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David H. Lowrey

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617-437-1913

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Realist painter

“Look Only to the Past and Lose an Eye. Forget the Past and Lose Both Eyes.”
This Old Russian proverb states a truism critical to cultural development. In my own work this proverb reflects the philosophical basis of my artistic sensibilities. I have spent most of my professional life trying to understand the “language” of the Masters of Western European painting. I believe that this language should not be forsaken as new and different languages develop. My goal is not to reproduce the masterpieces of the past, but to capture the contemporary using this established language.

Gallery Affiliation

Guild of Boston Artists

Professional Affiliations

President, Fenway Studios

Former Vice President, Guild of Boston Artists

Awards

Grumbacher Award

Bernard Corey Memorial Award

Numerous Best in Show Awards

Grants

E.T. Greenshield Memorial Foundation

Massachusetts Arts and Humanitites Council

Lowell Arts Council

B.G. Research

Teacher

R.H. Gammell

Education

Studio of R. H. Ives Gammell

The Camera Obscura's Place in Art History
The camera obscura's employment by artists of the 17th and 18th centuries is still a matter of speculation. Art historians still hotly dispute which artists used these optical tools.

These questions remain to be answered: When and by whom were they first used? What types of camera obscuras where utilized? How where they used by the artists of the past? By making accurate working models of the 17th and 18th centuries camera obscuras that would have been available to artists of that era, I can, and have, reconstructed how these cameras were used.

However, an accurate picture of their uses can only be gleaned by imposing strict limitation in the employment of these optical instruments. For example:

  1. Camera obscuras can only be used in either daylight or firelight and all the tools employed must be w ithin the established technology of the century to be examined.
  2. Fenway Studios gives me the ideal working space for this research. My studio is almost identical to the working spaces of artist from the past.

Please contact me for additional information concerning this significant, historic visual tool.