About

John Varriano had walked by this location on the corner of 86th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan on numerous occasions on the way back to his studio after his painting excursions in New York City’s Central Park.

The artist was captivated by the energy on this bustling street corner. He found it to be particularly exciting around the time of rush hour when people were returning home after a day’s work. He would later name the painting “86Th Street Rush”. He began frequently going to the location in the late afternoon and made many sketches and studies from which he ultimately composed this painting.

It is a Tour De Force example of how to absorb, capture and compose a moment in time. The painting has the uncanny quality of simultaneously possessing great fluid movement and yet a quiet, static stillness.

In this wonderful painting we encounter numerous characters that play their respective parts as the artist/director orchestrates this cinema in paint. John has always been a keen observer of people. He is highly tuned to the personality, psychology and body language of people, and we can delight in those individuals that he has captured on the canvas. There is much comedy and wit in the way the man in the wheelchair is depicted. With a cigar and a dog on the leash in one hand, he panhandles with a plastic cup in the other. He has captured the attention of a good natured ‘humanitarian’ who willingly reaches for his wallet. The young, blonde woman is lost in self thought as She quickly walks to her destination, carried on by the momentum of The City’s energy and demands. The Man center right with hands in pocket has currently emerged from the Subway, and being unfamiliar with the neighborhood looks about to find a street sign or landmark that might guide him. Then there is the man towards the left wearing dark glasses and speaking on a phone. Might we fantasize that he is incognito and perhaps spying on someone? Maybe he is scoping the man in the wheelchair who we can imagine when once out of sight and the ‘show is over," might easily jump up and stroll home with pockets full after a hard day of playing the beggar.

These qualities so well brought together in a beautifully executed painting offer a wonderful example of Varriano’s oeuvre. The overall composition, rendering of the people and scenery and masterfully direct handling of the paint give us much to enjoy.

Like so much of Varriano’s work this piece provides enough material to write a small book of analysis. One of the delicious ironies of the painting is that all of this hustle and bustle and restless energy takes place beneath a neon sign reading “Comfort Diner." However, these people rushing about their daily lives do not for now at least, show the slightest interest in comfort or dining. As Varriano so fondly remembers his Uncle Nick saying, “timing is everything” we can sense the artist smiling to himself.

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