Published by MW Editions/L'Ecole, School of Jewelry Arts. Preface by Nicolas Bos. Introduction by Daniel Brush.
Early in life, American painter, sculptor and jeweler Daniel Brush (born 1947) discounted Monet’s work wholesale—that is, until the pivotal day he saw an 8-by-10 transparency that a collector and friend was considering acquiring. This encounter sparked an obsession with the light Monet so masterfully captured through oil paint. Thinking about Monet contains 60 of the more than 100 steel sculptures Brush created—all of which are meditations on light. The artist hand-carved the same steel for all of his palm-sized pieces, but each one articulates distinct properties of color and light. Mesmerizing in the intricacy and daring of their fabrication, Brush's objects bear comparison with the work of historical masters. This small, jewel-like book is covered in printed silk cloth, and all the sculptures are reproduced at their original size. Nicolas Bos, president of Van Cleef & Arpels, contributes a short foreword to the book.
Over the past 30 years, working in virtual seclusion from the mainstream, Daniel Brush has created an unparalleled body of work which includes painting, sculpture and jewelry. His large-scale canvases and drawings, inspired by the expressive, disciplined gestures of the Noh theatre, integrate Brush's study of Asian philosophy and the drama of modernist painting. His three-dimensional works include delicate granulated gold domes in the traditions of the ancient goldsmiths, jewel encrusted objects of virtue and fantasy, and gold and steel sculptures, some only a few inches high. Imbued with a timeless quality and mesmerizing in their intricacy, Brush's objects bear comparison with the work of historical masters and are included in numerous collections. His recent wall pieces in blued steel and pure gold engage the ambient light. His table works in stainless steel and pure gold, hand-engraved with thousands of rhythmic lines, are visual poems that record the passage of time. Brush has developed a rigorous personal aesthetic marked by its intellectual force, mastery of technique and the science of materials. His idiosyncratic, contemplative work marks a journey of evolving mastery, and bodies forth a deeply expressively voice in American art.
