ART: IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER #3



I first discovered Gleb Golubetski in a French Quarter gallery around 1999. Initially, he was not someone that I would ordinarily be drawn to. The paintings of his on display were landscapes and flowers. In general, those subjects tend to bore me. But there was something amazing about the texture and light of his work. While I wasn’t necessarily enamored with the ones I saw in front of me, he was someone I wanted to explore more. I found his works for sale on a website in Prague. Golubetski was young. Born in 1975, in Omsk, Russia, he studied at The Academy of Art in Saint Petersburg. His father was a Merited Artist of the Soviet Union. I haunted the website until, one day, the painting I wanted emerged. At the time, Golubetski painted landscapes, doorways, cottage rooms and boats from his travels all over Europe. They were all equally stunning, but I didn’t feel connected to them. This painting, “Rome” spoke to me on many levels - even on the website, I could tell his use of color was extraordinary. Ascetically, it was gorgeous (later, I discovered that Golubetski only paints in oil and only uses a palette knife). It was the first (and only) painting I ever bought online without actually seeing it, and one of the first paintings I bought outright (I am the Queen of Layaway). I purchased it immediately, and with the wonders of technology, it arrived at my work in a tube a few days later from Prague.



To me, the painting represents the end of a lovely afternoon. It literally glows (and hums). A boy bike and a girl bike. Together, but separate. There seems to be this beautiful comfort and need that is expressed, while at the same time conveying independence. This painting for me evokes contented sighs, mild breezes, swaying hammocks, arms and legs intertwined on a lazy Sunday morning between the sheets and luminosity.





I can’t wait to see what else Golubetski does. His future is bright!