I wrote an article in today’s Brooklyn Paper about Park Slope painter, Simon Dinnerstein and a masterful drawing of his that is included in a prestigious show at the National Academy Museum on Fifth Avenue near the Guggenheim. This picture, taken by Hugh Crawford, was cropped in the print and web edition. Here it is in its entirety. I include an excerpt from the article. Go here to read more.
Most people say hello to their grocer or smile politely at their
barista — it’s not a relationship that requires much more. Park Sloper
Simon Dinnerstein disagrees, going beyond the usual niceties of these
daily interactions and developing relationships with the people he
meets on Seventh Avenue.Sometimes, he even sketches them.
Sure,
it takes more time than just waving, but it has paid off — a drawing of
the man from whom he buys cheese is now hanging in a fancy museum.When
Dinnerstein, who has lived in the neighborhood since the 1960s, was
asked to submit a drawing to the National Academy Museum, a
200-year-old institution modeled after the French Academy in Paris and
the Royal Academy in London, he selected his portrait of Wajih Salem,
an owner of D’Vine Taste, a local gourmet shop.
This is only one of a multitude of works of art by Simon Dinnerstein where his subjects are people from his daily life. I was fortunate enough to be invited to an open studio exhibit of his works during this past winter. The respect he has for people he is close to and those whom he meeets are evident in the meticulous, createtive expression demonstrated in his work.
This is only one of a multitude of works of art by Simon Dinnerstein where his subjects are people from his daily life. I was fortunate enough to be invited to an open studio exhibit of his works during this past winter. The respect he has for people he is close to and those whom he meeets are evident in the meticulous, createtive expression demonstrated in his work.