Warren Township Hosts 'Oscar Peterson: At the Easel' Art Exhibit

From Somerset County Library System of New Jersey: For the month of February, The Art Space at SCLSNJ’s Warren Twp. Library branch, located at 42 Mountain Blvd. in Warren Twp., will showcase the work of Millburn artist, Oscar Peterson. Peterson, a drawing and painting instructor at the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster, is a commissioned fine arts painter who specializes in portraiture.

Peterson uses traditional methods and techniques while incorporating new ideas and personal observations. His preferred medium is oil but he will frequently use other mediums and he describes his style as "Contemporary Realism with an Impressionistic feel," which is inspired by the Impressionists and the Old Masters. Peterson says this approach echoes a favorite quote from Alberto Giacometti: “The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.”

Peterson demonstrates this approach in his current exhibition in The Art Space at SCLSNJ’s Warren Twp. Library branch, which features a variety of pieces of his art including a self-portrait drawn in charcoal on paper, numerous portraits done in oil, and an oil-on-linen copy of the original Giambettino Cignaroli “The Virgin and Child with Saints" painted at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.

Peterson has had many years of experience, winning numerous awards along the way, including "Best in Show” at Paper Mill Theatre Gallery, MSHAC Juried Show, Millburn, 2011; "First Place" at SOHO Painting Competition, 2011; "Honorable Mention" at Jerry’s Artarama Self-Portrait Competition, 2016; and, most notably, "Gonzalez/Edwards Travel Grant" through the Art Students League of New York in 2011.
Peterson was born in Harlem, NY and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He is an alumnus of the Pratt Institute and the Art Students League of NY and has studied with such leading realist painters as Nelson Shanks, Max Ginsberg, and Costa Vavagiakis.

“My approach is to capture the grace and beauty of ordinary people,” said Peterson. “Most of these pieces were drawn or painted from life--except the Cignaroli copy, which was painted directly from the original at the Museo Prado in Madrid, Spain--but not with the goal of capturing a moment of time, but to capture a time in the life of the individual. In doing so, I hope to evoke a response and create an emotional connection between the artwork and the viewer, which to me is a rewarding and humbling experience.”

The exhibit, “Oscar Peterson: At the Easel,” will be available for viewing through February 28 during regular Library business hours. Some of the pieces on display are available for sale, with 20% of the selling price going to the Friends of the Warren Library.

Anyone needing more information regarding the items for sale or any artist interested in exhibiting either in the small, glass-enclosed display case or on the gallery wall, should contact Kathy DeCristofaro at kdecrist@sclibnj.org.

Photo Courtesy of Somerset County Library System of New Jersey