CAMILLE PRZEWODEK
‘Master Signature member’ of the Oil Painters of America
Camille Przewodek
Today, Przewodek carries on Hensche’s tradition by teaching his theories to others in workshops. The lineage of her instruction goes back through Hensche to his teacher Charles Webster Hawthorne, who had studied with William Merritt Chase. As with the French impressionists, American impressionism focused on painting outdoors and observing light and atmosphere on color. Unlike French impressionism, however, American impressionists tended to pay greater attention to the solidity of form. This was part of Hensche’s training: rather than drawing objects, then “coloring them in,” Przewodek learned to see the myriad subtleties of tones and values that create form.
Przewodek’s style, which quickly became distinctive for its rich saturated color and luscious oil paint, caught the attention of numerous clients during the decade when she worked as a commercial illustrator. “I was one of the few illustrators who didn’t look like an illustrator. I painted the way I liked to paint,” she says. When she landed accounts such as Alfa Romeo and Chateau St. Jean, Przewodek knew it was her commitment to capturing changing light that made the difference. “Most illustrators would just go to the site, get their reference and go back home to do a slick illustration. I would go to the sites and stay for hours or days and do several paintings on location, then we decided which best served the project.” That same working method influences the series Portraits of Places she continues to do today.