Art Matters, March 1985 Vol. 4, No. 6
"Suburban and Urbane" by Tam Mossman

     Suburban and Urbane "Philadelphia Plein Air," at the Third Street Gallery, displayed recent landscapes by emerging Delaware Valley Realists. Most had been painted on the spot - accounting for their frequently small size and general animation. Kurt Solmssen - perhaps best-known of the seven - clearly loved winter, using arctic blues and deliberately exaggerated russets. His "January Landscape" filled a snowy glade with pallid trees and heavy impasto shadows. "Burnt Hills," while a large work, preserved the spontaneous feeling of alla prima observation.

     Now that down-to-earth subjects and luscious paint-handling have come back into fashion, it is interesting to look at some of our brushy landscape painters. A group of seven such area artists at Third Street Gallery is having a show of "Plein-Air" local landscapes (Paintings done in the open air). The quality of unencumbered joy in painting is captivating.

     Doug Martenson's urban scenes confirm him as a natural painter who seeks realism and everyday truths. He hides a looseness of construction by the vigor of the brushstrokes and the sheer buoyancy of the character of some of these subjects.
Taryn Day limits her means more, and yet her small pictures confirm my conviction that her work represents attempt to fuse painterly freedom with structural principles.
As usual, Larry Francis' painterly approach has an attractive clarity of atmosphere and ggod color.
     Kurt Solmssen is inclined toward the romantic, particularly in his use of color and the casual finish. He favors stark light-dark contrasts, and there is an anguished, telltale element here.
     John Thornton's more neatly observed North Philadelphia cityscapes are treated with a certain dryness, and their textures are homogenous and trim.
Stanely Beilen is at ease heightening his palette to the luminous spectrum of outdoor light in verdant park settings.

     And Kenneth Dirsa, who has a penchant for pastel, takes a leaf out of the impressionist doctrine that painting must have a spontaneous character.
Third Street Gallery, 626 S. 3d St. 627-9169. Tue-Thu & Sun 11-6, Fri & Sat 11-8. Through tomorrow