cameron byron roberts

  • About
  • Travels with Olive
  • The Tracings
  • Memoirs
  • Substack
  • Painting
  • Videos
    • The Warped Frame

Inigo Jones' Covent Garden

July 03, 2026 by Cameron Roberts

The front porch yawns over the square, the roof leans into space. There is no cornice, no entablature, no architrave…

Read More
July 03, 2026 /Cameron Roberts
Comment

A Foretelling

June 13, 2026 by Cameron Roberts

The tragedy of this painting lies not only in its subject, but the way in which Illia Repin has rendered his friend.

Read More
June 13, 2026 /Cameron Roberts
Comment

Venus in Shadow

May 30, 2026 by Cameron Roberts

The egg and dart molding is found in the shadow of the cornice, seen in reflected light, like the underside of a mushroom, delicate and protected.

Read More
May 30, 2026 /Cameron Roberts
Comment

Simulacra

May 23, 2026 by Cameron Roberts

If architecture is not the same as building, then what is it?

Read More
May 23, 2026 /Cameron Roberts
2 Comments

Whistler's Little Rose

May 15, 2026 by Cameron Roberts

As we look closely at Whistler’s painting, Little Rose’s arms lie in an immeasurable field of black.

Read More
May 15, 2026 /Cameron Roberts
Comment

Winslow Homer's Light

March 26, 2026 by Cameron Roberts

Dawn, dusk, and moonlight. These are the moments of Homer’s paintings. Light continues to illuminate, as all else fades, as if in a dream.

Read More
March 26, 2026 /Cameron Roberts
Comment

Unsaid

March 21, 2026 by Cameron Roberts

I found myself in a small room with two paintings, one by Agnes Martin, the other by Robert Ryman, facing each other. The silence was deafening.

Read More
March 21, 2026 /Cameron Roberts
Comment

Franz Kline

November 23, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

Franz Kline's Black, White, and Gray (1959) is nearly nine feet tall and nearly seven feet wide. I came across it in person at the Met a few months ago. It’s overwhelming…

Read More
November 23, 2025 /Cameron Roberts /Source
4 Comments

Ingre's La Grande Odalisque

June 01, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

Ingres is reputed to have said that he could paint a nude with only mud, provided he had a full palette for the background.

Read More
June 01, 2025 /Cameron Roberts
Comment

Barnett Newman's Vir Heroicus Sublimus

May 24, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

When you are within a few feet of this painting, you can no longer see where it begins or ends, and are simply gazing into its limitlessness.

Read More
May 24, 2025 /Cameron Roberts
2 Comments

Rothko at the Vuitton Foundation

March 23, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

Mark Rothko was found dead on the floor of his studio on February 25, 1970. What ensued from his death was the largest lawsuit ever to take place in the art world.

Read More
March 23, 2025 /Cameron Roberts
Comment

Louis Kahn: Building and Being

March 23, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

The Kimball Art Museum is now fifty years old, and looks no different than the day it was finished.

Read More
March 23, 2025 /Cameron Roberts

Arcosanti: An Aquarian Utopia

March 23, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

Like so many ventures of the 1970's, Arcosanti is sometimes seen as merely a commune. Yet it's hard to deny the charm of the place, and that of its inhabitants. 

Read More
March 23, 2025 /Cameron Roberts

Taliesen West

March 23, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

Taliesen West is a kind of geometric interpretation of nature.  No detail is left undesigned.  No tree, rock or plant is not asked to pose for the audience. It is the final act of the master.

Read More
March 23, 2025 /Cameron Roberts

Marfa: The Work of Donald Judd

March 23, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

It is difficult to convey the impact of Judd’s works. It's not just the size. It's that the work mediates between you, the earth and sky, challenging every reference point of consciousness.

Read More
March 23, 2025 /Cameron Roberts

The Triglyph Dilemma

March 18, 2025 by Cameron Roberts

One of the great mysteries of Greek architecture which defies rational explanation is something known as the Triglyph Dilemma.

Read More
March 18, 2025 /Cameron Roberts