Afternoon clearing 48 x 60" oil on canvas

The thing about Plein Air painting is, that while you are painting, you are forced to live in the present, observe the present, paint the present, yet it is holding time, freezing time, freezing the image in time so that it can be observed, it can be appreciated, it can be studied, it can be held in your hands for a few minutes longer before the observed image fades away ...in time.”

—Joseph Sweeney, artist statement 2021

  • "Mr. Sweeney's carefully observed cloud-filled sky recalls those by Constable in-his 19th-century English landscapes. The richly colored strokes of greens and blues with subtle touches of yellow appear as smooth as Bassett's ice cream."

    —Fred B. Adelson, The New York Times

  • "Joseph Sweeney's art is able to speak to moderns using the language of classical landscape painting which contemplates nature."

    —Chester County Town & Country Living

  • "He has a sharp eye for the beauty of nature, which he finds in quiet and tranquil scenes showing nature exiting in deep harmony with man."

    —ARTFORUM

  • "Joe Sweeney’s pastels of Boathouse Row, a subject with which he has become identified, are often frontal views that exaggerate the tonal contrast between the sun washed facades and the umbral darkness of the park behind...they apotheosizes Sunday -in-the-park- Philadelphia."

    —Ed Sozanski, The Philadelphia Inquirer

  • "Sweeney whose pastels are particularly notable, convey the darkness and coldness of water, the bite of fresh air, the brilliance of sunlight, and an atmosphere that evokes youth, energy and clarity!"

    —John Dorsey, The Baltimore Sun

View from Jack's Mountain.jpg

Contact

For custom paintings, commissions, or any questions you can contact me here:

joesweeney@mac.com