The Noble Maritime Collection has staged a new exhibition called The Sea, the City, & the Golden Hour: Impressionist Maritime and Urban Landscapes by Robert Padovano.

The Sea, the City, & the Golden Hour features 25 works by Staten Island artist Robert Padovano, including 12 new paintings he created especially for the exhibition, which was guest-curated by the artist and his wife, Peggy.

The museum will host an opening reception on Thursday, May 30, 2024 from 6 to 8 PM.

The exhibition will be on view throughout the summer at the museum at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, and will close on September 1, 2024.

In the tradition of the great Impressionist painters, Padovano is known for his ability to create luminosity on his canvases. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he is a self-taught painter who has drawn inspiration from urban landscapes throughout his life, and like the museum’s namesake, John A. Noble, he compels his audience to look upon New York City’s waterfront with a new perspective.

Robert Padovano, *Silvercup Sunset II*, Acrylic on canvas, 2019, 22” x 28”; courtesy of the artist

“Much of my childhood was filled with memories of rooftop views of the city from the elevated trains, and sparkling panoramas of bridges lit up at night,” Padovano said.

The artist continued, “I find these subjects lend themselves beautifully to Impressionistic interpretation and they frequently make their way into my paintings. The effect of changing light upon city streets and buildings is very compelling.”

Padovano has a long association with the Noble Maritime Collection, and three of his paintings are featured in the museum’s long-term exhibition, Robbins Reef Lighthouse: A Home in the Harbor, which opened in 2015.

Ciro Galeno, Jr., the museum’s Executive Director, commented, “Viewers of the lighthouse exhibition always remark on Padovano’s intense use of color and his ability to make the sun look like it is glowing on the canvas. For that reason, some of his paintings remind me of the work of Noble’s father, the Post-Impressionist painter John ‘Wichita Bill’ Noble (1874-1934). That, coupled with his affinity for painting local maritime scenes made hosting Padovano’s exhibition a good fit for the museum’s mission.”

Highlights of the exhibition include the new paintings Padovano created, such as Sunset Haze, New York Harbor, a view of the sun rising over the East River which pays homage to Monet’s interpretations of the River Thames in London.

Other new works include the exhibition’s signature piece, Lower Manhattan, Golden Hour—a view of the Brooklyn Bridge and skyline. It is being presented as a grouping with three other iconic New York City scenes—Lady Liberty, Crimson Sky, showing a Staten Island Ferry passing the Statue of Liberty; Best Friends, depicting a pair of tugboats; and Sakura Express, named for the cargo ship which is the painting’s subject.

Lower Manhattan, Golden Hour

Sakura Express

Lady Liberty, Crimson Sky

Best Friends

Paintings in the exhibition are as large as four feet wide, but Sister Golden Hair stands out as both the smallest (measuring 9 x 12 inches), and most intimate, as it depicts a quiet moment amongst passengers on the Staten Island Ferry.

The opening reception on Thursday, May 30 at 6 PM is a free event with museum admission, which is a non-compulsory donation in any amount that attendees opt to give.

For more information about attending the opening reception and the exhibition in general, visit noblemaritime.org/robert-padovano

This exhibition was made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; and by a grant from the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.

The Noble Maritime Collection, located in Building D, a former mariners’ dormitory at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, New York, is open from 12 until 5 PM, Thursdays through Sundays. Admission is by donation.