Oil Paintings
The majority of Olive DeLuce’s paintings are, most likely, plein air oil sketches of landscapes and architecture made on canvas board at presumably some of her favorite sites in the west and southwest portions of the United States. For example, numerous paintings were made in Rocky Mountain National Park. The works are somewhat generalized landscape forms with simplified details and thin layers of color having the appearance of an oil wash rather than thick paint. She also painted portraits of friends or acquaintances. In these works she used a more geometric approach emphasizing the planar structure of human proportions and subject likeness. Other subjects include seascapes, architecture and experiments with abstraction, including Surrealism and Cubism.
Watercolors
The artist’s watercolors focus on the grounds and buildings surrounding Northwest Missouri State College and other landscapes. One interesting work represents an interior living space in her Maryville residence that contains armchairs and other items also part of the family collection.
Sketches and Drawings
The collections contain scores of figure studies (not photographed) Olive DeLuce made during her months of study in Paris, France. They were made from a live nude model in the traditional studio environment and focus only on the figure with little or no ground. These drawings foreshadow the academic method used in life drawing courses taught throughout the United States through the 20th century to today, an approach that emphasizes a quick anatomical gesture, volume, proportion and movement determined principally by varied line elements. Numerous drawings could be made in one session to develop the artist’s perceptual skills and ability to responsively and expressively interpret the human classical form in space and time. Other works shown here are drawings made in Europe while traveling, much like her father, to document locations and have later for painting studies.
