Contemplation: Watercolorist’s Sublime Impressions On View at Library

The works of watercolorist Leo Yeni are on display in the Fort Lee library throughout the month of May. A retrospective featuring the highlights of Yeni’s long career, the show features the artist’s signature street scenes and boat and ship scenes from different parts of the world. I visited the exhibit recently to take a look, but the official reception takes place in the library Saturday at 2 p.m.

Yeni’s watercolor paintings feature soft light and subtle shadow—many are recognizable as Italian street scenes and buildings in the Italian countryside, and the painter captured the light quality seen in Europe, bright sunlight suffused through clouds. His Venetian street scenes are especially moving. The combination of antique buildings and water, and the narrow paved corridors, create complicated shadows that Yeni’s work treats beautifully. Many of the other scenes are set on American rivers, and are no less lovely.

The retrospective also showcases Yeni’s considerable skill as a draftsman, as in the pen-and-ink drawing of a boatyard in Palm Beach. Intricate lines and shading here create a masterwork in black and white, with minutely detailed trees, wooden posts and clouds—and even pelicans standing in the foreground to sunbathe. The pen-and-ink work, too, demonstrates the artist’s profound understanding of the balance between light and shadow.

In all these works, the majestic ships and austere stone buildings are rendered in realistic color. The colors are not brilliant or striking, but when studied quietly, the effect of Leo Yeni’s warm greys and browns is breathtaking. In creating the watercolors in this comprehensive exhibit, the painter paid impeccable attention to the subtleties of water and sky, pavement and brick. Overall, the effect the show has on the observer is one of contemplative satisfaction.

The retrospective of Leo Yeni’s paintings will be shown in the library’s Atrium Gallery, on the lower level of 320 Main St. for the rest of the month. A reception for the exhibition will be held in the same place on Saturday at 2 p.m.