Diana Horowitz, South view from 7 World Trade (2009), oil on linen, 20″ x 26″; courtesy Hirschl & Adler
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Quality, not quantity, is the measure of an artist’s accomplishment. So why did Diana Horowitz include 40 paintings in her exhibition at Hirschl & Adler Modern? Whatever happened to the connoisseur’s eye that separates the wheat from the chaff? It turns out that overkill in Ms. Horowitz’s case isn’t such a bad thing. These pictures of the natural splendors of Umbria, Italy, and the less splendid environs of industrial Brooklyn are small in size, even-tempered and remarkably consistent in quality. Never once do we feel that Ms. Horowitz has been indulged. The paintings, which seek inspiration from Cézanne and Corot, build on each other, amplifying the quietly infectious pleasure Ms. Horowitz takes in putting brush to canvas.
Ms. Horowitz does have her highs and lows. She displays a greater confidence when depicting sunlight and a greater relish when painting overseas–mist and the city are less decisively handled. Having said that, Ms. Horowitz does the intersection at Union and Hoyt streets proud, and the light settling on Sackett Street seems touched by grace.
© 2003 Mario Naves
Originally published in the March 9, 2003 edition of The New York Observer.
