Fort Greene Artist Hosts Throwback Show
Richard Lebenson is throwing it back to the 1960s with his newest art show at Baguetteaboutit! Café, selling some of his earliest works at affordable prices and showcasing some of his favorite pieces of his art collection.
“Unfortunately, my brother died a few years ago and my mom died in 2000,” Lebenson said. “We took the artwork that I did for her and him … I don’t really have room for this stuff at this point, so I’m trying to let it go.”
Lebenson said it’s almost like an eclectic group show of his own work because the pieces vary in medium – from oil paints to prints – and vary in theme – from portraits and nudes, to cityscapes and landscapes.
When he started at Pratt Institute in the ’60s, Lebenson was working on pieces much different from his most recent show of Brooklyn landscapes. The Fort Greene artist tested his boundaries in school and deviated from his more realistic style he uses today.
“There are a lot of things that have a little bit of a backstory,” Lebenson said. “Things that were accidents that happened – there are pieces that have interesting histories.”
One piece – “Ancient Mariner” – is a portrait of a man in a navy cap, made using an oil wash technique.
Lebenson usually only works in a studio – “Doorway on DeKalb,” which he’s selling, is one of his only pieces made on location in Fort Greene.
Another piece is the second out of the two etchings and lithographs that Lebenson made.
And he’s also sharing a lot of the pieces he did for RSVP, a now-defunct national publication of illustration and design Lebenson used to run.
“[These are] things I think highly of,” Lebenson said.
Lebenson’s work usually runs around $3,000 per piece, but he said this show is a chance to sell his work at more affordable prices.
Eighteen out of the 26 pieces for sale are under $300, he said, and seven of his pieces have already sold. As he sells more work, the pieces will rotate in the café and he’ll add more of his collection to the walls. By the time the show closes, he said, half of the pieces will be different from when it started.
“I’m taking this opportunity to clear the decks a little bit,” Lebenson said. “I’m not going to live forever, so I’m trying to let it go.”
The show runs now until May 31 at the café, located at 270 Vanderbilt Avenue.
