Work on Monday: "Sagaponack" by Robert Dash
Today, Work on Monday remembers the Hamptons’ own Robert Dash, who just died at age 82 on September 14. He was a world-class painter with worldwide acclaim, yet when compared to other artists of his caliber, Dash was known by few outside the East End. Primarily a landscape painter, he celebrated nature in a unique style that describes the greater forms and shapes among our fields, trees and bodies of water, while also remaining painterly and vibrant.
Work on Monday is a weekly look at one piece of art related to the East End, usually by a Hamptons or North Fork artist, living or dead, created in any kind of media. Join the conversation by posting your thoughts in the comments below and email suggestions for a future Work on Monday here.
Sagaponack
Robert Dash (1934-2013)
23-color serigraph on paper, edition of 175
19.25 x 31.75 inches (on 38 x 27 paper)
Though it does little to exemplify his loose, painterly qualities, Dash’s serigraph print “Sagaponack” highlights his talent for seeing the world in forms and planes, and then separating them into lovely sections of color. The piece has little movement, but the stillness of it feels correct, translating such a quiet, bucolic vista into two dimensions. No tone is too bright or dark and the hues are somewhat surreal, further adding to the feeling of that magical local twilight at dawn. You can almost hear the birds.
The work of Robert Dash is exhibited at several local galleries, including Mark Humphrey Gallery (where “Sagaponack” is available) and Vered in East Hampton. He is also in the permanent collections of Guild Hall and the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill.
From Blue Hill, an exhibition of Dash’s pastel drawings opens at The Drawing Room in East Hampton (66H Newtown Lane) on Friday, October 4.