Landscape paintings and prints by Maryland artist James “Jimmy” Rouse are the subject of a solo exhibit that opens on Thursday, Feb. 13, at C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore.
En Plein Air is the title of the show, which features 27 pieces by Rouse, including oil paintings, watercolors and woodcuts, landscapes and cityscapes.
“Bringing together several decades of work celebrating the wonder of nature, this collection breathes fresh air within gallery walls,” owner Constantine Grimaldis says in his announcement of the show. “Blue skies and lush greenery weave a sense of possibility as each brush stroke builds into scenes both whimsical and familiar, allowing viewers to seemingly escape into the renewing sense of magnetism Rouse’s paintings hold. “
The son of famed developer James Rouse, Jimmy Rouse is a lifelong Baltimorean who has made his mark on the life of the city in numerous ways.
After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University, Rouse began to pursue his true love, art. For several years, he worked at Martick’s Restaurant Francais on Mulberry Street, a legendary node of the city’s social scene, to support himself as he painted.
From 1981 to 1998, he owned and operated Louie’s Bookstore Café, a popular Charles Street dining (and dating) spot that doubled as a gallery where local artists could show their work. He co-founded the Charles Street Development Corp. to help revitalize that corridor. After realizing that employees at Louie’s were frequently late to work because local buses were never on schedule, he started Transit Choices, a coalition of businesses, institutions, planners and others working to create a more efficient and effective public transit system in Baltimore.
Throughout his life, Rouse has made art in a variety of mediums and from a variety of locations. Many are works he started painting outdoors – en plein air – and completed in his Clipper Mill studio.
“Jimmy Rouse’s painting opens our eyes to the gifts of nature and the world (trees and hillscapes and skies and his probing city…) and to the mystery of other souls – it has the power to awaken and deepen our very ‘seeing’ of what there is,” observed Vassar College scholar Mitchell Miller.
“Art to get lost in,” says actress, dancer and storyteller Maria Broom.
Located at 523 N. Charles St., Grimaldis Gallery will have an opening reception for Rouse’s exhibit on Feb. 13 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. After that, it will be on view until March 15. The gallery is free and open to the public. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment.
Grimaldis suggests that viewing Rouse’s work is a good cure for the winter blues.
“As En Plein Air brings us through the final weeks of winter into the earliest days of spring,” he notes, “Rouse’s philosophical eye and symphonic approach to painting provides us the opportunity to relish in the beauty and hope that can be found within community and the changing seasons.”
