Painted Photos

Roberta Smith complains in a recent NY Times article of two more iterations of what (to her) is an overdone theme in contemporary painting -- "paintings based on photographs." We've gone far enough since Richter's Baader-Meinhof series, she seems to say; time to move on.

True or not, Susan Core's beautiful photographs provide an interesting comparison.  They are inspired by, and uncannily resemble (though they are not precise replicas), still-life paintings by the early American painter Raphaelle Peale.  Core has thoroughly investigated Peale's approach, from his use of color to composition to lighting, and has reconstructed her own tableaux that uncannily resemble Peale's.   

Discussions of their conceptual merit can wait another day; they are simply gorgeous.  Here, for example, is "Strawberries and Ostrich Egg" (from Yancey Richardson's website):

I wonder how much is the actual lighting and how much is "post-exposure" work.  This one, the largest of the bunch if I recall, is called "Still Life with Striped Bass":

And this is "Apples in a Porcelain Basket":

Personal viewing is highly recommended.  (535 W.22nd, through December 6th).