Artist Spotlight: Don Rankin

This week Eva Breuer Art Dealer is proud to spotlight still life painter Don Rankin. His 2009 exhibition, Dead Calm, is a beautiful collection of works that are further illuminated by the interview below.

Who (or what) do you consider your artistic inspiration?

My main inspiration is the whole history of painting. I am always educating myself on this legacy by constantly reading, looking and learning. I feel sorry for those contemporary artists who dismiss anything done before 1950 as irrelevant to modern artistic practice – they miss so much as a consequence. Art is enriched immeasurably by what has come before but you have to be receptive to it and open-minded. If I were to single out particular artists who have inspired me it would be Chardin and Morandi, but there are of course many others.

Do you listen to music while you work, and if so, what is most often playing?

I prefer total silence when painting. I have wide musical interests but enjoy piano pieces by Chopin, Debussy and Satie the most.

Who of your peers do you respect the most?

The artists who are not influenced by current trends and styles but instead persevere along their chosen paths: ie. the mavericks. Interestingly, these artists are often well-informed about art history.

Do you have any habits/rituals or strange superstitions when painting?

Painting needs the personal discipline to get in the studio and work no matter whether things are going well or not. I only paint under natural light so on dull days I make frames or stretch canvases. I don’t allow anyone to observe while I am painting – painting is a solitary activity and the daily struggle with the rectangle can only be shared and evaluated at a later time.

When did you decide to become an artist?

I have painted since I was a teenager at school, then through university and later when working as a teacher. I only became a full-time artist in 2004 but had a long established exhibition history before then.

Do you have a favourite painting or work of art? If so, what is it?

Almost any painting by Giorgio Morandi made between 1950 and 1963 (when he died). Also a group of small, late still-lives by Chardin in the Louvre, Paris. Then there are the Bonnards in the AGNSW, the Bellini’s in the Accademia in Venice, … I could on for a long time, there is so much superb art to be seen all over the world.