Details matter
Joe Barbieri, Lake Eunice, oil, 36 x 48.
Joe Barbieri admires artists who paint loosely and impressionistically, but he admits that he is a confirmed “detail” man through and through. “I gave up years ago trying to be something I am not,” Barbieri says. “I just paint what I see and feel about particular subjects that appear beautiful and worthy of painting to me.”
Unlike some artists who narrow their focus to one genre, such as landscapes, Texas-based Barbieri relishes painting a variety of subjects. His body of work features everything from elegant still lifes in the tradition of the Dutch masters to scenes of American cowboys herding cattle. Last year one of his western scenes, INCOMING, won the Gold Medal at the annual Bosque Art Classic show and sale at the Bosque Arts Center in Clifton, TX.
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- Joe Barbieri, Contrasts, oil, 9 x 12.
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- Joe Barbieri, Takin’ the High Road, oil, 18 x 24.
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- Joe Barbieri, Shortcut, oil, 24 x 30.
Although Barbieri studied drawing and anatomy at Nassau College in New York, he describes himself as a self-taught artist. He did not start painting seriously until he was 40 years old. Even then Barbieri continued working at his day job at Stanton Studios in Waco, TX, where he designed and painted stained-glass windows for churches, hospitals, and private residences.
In his free time, Barbieri pursued his fine-art career in earnest. Eventually the artist entered and was juried into well-known exhibitions such as the annual American Miniatures show at Settlers West Galleries in Tucson, AZ. “Working full time, painting, drawing, and composing every day, certainly helps my artwork, whether I am painting on glass or in oils,” he says.
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- Joe Barbieri, Incoming, oil, 24 x 18.
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- Joe Barbieri, Manhattan Memories, oil, 20 x 16.
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- Joe Barbieri, Longhorn Morning, oil, 48 x 36.
Always on the lookout for new artistic experiences and challenges, Barbieri recently began adding yet another genre to his body of work: cityscapes. “The wonderful, diverse world we live in, including many of the things man has built, is, to me, worthy of shining a spotlight on,” he concludes. –Bonnie Gangelhoff
representation
Stanton Studios, Waco, TX; Cultivate 7Twelve, Waco, TX; Netanyah Original Art, Prosper, TX; Show Me the Monet Gallery of Fine Art, Arlington, TX; Solvang Antiques, Solvang, CA.
This story appeared in the February 2021 issue of Southwest Art magazine.