Commentary

Artist's Statement

Ronald Bowen - American Embassy Art Show (Guest of Honor), Paris - May 1996

"If I were to define my style of painting, I would call it 'Transcendental Realism.' It is my intention to present to the viewer an image that is on the one hand concrete and close to life, yet so filtered, strange and bordering on the abstract that he may be led into a state of contemplation and meditation. There is a minimum of anecdote in my painting in order to allow the viewer space to create his own story, to discover his own mystery."

Artist's Philosophy & Technique

Ronald Bowen

"I work a lot with photography (mostly my own photographs) which allows me to deal with ephemeral and unusual subject matter and dramatic plays of light and shadow. I tend to go for fragments of my everyday world rendered life-size so that the viewer feels he's there.

The subject is relatively unimportant to me. What counts is the mood created by a certain play of light and shadow, the colors, the shapes, the surfaces. (I was once an abstract painter.) Nor do I seek to merely copy the photograph. There are a lot of changes that take place as well as a certain purification of form in order to get at my inner vision.

I love the contrast of organic shapes with architectural lines. Some of my paintings are purely organic and others purely architectural, but most are combinations of both elements. For me these elements symbolize, respectively, irrationality and rationality.

I don't hesitate to project a photograph if this will allow me to place the image on the canvas faster, but this isn't always necessary. Then I proceed to make changes and corrections in the drawing. After this stage I will usually lay out the image in thin layers of black and white acrylic to get the values. (This always makes me feel like a sculptor 'carving' the image out of the flat white surface.) Then I lay in the colors with acrylic washes.

In the next stage I work with oil paint to enrich, refine and blend. This can necessitate several more layers. Then in the final stage I'll work with transparent oil glazes, super thin, rubbing them in to bring out the depth and luminosity of color. This underpainting and overpainting technique is something I first discovered as an art history student in Florence in the mid 1960's and have since perfected from observing art in museums, reading about technique and just working at it. I've also adapted the technique for use with colored pencils.

Since I associate color with music I want my paintings to have the same impact on the eyes that good music has on the ears."

Ronald Bowen : Shadows

Stanley Harries, director | Rona Gallery, London, UK 2004

Since his Artist-in-Resident award in Paris in 1970, he has had many one-man shows, including exhibitions in Paris, New York, and Washington. He has also been included in some important mixed shows in Europe and America.

Ronald Bowen is an American painter resident in Paris. Born in 1944, he grew up in the small town of Lake Placid in Florida. At an early age, he showed a talent for drawing. A childhood experience has proved to be the foundation of his artistic sensibility. He recalls as a small boy, aged about six, looking into ‘a mirror, and thinking not who but what am I’, and feeling ‘intensely conscious that this world we live in is only the surface of a much deeper reality’.

He studied art, as well as music and languages, at Florida State University in Tallahassee from 1962-67, the final year of which was spent in the university’s Centre in Florence, Italy. Over the next two years, he studied further in Nice and Paris. Since being Artist in Residence at the Foundation de États-Unis in Paris 1970, the French capital has been his home.

Stanley Harries visited Ronald recently in his spacious, light-filled Montmartre studio, with its beautiful cityscape views as far as Sacre Coeur. Surrounded by tropical plants, listening to various kinds of music, the artist paints works that, he says, ‘present to the viewer an image that is on the one hand concrete and close to life yet so filtered, strange and bordering on the abstract’ as to lead us into ‘a state of contemplation and mediation’. The beautifully austere, deliberately pared-down nature of his seemingly mundane subject matter – windows, fragmentary views of interiors, shadows of foliage on walls, floors and steps – allows the viewer ‘to create his own story, to discover his own mystery’.

Since studying in Florence, Bowen has been inspired by early Italian Renaissance painting, by its bold contrasts between heightened, illuminated detail and shadow, between direct and subtly diffused light. This source of inspiration has percolated into his own art, with its rich multi-layering of paint adding a translucent depth, a sense of “a much deeper reality’ beyond the surface.

Though he has lived and painted in Europe for over three decades, Bowen is partly rooted artistically in the American tradition of observing and rendering daily reality with heightened perception and meticulous clarity. The example of Edward Hopper’s sharply illuminated and shadowed scenes of ordinary American life, springs to mind here. Yet in the melodious interplay of shadows and colours in his compositions, Bowen adds a further poetic dimension – one reminiscent of the French Symbolist tradition of Vuillard’s painting and Debussy’s music.

Bowen’s starting point is often his own photos of the most seemingly undistinguished views. In painting them, he abstracts and simplifies so as to focus utterly on essential form and line – eliminating any possible anecdotal distractions or superfluous details. He portrays the most mundane, taken-for-granted and apparently unpromising objects – a drainpipe, a central heating radiator, an office chair, an electric ceiling fan – yet the way he depicts light and colour falling on and around them imbues them with a magical potency, a mysterious and moving surreality.

Espace Art et Liberté - Charenton-le-Pont

Frédéric Mette, Art Director, September 2025

Grande figure de l’hyperrealisme, Ronald Bowen ne s’attacha pas au pittoresque, il saisit la banalité du réel, le sujet dans son apparence littérale. A la lisière de l’illusion photographique, il révèle des espaces oniriques et poétiques. « Il n’y a pas plus abstrait que les grands peintres figuratifs ». Sa peinture est un voyage au-delà de l’image dans des lieux où le médium s’affranchit de l’image nous offrant la subtilité de ses couleurs et de ses matières. La technique des glacis le rapproche des grands maîtres de la Renaissance tissant ce lien unique entre tradition et modernité.

L’originalité de cet artiste réside dans ses cadrages imprévus de lieux, d’objets peints en un fort réalisme ; ils se découpent dans l’espace et sont porteurs d’une part d’étrangeté.

Originaire de Floride, Ronald Bowen a étudié l’art plastique ainsi que la musique et réside à Paris depuis 1970. Evoquant la photographie dans la netteté du dessin, il s’agit bien d’une peinture élégante, précise, dans laquelle lumière et ombre s’organisent en une savante harmonie. Proche de l’hyperréalisme, cette œuvre s’inscrit entre onirisme et réalité à travers les instantanés proposés qui ne sont pas sans ambiguïté. A partir d’angles personnels d’église, de piscine, d’avion dont il ne révèle qu’une partie, l’artiste laisse à chacun la liberté d’écrire son histoire. Une fine matière vibrant sous la lumière, une géométrie affirmée, la vérité du motif choisi donnent à ces toiles, présence et originalité.

Ronald Bowen évoque aussi une eau mouvante et ses transparences, l’architecture d’un ponton, la grâce de cygnes et leur ombre légère sur une eau d’un bleu profond. Dans son art concret, la modernité s’associe au classique. Le peintre s’affranchit avec intelligence de la copie pour livrer l’essentiel du thème choisi, refusant de sacrifier à tout pittoresque facile.

Bowen traque la beauté dans le banal

David Carzon, « Ses peintures font abstraction de la réalité », 20 Minutes, 17 avril 2003.

Lasse de la peinture abstrait cet Américain mélange hyperréalisme et musique dans une exposition.

L’homme est grand et imposant. L’artiste préfère se réfugier derrière les toiles hyperréalistes qu’il expose à la galerie Artémisia (1). A l’image de la voie picturale qu’il a choisie, l’apparente simplicité du personnage n’est que la façade d’un monde intérieur beaucoup plus complexe. Trente ans que l’Américain Ronald Bowen a choisi de s’installer en France. Trente ans qu’il ne regrette pas ce choix : « J’ai des échanges qui ne seraient pas possibles aux Etats-Unis. » L’artiste a exposé dans de nombreuses galeries américaines, mais « les Français sont les seuls à avoir du respect pour les artistes ». Ronald Bowen s’est longtemps cherché dans la peinture abstraite, pour se retrouver dans une impasse. Il a alors ausculté de plus près la réalité, gratté les apparences pour traquer la beauté dans le banal. « J’ai toujours un appareil photo sur moi et dès que mon oeil est attiré par un jeu d’ombres ou de lumière, je prends une photo. Après, je la reproduis avec ma vision des choses. » Sous son pinceau, l’instantané acquiert une autre dimension. Un simple interrupteur devient un jeu de lignes de fuite, une photo de famille révèle des émotions insoupçonnées, une autre réalité... Avec le souci d’allier la modernité des sujets avec des techniques anciennes – il peint par couches successives –, qui lui viennent de ses études d’histoire de l’art à Florence. Cet artiste va profiter de son exposition pour réaliser un vieux rêve : conjuguer tableaux et musique (2). Le 24 avril, il organise une soirée mêlant peinture et morceaux classiques. « J’ai fait des études de musique et écrit des compositions, mais je n’avais jamais osé les faire jouer. Ma rencontre avec la pianiste Carine Zarifian a tout changé. » Avec cette soirée, Ronald Bowen veut proposer une autre ouverture vers ses toiles.

Carine Zarifian, professeur au conservatoire de Caen « Dans la peinture de Ronald Bowen, on retrouve de nombreux thèmes musicaux. Lui-même est un fin mélomane. Les morceaux que j’ai choisis pour la soirée du 24 avril parlent de la peinture de Ronald. Lier l’art pictural et musical est aussi une démarche nouvelle et passionnante pour moi. » Agnès Schneider, galerie Artémisia « Certaines personnes qui ne font que passer devant la galerie sont happées par les peintures. Ils prennent le temps d’y rentrer et de faire le tour de l’expo. C’est une attitude assez rare. »

Le réalisme de Ronald Bowen

Lydia Harambourg, « Le réalisme de Ronald Bowen », La Gazette de l’Hôtel Drouot, n°15, 18 avril 2003. © La Gazette de l’Hôtel Drouot.

Ce peintre américain, qui vit en France depuis 1970 et qui a exposé à Paris assez régulièrement, reste à découvrir. Ne revendiquant d’appartenance à aucun courant, même si son travail est proche du pop’art américain avec lequel il partage les sujets empruntés à notre quotidien, il transfigure la réalité par des moyens picturaux admirablement maitrisés. Son dessin est précis comme une épure. Il y ajoute un goût pour la couler dont Il a appris à percer les secrets dans l’atelier de Singier aux Beaux-Arts. Il l’applique longuement en couches successives pour atteindre au maximum de la densité picturale. La matière s’en trouve embellie. La lumière, absorbée, puis filtrées monte lentement jusqu’à submerger la surface, par ailleurs rigoureusement structurée par les descriptions d’une chaise d’une bouilloire, d’une toute petite partie d’un intérieur, arbitrairement découpée par une ombre. Ce qui le sépare d’artistes comme Richard Estes et Ralph Goings, c’est la part contemplative et le sentiment d’irréalité qui se dégagent de ses compositions dont un regarde rapide pourrait ne retenir que l’abstraction. Le parti pris de fragmenter l’espace en faisant intervenir la lumière comme élément sensible introduit une dimension poétique très personnelle. Le pinceau a su capter le silence comme l’intimité des objets. On comprend sa passion pour Vermeer. Ronald Bowen qualifie lui-même ce réalisme de « transcendantal ». Cette peinture méditative et mystérieuse est éblouissante.

Galerie Toft - Paris

Chris Boïcos, Art Director, Galerie Toft - Autumn 1996

Introduction to the Artist

Ronald Bowen was born in 1944. In August 1966, he came to Europe for the first time and in 1970 settled down in Paris.

His long residence abroad has not diminished the American character of his painting: clear, sharp architecture, meticulous craft, ambitious formats, his style stems from the American Photo-Realist tradition established in the 1960's by Richard Estes and Ralph Goings. Its roots, however, go even further back in American history to the luminous landscapes of the Hudson River School, the dogged realism of Thomas Eakins and the strong architecture and careful craft of 20th century American realists like Charles Sheeler and Edward Hopper.

His experience in France, however, has made a difference. Unlike Estes and Goings whose paintings are littered with the fascinating but often sterile debris of American streets and diner counters, Bowen's works have a more intimate feel and introspective quality. His subjects (windows, plants, shadows, fragments of interiors, and reflections on glass) give his canvases an elusive dimension akin to poetry.

Bowen's associations of colour with music (expressed in his 1971 short film "Peinture et fugue en sol Majeur" and his search for a meaning lying beyond ordinary appearances, hint at another less obvious source for his art: fin-de-siècle French Symbolism. The evocative fragmentation of space and the dreamy quality of his painting are reminiscent of the poetry of Stephané Mallarmé and even of the art of Nabi painters like Denis and Vuillard.

The unlikely marriage of a no-nonsense American tradition of craft with a French poetic sensibility give his art a depth and richness which is very rare in current American or French Realist painting.

Photography and Ron's Painting

Though based on photographs, Ronald Bowen's paintings go beyond mere imitation of photo. Ron simplifies image, eliminates superfluous detail, and concentrates on linear framework and light. Also, most of his imagery is life-size which makes it very different from the small scale of most photographs.

Structure

As in all good painting, Ron's structure is dependent on the relationships between strong verticals and horizontals, with some strong diagonals; stability is achieved by the use of right angles. Ron enjoys breaking a fundamental art school rule by placing the center of composition at the exact center of the canvas rather than slightly off to the side. An absolute and austere symmetry is hence achieved.

Light and Color

Though dependent on observed or photographically recorded light, Ron's handling is purer and more intense, using the full strength of oil paint to achieve a luminosity which is pictorial, not photographic.

Shadows

Shadows provide the fugitive or delicate element in most paintings contradicting the strong architectural frameworks. The presence of shadows implies the passage of time and introduces a time element in the paintings which makes them less rigid or fixed. This is where the poetry in the work lies.

Technique

Composition and initial layers are laid down in acrylic. The top layers are worked out fastidiously in translucent oil paint, which gives the works their richness and luminosity.

Subjects

Ron chooses fragments of banal reality (architectural interiors, exteriors, windows, plants) but by concentrating on them, purifying them, and intensifying the light he brings out a sense of mystery and poetry lurking behind ordinary appearance.

In his insistence on the "frozen moment," shadows, and intense light, Ron is closest to the work of the great 20th century American realist, Edward Hopper.

Zenith Gallery - Washington, DC

Margery Goldberg, Owner/Director, Zenith Gallery - Summer 1997

Ron Bowen is an American residing in Paris. His impressive realist oil paintings of contemporary interiors and exteriors reflect his mastery of a linear painting style. Basing his technique on the Renaissance method of underpainting and overpainting, he creates luminous color and bold shadows. The dialogue between color and light accentuates the simple subject matter, creating calm, intriguing, and thoroughly modern art.