Domino
October 2005
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Martha Szabo
“Pet portraitist to the stars, Szabo can do a wide range of styles, from Lucien Freud-like canvases to Francis Bacon-like sketches.”
“This inky black sketch is a sleek and moody alternative to those who don’t want cute.”
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Country Living
October 2005 |
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Animal House Style
(Bulfinch Press), April 2004 |
“I’m very envious that you are able to give such joy by painting pets. Your painting is just lovely; it’ll hang proudly.”
—Eric Stoltz |
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Martha Szabo’s work appears in the following books, available on Amazon.com: |
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“It’s so beautiful! And it really sent shivers up my spine, because it looks so much like the real Dorian. For the first time since he passed, I felt like he was right here looking at me. Thank you.”
—Sheryl Longin |
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Surly, sweet, independent, protective, aloof—Szabo’s work manages to
capture the personality and emotion of the animals she paints, in a method not
strictly realistic, nor abstract, yet more than both combined.
One feels, on viewing the work, one knows the animal—something of spirit is
mysteriously conveyed. On board or canvas, the animal fully occupies the
space.
The history of animals in art—and animal portraiture—is a long and
venerable one; Szabo continues the tradition and draws upon it in her own
manner, a style both honest and modern. These animals are situated very much in the
present. The images are clearly of our time, knowledgeable cats and dogs who
are inhabitants and observers of the 21st century.
It is hard to view these works without wishing for one's own pet (pet? No:
companion, partner, friend, tormentor, confidant) to be embodied in such a
fashion, as a record for the ages.
—Tama Janowitz, September 2003
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Grace Magazine
May/June 2003 |
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Bark Magazine
Winter 2002
“Paintings by Martha Szabo”
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Teddy
Tikva
Vicky |
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Traditional Home
March 2002
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Kitty, whose human owner is the artist Martha Szabo, has inspired a gallery of portraits. |
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May 5, 2002
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by Julia Szabo
In a long career, artist Martha Szabo (who happens to be my mom) has painted a range of subjects, from portraits of people to abstract views of the New York skyline.
Three years ago, inspired by her own three rescued cats and her fellow New Yorkers’ profound love for their pets, she started painting animals and created sensitive portraits of creatures with minds of their own. The felines meet the viewer’s gaze head-on, with a penetrating, sometimes unsettling, expression that cat fanciers know all too well.
“Cats all have different personalities, just like people,” she said. “But they don't pose; you have to catch them, which is a great challenge for an artist.
“Cats are straightforward,” she added. “They don't care about showing you their ‘good’ side.” |
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