ANTHONY BAUS
(b. 1981)

Plaza Hotel

Signed and dated, lower left: A D / Baus / 2021

Pen and sepia ink, sepia and grey wash on paper
16 ¼ x 21 ⅞ inches (41.3 x 55.6 cm)
 

Anthony Baus is an alumnus of the Grand Central Atelier in Long Island City, New York. His unique artistic vision, which mines the world of antiquity as source material for contemporary issues, is expressed through an astonishing graphic facility derived from intense study of Italian Baroque drawing and painting.

His references from the ancient world are never literal; rather they are meditative and original. His impressive technique does not reflect the mind of a copyist. The Old Master-style that style Baus has embraced is his preferred language of expression, but his content is entirely personal. Baus has described it as “romantically inspired narratives created on scaffolding of ancient architecture, richly imbued with symbolism and mystery.”

The present drawing is one of a series of works that reimagine views of American cities. Baus uses the historicizing architecture of these cities as setting for narrative scenes that play out in the foreground with a cast of characters dressed in a mix of contemporary and historical styles. This drawing presents a scene in front of the Plaza Hotel in New York City with several other recognizable landmarks, like the Pulitzer Fountain and the glass cube of the 5th Avenue Apple Store on the right edge of the composition. There are several groups of figures positioned in front of the fountain engaging in various activities—listening to headphones, conversing, holding bikes and skateboards. To left of the fountain, three figures riding Electric Unicycles are seen racing off into the distance. In the lower left corner of the composition, just behind the carriage wheel, the artist has included a self-portrait of himself at work, a common motif used by historical view painters.

Baus’s drawings can be savored as intricate compositions of great beauty and finesse. They are also complex and sophisticated amalgams of the modern world and ages past. However appreciated or approached, they provide an introduction to a visionary artist of earnest intent and expansive imagination.