Life of the Mind

More about Life of the Mind

I used a self-portrait of myself about age 40 wearing pince nez glasses with a beard and disheveled hair as the model for a turn of the century intellectual reading in a smoky cafe by daylight. The cafe itself is inspired by the inimitable Caffe Reggio in Greenwich Village, a timeless haunt for New York artistic types and scholars of all stripes. The painting style, mood and use of light are inspired by the works of Gustave Caillebotte, my favorite proto-impressionist. All in all I got the result I wanted--a glimpse of atomization and disconnection among modern intellectuals.