Albert York’s small, visionary paintings of humble subjects — including cows, vases of flowers, and pastoral landscapes of Long Island’s East End, as well as the occasional figurative subject — were often done from memory. Painted on small scraps of wood in the basement of his home during the early morning hours, these works display a distinctive palette and a rare mastery of the medium. (http://www.matthewmarks.com/new-york/exhibitions/2014-11-08_albert-york/) Even today York's pictures insist on the sturdy monumentality that inhabits the solidity of simple subjects. Two Zinnias (circa 1965), for one, depicts a pair of puce flowers resting on a cream-colored surface; their rounded petals and cut stems contrast strikingly with the panel's black horizon, suggesting liftoff into nothingness. (http://www.villagevoice.com/arts/the-spotlight-finds-paintings-late-legendary-recluse-albert-york-7193845)