earned his BA of Fine Arts at the College of St. Rose in Albany and studied life drawing at both the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design in New York City . Patten moved to a small town near Hudson , New York , after residing for many years on Cape Cod .

The Harrison Gallery is located at 39 Spring Street in Williamstown , MA . Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:30 pm and Sunday from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm . For further information contact the Harrison Gallery at 413 458 1700 or visit the website at www.theharrisongallery.com.

NICK PATTEN

"View to the Foyer”

Oil 40” x 30”

Review of Nick Patten at Rice/Polak

Posted by Bklynbiblio, Art Historian, Librarian

September 9, 2008

Provincetown is one of those vacation spots noted for its art galleries. Many of the artists showcased are often locals, so one sees plenty of Cape Cod scenes that seem targeted to tourists. I was startled then to discover the work of New York-born artist Nick Patten, whose work was on show at the Rice/Polak Gallery while I was there. Patten works in oil and is largely a self-taught artist. The Rice/Polak Gallery writes: "His careful compositions in light and shade capture the essence of Cape light illuminating a corner of a room or stairwell, imbuing both subject and viewer with a sense of serenity."

While certainly this is true--lighting is one of the highlights of his work--what struck me most about his paintings were their uncanny, haunting realism. Works such as this one, View to the Foyer, are more complicated than at first they seem. His paintings have the open-frame, slice-of-life quality that Edgar Degas explored in many of his paintings. This painting reveals not what you see in front of you, but what you see in your peripheral vision. But the emptiness the space conveys makes you stop, turn your head, and pause. The stillness reminds me of paintings by Edward Hopper, where silence echoes beyond the canvas and into the viewer's mind, making him/her part of the scene. By gazing upon his paintings, the viewer enters Patten's rooms and quietly walks through the space, moving almost magically from painting to painting. His work truly demonstrates how classical rendering and style can appeal to both traditionalists and the avant-garde. For more of his work, visit his website at http://www.nickpatten.com/ .

Posted by bklynbiblio

NICK PATTEN

“Being There”

45” x 55” Oil on Linen

Harrison Gallery Stays Warm, Even in Winter

By Veronica Bosley

1/12/08

Edited article from “ The Berkshires” ~ www.berkshires.org

The sign on the door of the Harrison Gallery says it all: “WARM ”. This is not only apparent in the drastic temperature shift felt when stepping inside after walking down Spring Street in Williamstown on a cold winter day, but it also captures the nature of the gallery itself.

As I walked in, I was cordially greeted by Assistant Gallery Manager, Jillian Casey, who was kind enough to spend some time with me to talk about the gallery. She explained that the best part about working at the gallery was the “great group of artists” that she had the chance to meet and work with. “I love introducing the public to their artwork,” she said. “All of the artists we work with are very accessible and friendly, and it's nice to be able to connect people with them and their work.”

Opened in May, 2001, the philosophy of The Harrison Gallery is to “honor the spirit of art in all of us.” Founded by Jo Ellen Harrison, the gallery specializes in contemporary American artists, with a focus on landscapes. Each month a new show opens in the north gallery space, high- lighting a large body of work by one artist or multiple artists. In February, the gallery will open a show called Still Life , which, in spite of its name, features the work of five dynamic artists.

An artist's work I was lucky enough to see was Nick Patten . Nick grew up in Troy , New York . His realist paintings focus on light and perspective. He says, “Much of my focus is the painting of light and dark. I am also trying to bring a quiet drama to everyday scenes.”

Nick works from photographs, often omitting objects that create clutter to facilitate a crisp, clean, composition. His haunting interiors, filled with reflective surfaces and dramatic lighting draw the viewer in for a closer look. Jillian and I speculated at what it would be like to be able to omit the objects that create clutter in our own apartments and decided that if we could hang one of Nick's works in our living rooms perhaps it would give the illusion of an organized and polished interior. His paintings do have a way of transporting the viewer so that they feel they are part of the work.

My visit to the Harrison Gallery was a fruitful one. Casual accessibility among top-notch fine art is hard to find, but the Harrison Gallery manages to pull it off. It's a great place to stay warm and cozy during the long winters in the Berkshires. Still Life will be on view at the Harrison Gallery from Feb. 2-Feb. 29 with an opening reception with the artists on Feb. 2, from 5-7 p.m.

The Harrison Gallery, located at 39 Spring Street, Williamstown, is open Monday-Saturday 10-5:30 and Sunday 11-4.