Four Ladies - Painting by Bryce Brown

Figurative Painting

Four Ladies by Bryce Brown

Bryce Brown's figurative art is characterized by a somewhat naive style. His paintings are not about capturing the minute details of his subjects; rather, they are an emotional experience of human relationships and intimacy as experienced in family life or work. Background detail is often absent, or just enough to provide the context of the relationship of the figures in the painting. His figures are typically painted with faces that are flat and featureless, and the limbs of the figures are often "meaty" with "fisty" hands and "clubby" feet. The figures are rarely painted alone; communing or toiling together are common themes. The figures often appear as if they are from a by-gone era with women in dull-colored frock coats and hats, a technique that removes the distraction of the material and physical while providing emotional punch. The painitngs appeal to our emotional reactions and romantic responses to "the good old days", a time when life seems simpler to us and human relationships seemed more important than they are today. Bryce Brown's figures have not yet yielded to the spin of the technological centrifuge that pulls us apart from our kith and kin in our "modern" lives, and as I contemplate his paintings, I experience a reaction of envy for the complete innocence and purity of the human relationships of the figures.


"Four Ladies" is a fine example of several of these aspects.


Four Ladies by Bryce Brown Acrylic on Canvas 51x67cm.