Ronald Frontin is Maine-born (Camden, 1962) and a Maine artist to the bone, having left Maine long enough to attend the Philadelphia College of Art (1981-85).  In keeping with the American realist tradition of Homer and Wyeth (sometimes Andrew and other times N.C.), he shares the clear light, candid characterization, and sublime landscapes of these northern climes, whether rock-bound coast or inland forest and field.

Ronald Frontin captures the particular mood of Maine; care in composition is key, both in his landscapes and his portraits.  As both of the paintings here are studies, there is an interesting opportunity to peruse the brushy and not yet fine-tuned finish that will eventually prevail with this artist’s deft touch.  These are painterly ideas not yet fully realized.  But the intricacies of the organic nature of landscape or sitter, coupled with the geometric scheme of the overall composition – the relation of human to environment – is instructive to see; for instance, the lighthouse only partly visible behind a screen of trees, with the keeper’s house pushed to the edge of the composition suggests a certain feeling about the control of Nature that humankind enjoys, at least for now.