Essence of Pittsburgh - Hardcover

Ron Donoughe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0963743333 ISBN 13: 9780963743336

Publisher: Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 2006

Synopsis

The first book published by the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Ron Donoughe's "Essence of Pittsburgh: The Paintings of Ron Donoughe in the Plein Air Style", show the diverse texture and character of the Western Pennsylvania landscape through the eyes of a painter. The book serves as a time capsule of our region. The 140-page, full-color book contains a foreword by Barbara L. Jones, curator, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, and an essay, The Roots of Plein Air Painting in Pittsburgh, by Frank J. Kurtik and Gary Grimes. It also features an appendix containing a thumbnail of each painting, along with comments by the artist regarding the stories behind it. The accompanying exhibition held at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in November 17, 2006 - January 21, 2007 showcased 140 small plein air paintings, all which were done from 2001 to 2006.

About this title

About the Author:

Ron Donoughe has been painting the Western Pennsylvania landscape for over 20 years. He paints outdoors all year round, even during the harsh winter months. His interest in working in this style - en plein air - is the subject of this book. Plein air painting has made the Western Pennsylvania region Ron's muse. He lives in Pittsburgh, and as a result many of his paintings explore the character of local neighborhoods, sometimes from an alleyway or a hillside vista. He documents the industrial landscape as it fades from the region, as well as the city parks and local landmarks that remain, observing the poetic change of seasons. This book also serves as a catalogue for his exhibition, Essence of Pittsburgh, held at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in November 2006. The exhibition showcased 140 small plein air paintings, all which were done from 2001 to 2006. Ron's work has been juried into many regional and national exhibitions and can b e found in the permanent collections of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

Review:

Artist Ron Donoughe magnifies subtleties of local landmarks By Kurt Shaw TRIBUNE-REVIEW ART CRITIC Sunday, November 26, 2006 Panther Hollow, Polish Hill, Schenley Park -- they are just a few of the places that many Pittsburghers drive by every day but rarely stop and take a good look at. But for Pittsburgh painters past and present, places like that -- as well as the steep hillsides, many bridges, industrial sites, even the outlying wooded countryside -- have held and continue to hold a charming allure. For the past four years, landscape painter Ron Donoughe has been capturing all that Pittsburgh and the surrounding region have to offer, in oil paint on canvas or panel, all for the purpose of producing a unique exhibit and book titled "Essence of Pittsburgh: The Paintings of Ron Donoughe in the Plein Air Style." The exhibition is on display at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in Shadyside. And, as visitors will discover, the 162 small works on a panel that comprise the exhibition show the diverse texture and character of the Western Pennsylvania landscape through the eyes of one of the area's most accomplished artists. Gone are the days when legendary local painters the likes of George Hetzel (1826-1899) and Aaron Harry Gorson (1872-1933) would set up an easel outdoors to paint a babbling brook or billowing steel mill. But, though the landscapes and cityscapes have changed, the tradition hasn't in Donoughe's mind. A native of Loretto, Pa., now living in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, Donoughe has been capturing the lay of the land in his paintings for at least 20 years. The artist contends that even without its once-bustling steel industry, the Steel City still boasts opportunities of great visual surprise. Pointing to the piece "Butler Street Morning," Donoughe says: "This is one of my favorite paintings in the show. It's just something that I've driven by a thousand times and then, at a particular time of day, in the morning, I noticed this ivy bl --Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Kurt Shaw

About this edition

• Publisher: Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0963743333
• ISBN 13: 9780963743336
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 143