About the Artist

  Oil painter Joseph M. Neumann, born in Detroit in 1966, uses traditional mediums and techniques to capture a nostalgic style of still life painting.  Classically trained and mentored by his father, renowned painter John Robert Neumann ( 1920 – 1995 ), Joe continues the study of illusionistic realism by employing trompe l’ oeil effects to his compositions.
  Trompe l’ oeil, a term which literally means “to fool the eye”, typically includes the subject matter jutting out from a cabinet space, sitting on a table, or perhaps hanging nailed on a wall and draped over other objects, which are often deliberately scattered, torn, frayed, or left open.  Everything seems to appear old, distressed, and well used – telling stories through wounds, marks and missing parts.
  His subject is Americana – both high culture and popular culture – as the folklorish quality of the chosen objects comment on nostalgia for the ‘good old days”.  The effect is intended to be warm, familiar, and inviting.
  Joe is an award winning member of the historic Scarab Club of Detroit, where he works and exhibits in the exclusive Club’s Studio 6, and currently holds a seat on the Board of Directors.  After having his works accepted six years in a row in the prestigious Gold Medal Exhibit, Joe was awarded the highly coveted Gold Medal of 2005 for his painting “Grade “A” Large – An Overture of Ovals in Ochre”, making his permanent mark on the history of fine art in Detroit.
  Joe was also recently honored by having his work accepted to the Kresge Museum of Fine Art in the museum’s “Masters of Illusion” exhibit, which compared 18^th and 19^th century Masters with contemporary Masters working in the same genre.  At the Museum, his painting, “Secret Weapons of the Attic Revolution” earned an honored placement on the wall, juxtaposed between 19^th century Masters of the Philadelphia School, John F. Peto and William H. Harnett – Joe’s childhood heroes.
  As a faculty member of the Birmingham Bloomfield Arts Center ( BBAC ), Joe teaches his techniques as the Instructor of his classes: Oil Painting – The Sharp Focus Still Life, and Advanced Trompe L’ Oeil Techniques for the Oil Painter.
  In 2005 Joe was sought out by author T.J. Branson of Vertigo Publishing to illustrate a series of children’s books, the first of which, “Mommy…Is Santa Clause Real?” was released in December of 2005.
  As a full time professional artist, Joe relies largely on commissions and limited edition reproductions, although his originals can be seen in various Metro Detroit galleries, and exhibits around the Great Lakes region, as well as noted private collections throughout the United States.   

Artist Statement

            As a still life painter and realist, it is not my intention to fool viewers into thinking they are looking at a photograph.  My intention is, however, to explore a highly disciplined brush stroke, while utilizing certain painterly qualities necessary to expose the traditional value of shape, light, shadow, and texture of the objects chosen for my compositions.
   By painting in the  Trompe L’Oeil genre of illusionistic realism,  I attempt to capture Americana, and express the opposition between high culture and popular culture.  My work is not merely an imitation of nature – there is much invention here.  There is a feeling of folklore which subtly comments on today’s culture, our own culture, weaving a delicate balance between the old and new. 
   From an endless pool of subject matter to draw from, I am free to create endless compositions – usually from physical objects employed as models, as well as objects of pure fancy needed to make the painting whole.  This is where I combine painting what I see with painting what I want the viewer to see.
   By incorporating this license, the still life can be as traditional, and quietly intelligent, or as bold and whimsical as I see fit.  With this in mind, I will create works reflective of my mood or even the current political climate;  then again, I may choose to make no statement at all.  Either way, my compositions are ultimately expressions of how I sort things out in my mind’s eye – through the objects which are familiar to us in our current human existence.