Lucy MacGillis: “Casa” – New Paintings from Italy, at the Hoadley Gallery, Lenox, July 7 – August 2, by Michael Miller


Lucy MacGillis, Per Terra, oil on canvas, 2010-11

Lucy MacGillis' July exhibition at the Hoadley Gallery, ongoing since 2003, has become almost a Berkshires institution by now. There is always a good deal of anticipation, warm-hearted enjoyment of her latest work, and the paintings sell fast. Each year there is impressive growth in the subtlety of her vision and in the emotional power of here work.

Lucy grew up not far from Melville’s famous prospect of Mt. Greylock, surrounded by the rolling expanses, hills, and wooded slopes of the Berkshires. Since 2000 she has lived and worked in a small Umbrian town, Monte Castello di Vibio, not far from Todi, painting landscapes and familiar objects around her studio and the simple house where she lives. The distant views and the rooms of the house alike are filled with the clear, warm light of Umbria. As she explained to me, showing me photographs as illustrations, her point of departure is this all-encompassing light and its subtle changes through the course of the day and the seasons. Wherever she goes from there, she is guided by her eye. This visual experience, she says, slows down her painting, reflecting the slow, tranquil life in the town.

Read the full notice on the Berkshire Review, an International journal for the Arts!







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