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Cynthia Knott

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Cynthia Knott
Born
Cynthia Knott

March 20, 1952
Newark, NJ
NationalityAmerican
EducationSchool of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; School of Visual Arts, New York; New York University
Known forPainting
AwardsPollock-Krasner Foundation Grant Awards; The Ballinglen Arts Foundation Fellowship; New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship

Cynthia Knott (born March 20, 1952, Newark, NJ) [1] is a painter known for her horiztonally-oriented seascapes which recall the "multiforms" of Mark Rothko and the later work of J.M.W. Turner. She is currently represented by DC Moore Gallery, New York.[2]

Biography

Cynthia Knott received her BA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1971. She went on to earn her BFA at the School of Visual Arts, New York in 1975 and her MFA at New York University in 1989.[3] Prior to pursuing art, Knott attended Washington University in St. Louis, intending to study Marine Biology. [4] Knott dropped out after a year after realizing she wanted to pursue her interest in drawing. She self-supported her night classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston through part-time jobs, as her parents were displeased by her decision.[4]


Work

Knott began her career as an artist as a color field painter, inspired by the work of Mark Rothko.[5]: 4  renewed interest in the landscape after visiting in upstate New York and revisting work by the Hudson River School. She developed an interest in artists who were inspired by the landscape around them, such as Turner, Constable, and Whistler.

Similar to Rothko's famous multiform paintings, Knott's work consists of "horizontal bands of monochromatic colors." [1]

Process

First, Knott primes the canvas with a layer of sizing. This tightens the linen surface. Knott builds up the surface by painting this sizing--typically rabbit skin glue-- through back-and-forth brushstrokes. This creates texture which serves to enhance the play of light in her paintings. [5]: 4 

Next, Knott prepares the linen surface to receive color with a layer of white gesso.[5]: 4 

For the final step before beginning work on the overpainting, Knott adds the underpainting, using a coat of ground copper paint and then a layer of gold paint. [5]: 4 

Knott vigorously paints and re-paints her work, a technique she discovered in a book on Albert Pinkham Ryder.[5]: 6  For instance, at the end of a day of painting, Knott may scrape off her work with a palette knife, leaving "a skin of memory and process"[5]: 6  that becomes a faint stain of the day's work. She refers to this re-working as a "process of memory."[5]: 6 

Knott often paints her seascapes en plein air.[5]: 6  Many of her paintings depict coastal views near her home in the north of East Hampton (town), New York -- including Cartwright Shoal in Gardiner's Bay. For nocturnal scenes, Knott has painted a local salt marsh, which has a luminescent glow.[5]: 6 

Interest in Poetry

In the formative early years of her career, Knott also turned to poets who were inspired by nature and the landscape such as Wordsworth. Knott is also inspired by the poetry of W.B. Yeats and Emily Dickinson. [6] (22)

Billy Collins

Knott is additionally inspired by the poetry of Billy Collins, a close friend. (22)


Billy Collins, a United States Poet Laureate, dedicated a poem inspired by his experience gazing at her seascapes. His poem, "Paintings of the Sea (For Cynthia Knott)", was reproduced in conjunction with Knott's exhibition Gardiners Bay, May 8 to Jaune 14, 2002. [7]

Honors and Awards

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2002 Cynthia Knott: Gardiners Bay, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY
  • 1999 Cynthia Knott: Blue Charm, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY
  • 1997 Voyage, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY
  • 1994 Horizons, Midtown Payson Galleries, New York, NY
  • 1994 Cynthia Knott, Midtown Payson Galleries, New York, NY
  • 1992 The Sea, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
  • 1989 Recent Work, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
  • 1989 Lost Landscapes, Washington Square East Galleries, New York University, New York, NY
  • 1988 Hayrolls and Meteors, sponsored by Greene County Council on the Arts, Windham, NY
  • 1987 Recent Landscape Paintings, The Guggenheim Pavilion, The Rensselaerville Institute, NY
  • 1986 Regional Landscapes, The Guggenheim Pavilion, The Rensselaerville Institute, NY

Publications

  • Ruehl, Mercedes. Cynthia Knott. New York: DC Moore Gallery, 1997.
  • Spring, Justin. Horizons: Cynthia Knott. New York: Midtown Payson Galleries, 1994.
  • De Nagy, Tibor. The Sea: Cynthia Knott. New York: Tibor De Nagy Gallery, 1992.

Notable Articles

  • Carmichael, Isabel. “An Alchemist Who Channels the Ineffable,” The East Hampton Star, August 18, 2011, illus. C1, C8
  • Brandeis, Magdalene. “The Sea and the Sky: Paintings by Cynthia Knott, Poems by Billy Collins,” The Southampton Review, vol. III No. 1, Spring 2009, illus pp. 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29.
  • Norwich, John. “Cynthia Knott Horizonologist,” Hampton Jitney Magazine, vol. 9, Spring 2004 pp. 12-15.
  • Goodman, Jonathan. "Anne Harris and Cynthia Knott at DC Moore." Art in America (February 2003): pp. 117-18.
  • Weil, Rex. "Heaven in Earth." ARTnews (March 1998): pp. 150-152.
  • Wolberg Weiss, Marion. "Honoring the Artist: Cynthia Knott." Dan's Papers (August 4, 1995): pp. 78-79.

References

  1. ^ a b The Sea: Cynthia Knott. New York: Tibor de Nagy Gallery. 1992.
  2. ^ "Cynthia Knott Biography". DC Moore Gallery.
  3. ^ Ruehl, Mercedes (1997). Cynthia Knott: Voyage. New York: DC Moore Gallery.
  4. ^ a b Carmichael, Isabel (August 17, 2011). "An Alchemist Who Channels the Ineffable". The East Hampton Star. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Spring, Justin (1994). Horizons: Cynthia Knott. New York: Midtown Payson Galleries.
  6. ^ Brandeis, Magdalene (2009). "The Sea and the Sky: Paintings by Cynthia Knott, Poems by Billy Collins". The Southampton Review. III (1): 17–29. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Cynthia Knott: Gardiners Bay. New York: DC Moore Gallery. 2002.

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Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American painters Category:21st-century American painters

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