Scott Bartner

Pastor of Munstergeleen
Oil on linen, 75cm x 55cm


One of the perks of being a portrait artist is that every once in a while you get the opportunity to immerse yourself in the life of an interesting person. The Pastor of Munstergeleen asked me to paint his portrait after seeing the portrait of his friend and colleague Pastor van Horne (posted here a number of months ago). We decided the portrait should be connected to an incident which happened a few years ago in the Pastor’s village involving a member of his congregation who was hospitalized with massive internal injuries and given only hours to live, yet woke up from a coma the next day having made an unexplainable recovery. Now that five years have past, the Vatican will officially decide whether this occurrence qualifies as a true miracle, but the Pastor of Munstergeleen has no doubt in his mind, thus the central theme of this painting.

Critical to the success of the portrait was the Pastor’s expression and gesture. I was attempting to convey a sense of wonder, while maintaining his friendly and open demeanor. He requested I paint the birthplace of the Patron Saint of the village, Karel Houben, in the background, immediately presenting a problem. Sure I could take a trip to the village and shoot photos of the house but the perspective had to be reasonably accurate and I wasn’t planning on climbing any trees (despite the fact that as a loyal Forum member, I’m sworn to risk my life for portraiture). Luckily, he was able to convince a neighbor to let him take photos from the second story of the neighbor’s house.

Perhaps you haven’t seen it yet but in the sky to the viewer’s upper left is the faint image of a face. This image refers to the villager’s claim that while in a coma he spoke with Saint Karel Houben and they both came to the conclusion he should hang around for a while longer. It would have been very easy to go overboard with this type of thing, (like those condolence cards with rays of light streaming from the heavens), so I tried to keep it subtle and painted the clouds just like you see them here in Limburg on any given Sunday. Hopefully had I not mentioned the face, you would not have seen it.

I normally paint on panel but in this case the texture of the linen came in handy particularly with the landscape and house where much scumbling was involved. Compositionally speaking, the placement of the horizontal and vertical elements was based on the golden section, the objective being to achieve a pictorial harmony. This was all carefully worked out on paper beforehand.

One of the big challenges was addressing the large black mass of his clothing suggesting the folds in a believable way--without white or gray giving it a chalky look. Thus a large monochrome underpainting was created, and then glazed with black. With the background wall I used the ever-popular “Bartner Lavender” but then after it had dried, painted over it with a more neutral gray. Wide packing tape was placed over the wet paint and with my thumbnail scratched vertically and then horizontally to reveal the purplish ground when the tape was lifted off. The Pastor had brought his own chair with him for the photo shoot. I only changed the color of the seat back to repeat the terracotta roof, but then more intensely. The yellowish color note of the windowsill was chosen as a compliment to the background.

Attached Images

   

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Garth Herrick

Dear Scott:

This is a masterpiece in every respect, and one of the most stunning portraits I've seen. I would say you have been very successful at achieving your intent of a sensitive portrait of a pastor reflecting on the wonders of life and spirituality. The chromatic and compositional harmony could not be better. I love the way you have so carefully designed the pastor's pose. This is a portrait all of us should take the time to study and enjoy, I hope this generates for you many more stimulating commissions of this caliber. Thanks for sharing this.

Sincerely,

Garth

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Sergio Ostroverhy

Hello Scott,

just amazed by the delicate treatment of the hands...

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Sergio Ostroverhy
Portrait Painter & Firefighter
www.ostroverhy.com
ostroverhy at gmail dot com

Scott Bartner

Garth: Thank you for your quite overwhelming remarks. I think the absolute beauty of this Forum is the role it plays as a source of inspiration, so that artists living thousands of miles apart can become excited and stimulated by each other’s work. Your “Apotheoun” certainly had that effect on me.

Sergio: When doing the hands I cover up the face and then see if I can picture how the person would look by his hands alone. A perfect example of this is Ingres’s Bertin portrait.

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Peter Jochems

I think it's the best painting I've seen here on the forum. It reminds me of the best works of Holbein.

Linda Brandon

Scott,

This is an astounding painting, piercing and calm and - can I say this? - very spiritual in a clear, intelligent and unsentimental way. I can't tear my eyes away from that face.

There are a couple of artists on the Forum that paint in ways that seem to me to be essentially unphotographable, and you're one of them. I would really love to see this in person.

I always feel a little out of my league commenting on your paintings because they seem so different compared to my own style. It's amazing to me that you can portray such intensity with such tight brushwork and careful color control.

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SB Wang

Scott,

When you discussed Sargent in depth, I know you have keen eyes. Sargent likes Ingres, a new trend in China is in his direction as well.

I enjoy this master piece.

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Scott Bartner

Peter: I’m sure many here would agree with me when I say: ik ben het niet waard om Holbeins verfkwasten schoon te maken, but I appreciate your comment none the less.

Linda: You’re very kind and I greatly value your comments. As per your request, I’ve FedX-ed the portrait to you in Arizona--the Pastor will just have to wait.

SB: I’ve always been a great Sargent fan and look at his work constantly. The Tate show a number of years ago was a revelation. I would be interested to see, perhaps in a new thread, the influence his work has had on Chinese portrait artists.

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Linda Brandon

Scott, more than anyone else who posts work here, you get that ethereal, eerie Northern light feeling in your work.

I've been in this kind of light a couple of times - the western coast of Wales and New Zealand come to mind, and I'm told the Hebrides are also this way, although I've never been there.

There's a spooky mystery to this kind of light that is hard to describe. I can't do so because now that I've posted that I need angel's wings, I'm in danger of losing my Forum Credibility License.

This painting radiates a fiercely controlled tonalism, a stern refusal to provide cheap color thrills.

(When this painting arrives in Arizona we will give him a poncho and a red feather boa.)

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Allan Rahbek

Warde Scott,

Congratulations with the excellent result. I believe that you earned a par of wings now.

I just realized that you actually live in Holland. So now I understand why you painted a European sky. The building and landscape in the background also look familiar.

Do you think that there are distinct deferents in European and American taste on how a painting should look ?

Allan