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Art Espresso is ArtScope.net's shortlist of recommended exhibitions currently showing.

Ruprecht von Kaufmann:
Soul Siberia

October 22 - December 4, 2004

Ann Nathan Gallery
212 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60610
tel.: 312-664-6622
hours: Tues-Fri 10a-5:30p, Sat 11a-5p
http://www.annnathangallery.com/

Ruprecht von Kaufmann is welcomed back to Ann Nathan Gallery in Soul Siberia, a remarkable solo show of nearly thirty works including oil paintings and charcoal studies. In von Kaufmann's new series of diptychs, the monumental harmony of the natural world forms a backdrop for activities of human futility. A pervasive air of mystery is created in these richly realistic scenes, whose cool hues, well-defined handling of oils, and delicate spatial balance of the subjects against the natural world only enhance the mystery of their enigmatically vain endeavor. In Red Bucket (2004: diptych, oil on linen: 47-1/2 x 63 in. (each panel)) the subject's futility seems more the result of his own inability to act, rather than any innate defect; he stands in his sinking boat, his waterlogged descent rebuffed by the puffin that sits so lightly on the still seas. A glacier-like coastal cliff lies remote and haunting in the mists, while the companion panel of the diptych presents an expanse of blue, veiled with cloud -- the ever-present, ever-changing sky. Both pessimism and comfort, mortality and eternity, can be read into these juxtapositions of the enduring-natural and the vainly-human.

A further unexpected gem of this exhibition is a selection of over a dozen of the artist's drawings including charcoal renderings and studies for the larger works. Preparatory sketches show development of the scenes and characters; other fully-developed charcoal works are alternate visions, deftly executed in the moody gray-black of the medium. Boat in a Forest (charcoal on paper: 25-1/2 x 35 in.) echoes its companion work, the larger painting A Forest (2004: diptych, oil on linen: 55-1/2 x 71 in. (each panel)), with the subject tucked up sleeping in his wood-bound boat. Precise handling of textures and atmospheric effects lend a particular sense of damp chill to this shadowy image.

These new works show the evolution of the artist's vision as well as its continuing strength in evoking the follies and frailties of the human condition. Ruprecht von Kaufmann: Soul Siberia will be on exhibition through December 4, 2004 and is highly recommended.

A catalogue for Soul Siberia features the diptych paintings and includes a deeply personal statement by the artist. Priced at $10, it is available at the gallery.

--Katherine Rook Lieber

Katherine Rook Lieber has edited ArtScope.net's Visual Arts reviews since 1998. Ms. Lieber is Editor and Associate Producer for ArtScope.net.