Canfin Gallery

IRA BARKOFF

Artist Statement

” Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.’ Leonardo De Vinci spoke these words 500 years ago and was true then, as it is now.

My landscapes are taken from my imagination. It’s true that I spent many years painting from nature, and that nature is the source of my inspiration. Having learned the principles of color, form, light and space, my aim is to use these principles to represent the world as an expression of harmony and peace.

The most successful paintings are not those that are the most accurate in terms of nature, but the ones where the state of my consciousness allowed me to translate my feelings –my deepest inner feelings – to the canvas.

I would hope that this is communicated to the viewer, and that in looking at this world one is transported to the inner spirit that exists within all of us.”

About Ira Barkoff

Ira Barkoff, born 1934, studied at the Art Students League in New York under Robert Beckman and Robert Beverly Hale (former curator of American Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and went on to earn a Fine Arts degree at New York’s Pratt Institute. Currently, he lives and works in Connecticut and also teaches at the Washington Art Association.

Barkoff’s work has been extensively featured in publications, including in The New York Times and American Artist Magazine. His work can be found often in solo exhibitions in galleries all along the East Coast, while his juried and group exhibitions span the country. His work is featured in numerous collections, like that of the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Durham Ziff Collection in New York and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.

Press Release for the Ira Barkoff exhibit

TARRYTOWN, New York: Recent paintings by celebrated American artist Ira Barkoff will be on exhibit at Canfin Gallery from March 6 through March 21, 2010.

The opening reception will be held on Saturday, March 6 from 5-8 PM.

“We are delighted to bring to Westchester the lyrical landscape paintings of this prominent artist,” says gallery owner Jean-Claude Canfin. Barkoff’s paintings are expressions of the spiritual qualities of the nature. The exhibit will contain approximately 40 paintings.

Born in 1934, Ira Barkoff studied at the Art Students League in New York City with Robert Beckman and Robert Beverly Hale, the former curator of American Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He went on to receive a degree in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute. Barkoff now lives and works in western Connecticut. His paintings began with a meticulous observation of landscape, but a romantic sensibility emerged when he was able to express his ideas based on memory and imagination. His work has been featured in The New York Times, the New Britian Museum of American Art, and the Durham Ziff Collection in New York City.

Conveniently located at 39 Main Street in historic Tarrytown, Canfin Gallery has been voted “Best Place to Buy Art” by the readers of Westchester Magazine annually since 2006. It attracts art collectors and connoisseurs from all over the tri-state area as well as from Manhattan. For more information, contact Canfin Gallery at 914-332-4554 and www.CanfinGallery.com.