Sergio Roffo: Late Afternoon Sail — Nantucket Oil Painting and New England Coastal Art

Oil painting by Sergio Roffo

Down a quiet dirt lane on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, tucked away from the main road, there is a small boat launch and a stretch of tidal water that residents and visitors cherish. This sheltered inlet is a private-feeling haven for small craft and anyone who appreciates intimate coastal scenes. It is a calm, restorative place—removed from the crowds, traffic and bustle of everyday life—and it is one of the preferred painting locations of artist Sergio Roffo.

Roffo’s 24-by-36-inch oil painting Late Afternoon Sail came together at that very spot. “This is one of my favorite places to paint,” he says, recalling the day a catboat drifted by while he worked on a quick plein air study. The moment’s fleeting light and the quiet motion of the boat are captured in the finished canvas, which preserves the calm atmosphere of late afternoon on the tidal water.

The luminous quality of Roffo’s paintings stems from a patient glazing and layering method, a technique that early American maritime and landscape painters like Fitz Hugh Lane made well known. Roffo builds color and depth gradually, using thin, transparent glazes to create subtle shifts in tone and an overall glow that gives his coastal scenes their characteristic clarity and harmony. This approach lets light bleed softly across sailcloth, marsh grass and reflective water without abrupt transitions.

Born in Italy and emigrating to the United States at age eight, Roffo grew up along the Massachusetts coast and developed a lifelong affinity for both boats and painting. He graduated with honors from the Vesper George School of Art in Boston in 1977, and over the years he has been recognized by peers and institutions: he has been named a Copley Master by the Copley Society of Boston, is a member of the Guild of Boston Artists, and holds a Fellows membership in the American Society of Marine Artists. He is best known for his evocative depictions of New England’s shoreline—its marshes, tidal rivers, bays and inlets—and for the way his work conveys the region’s shifting light and weather.

Roffo often begins his paintings with direct, on-location studies. He believes that painting from life is an essential discipline for artists seeking to deepen their understanding of color, atmosphere and composition. “Painting outdoors will make you a better studio painter,” he says. Working in the field trains the eye to observe subtle changes in light, to respond quickly to transient effects, and to commit essential impressions to memory and sketch before refining them in the studio.

At the heart of Roffo’s practice is an effort to capture the elusive essence of a natural scene—the harmony of color and light that makes a particular place feel alive. His finished canvases aim to convey that harmony to the viewer, inviting them into a specific time of day and a particular coastal mood. For Roffo, art is a continual process of learning from nature: “As artists, our creative goals will never be accomplished,” he says. “We will always be students of nature because nature does so beautifully.”

Late Afternoon Sail exemplifies this philosophy: a modest subject—the quiet passage of a catboat—becomes a study in luminosity and atmosphere. The composition emphasizes not only the vessel itself but also the surrounding environment, from the reflective water to the distant shoreline, all rendered with careful attention to tonal relationships and the layering of glazes that produce a soft, cohesive glow.

Collectors and admirers who wish to see Late Afternoon Sail and other paintings by Sergio Roffo are invited to view his work through the J. Russell Jinishian Gallery. The gallery represents a selection of his coastal scenes and studio pieces, showing the range of his technique and subject matter. To inquire about current exhibitions or available works, visit the J. Russell Jinishian Gallery website at www.jrusselljinishiangallery.com or visit the gallery in person at 1899 Bronson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut.

December 2014 issue