© Myron Heise, 2003

Myron Heise ©
Amazon on Broadway (Sold)
Oil on Canvas

In the 5 by 6 foot canvas, Portrait of a News Vendor, he himself stands in the center of Times Square, wearing a fire-engine red apron and a jaunty blue beret.

On his right, a streetwalker, pimp, fry cook and loiterer go about their daily jobs, while customers to his left peruse a wall-to-wall array of magazines.

Folks in the know will recognize that 17 pictures of Heise¹s friends grace the covers of these tabloids and periodicals.

The painter Chris Pelletiere gets front-page billing in ARTnews, and one notable eccentric appears under the banner of Mad magazine.

This ambitious work, 5 years in the making, portrays "The Crossroads of the World" as a place where Will Rogers could meet up with James Ensor.

The whole droll shebang is painted with loving care but without obvious artifice. Heise¹s no-nonsense brushwork suggests candor, and his quirky palette implies that facts are always colored by feelings.

Heise's no-nonsense brushwork suggests candor, and his quirky palette implies that facts are always colored by feelings.