Manet | Joe Forkan's blog • Notes about Painting admin May 20, 2019

Manet | Joe Forkan's blog • Notes about Painting

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The Lebowski Cycle installed at The College of the Canyons Art Gallery

The exhibition of The Lebowski Cycle at College of the Canyons Art Gallery in Santa Clarita, CA is entering its last week on display.

There will be a closing reception this coming Saturday, December 6th from 3:00 – 7:00 pm.

This will be the last weekend that the gallery will be open to see the show.

Come up if you can!

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The Death of Marat (After David) • Joe Forkan 2008, oil on linen, 96″ x 58″

I’ve had a few requests to put all of the original 14 paintings from The Lebowski Cycle into one post. So, here they are. (Update: A 15th Painting is also included now). The source paintings and more info about the Cycle can be found deeper in this blog. It looks like there will be a couple of exhibits of the original paintings coming up in the next year, one in California, and one in New York. Check back for more info. Also, I’ll be printing some limited edition giclee prints in the near future. Send me an email if you want to be notified when they are available.

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Oath of the Horatii • Joe Forkan 2006-2010 Oil on Linen 72″ x 40″

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The Lamentation • Joe Forkan 2006-2011 Oil on Linen 72″ x 40″

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Sacred and Profane Love (After Titian) • Joe Forkan 2011 oil on linen, 72″ x 40″ (182.88 cm x 101.60 cm)

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The Agony in the Garden (After Carracci) • Joe Forkan 2006-2011 oil on linen, 76″ x 48″ (193.04 cm x 121.92)

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The Deposition from the Cross (After Pontormo) • Joe Forkan 2011, oil on linen, 72″ x 40″

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Baptism of Christ (After Carracci) • Joe Forkan 2011, oil on linen 24” x 38″”

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Supper at Emmaus (After Caravaggio) • Joe Forkan 2006-2009 oil on linen 96″x 38″

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The Raft of the Medusa (After Géricault) • Joe Forkan 2011, oil on linen, 84″ x 144″

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Venus • Joe Forkan 2011, oil on linen, 72″ x 50″

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Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (After Friedrich) • Joe Forkan 2009, oil on linen, 80″ x 48″

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The Taking of Christ (After Caravaggio) • Joe Forkan 2009, oil on linen, 72″ x 40″

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Ecce Homo (After Guercino) • Joe Forkan 2009, oil on linen, 72″ x 40″

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The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (after Caravaggio) • Joe Forkan 2014 Oil on Linen 72″ x 40″

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Jester (After Velazquez’s Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid) • Joe Forkan oil on linen, 48″ x 76″ (121.92 cm x 193.04 cm

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Detail – Jester (After Velazquez’s Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid) • Joe Forkan oil on linen, 48″ x 76″ (121.92 cm x 193.04 cm)

I just received some new photos of The Lebowski Cycle paintings that I had shot while the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion exhibition was still up. Photographer Susan Einstein did a great job and I got many very clear detail shots like the one above (the complete painting is here.) I’ll be swapping out some of the post images for some of the clearer ones from this shoot, and posting more process info on the paintings soon.

The show is down now, but most of the paintings (and a few additional ones) are going to travel to an exhibition of The Lebowski Cycle at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, FL

That exhibition opens at the end of February 2012.

More on that soon.

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The Raft of the Medusa (After Géricault) • Joe Forkan 2011, oil on linen, 84″ x 144″

This is the largest painting from Lebowski Cycle. It is based on The Raft of the Medusa, painted by Théodore Géricault around 1819. His painting is a staggering 16 x 23 1/2 feet. Mine is merely 7 x 12 feet, but of course is further diminished in being compressed to a few inches on the computer screen. I have a lot to say about this one, and will also post more soon about the process of the last few paintings I uploaded, but I wanted to get this up on the site.

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The Raft of the Medusa • Théodore Géricault 1818–1819 Oil on canvas 491 cm × 716 cm (193.3 in × 282.3 in) Musée du Louvre, Paris

I will be giving a Gallery Talk about the Lebowski Cycle at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion on Thursday, September 29th, from 7-9.

More info on the lecture and the exhibition is available here:

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Here are a few images from the opening to try to give a sense of the scale of this piece. It is a diptych, each canvas measuring 6 x 7 feet.

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Here are some photos from Saturday’s opening at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion. Thanks to everyone that came to the opening. It was quite a turnout. Thanks also to Eric Stoner for taking these photos of the evening. It was great to finally see all of these paintings in one room, and the pavilion is a perfect space for it. These shots really give a sense of the scale of the paintings, which is hard to communicate by listing the sizes on a posted image.

The show will be up for 6 weeks and I’ll be giving a gallery talk about the Lebowski Cycle at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion on Thursday, September 29th, from 7-10. More info on the show is here…

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