above: Still Lives in Living Color, 59" x 58.75" Oil paint, alkyd glaze, pastel on canvas, 1988
Looking to collect work from the next great artist? Here's one.
A California native and resident, Tomb (which DOES rhyme with Bomb) has mounted solo exhibitions at the Fresno Art Museum, and the Artists’ Forum, among others. He has participated in group shows throughout the United States. His work is included in the collections of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Fresno Art Museum, and the Oakland Museum.
David Tomb has embraced the discipline of the portrait, but abandoned its historical convention, choosing to infuse his work with an intense and uneasy energy that speaks to our time. A San Francisco Bay Area Painter, Tomb's energetic line, acid color, and keen observance make for penetrating portraits and fresh figurative works that demonstrate a unique contemporary vision.Tomb utilizes in his media, charcoal, gouache, ink and watercolor, often loosing himself in the beauty and purity of mark making and pattern. His works assimilate stylistic tropes from a pantheon of canonical portrait painters, from Francis Bacon, to Lucian Freud, to Alice Neel.
As a huge fan of the painters mentioned above, it's no wonder I love his work.
above: Untitled Male 1, 2001, 44 x 30", mixed media on paper by David Tomb
above: Portrait of Laura (that's me!), mixed media
above: Ethan Wallison, oil painting
above: David in his SF studio
More examples:
Below are just a few links to impressive reviews of his work: