North End Painting: Prince & Salem Streets

This oil painting shows the upper floors of the building at the corner of Salem and Prince Streets. The ground floor holds Dino’s Sub Shop, where lots of tourists and locals go to get lunch while spending the day outside, or touring in the neighborhood.

The painting has been in my hands for a while, in a rather unfinished form. It was basically a sketch of the scene, which features something I love about the North End’s architecture – lots of exterior copper. Since I had a good start, I knew I had an artistic obligation to do something with the featureless sky, and the uneven aspects of some of the color, etc. – I felt that way for a long time!

I finally found the ambition and finished the painting, so that it would have some motion by way of the clouds, and some strong direction in the color planes by way of the lighting. Most of all, I like the fact that this painting could have been done at any time since the building was built, and it would look the same! No wiring, no A/C units or satellite dishes – just a ‘timeless-capsule’ of life in Boston’s North End.

The painting itself is on display (in a carved-wood frame striped with copper-color) in the window of Silk Screening USA. For those of you who know the neighborhood, it’s across from the Corner Cafe, down Prince St. (for those unfamiliar with the North End, just ask around a little!) I want to thank the shop’s owner, Vito, for his kind permission in allowing me to exhibit a few pieces in his front window!

You can see another North End painting in his front display – it’s of the building that holds Mother Anna’s restaurant, on Hanover St.

Thanks for looking at and enjoying my artistic expressions of my favorite neighborhood – Boston’s Italian North End!

Michael Dean’s Flickr Site: http://flickr.com/photos/michaeldeanart. Click on the small word “sets” by my photo at the top of the page to see all the different portfolios. Contact Michael Dean.