Harlem Paintings

This painting, that Sanford painted during the fall of 2020, as the city was in the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic, depicts several friends and neighbors in front of a local coffee shop, Manhattanville Coffee. The painting was inspired by the poem “Let America be America Again” and the back drop of the Black Lives Matter uprising during the summer of 2020 and the back drop of the repressive Trump Administration. Close observers of the painting will see Sanford nod to local artists in his inclusion of graffiti stickers in the painting. Notably “Krai-Z” for Sanford’s long time friend and peer, the poster artist Michael Anderson who died that summer. Also included are stickers by artists such as The Snoeman and BlusterOne.

Tom Sanford 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 59 inches x 50 inches.

This painting of a once happy couple who lived across the street from the painter for several years before the painting was painted. Sanford recalls these times as the “salad days” of Hamilton Heights, in large part because of all the great salads he enjoyed at neighbor Liza Scheonfein and Mark Jannots home. But when Scheonfein and Jannot split up, around the time of this painting it set off a rash as divorces on Sanford’s block. While Sanford’s marriage was not impacted, many neighbors were, among them Trevor and Julia, as after a neighborhood poker game at Jannot’s new bachelor pad in the spring of 2018, Trevor returned home and announced his plans to leave.

Tom Sanford 2017, Acrylic on Canvas. Sanford’s painting of local bartender , Roni Hendrix, is a clear reference to Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere (1882)”, a painting that the artist has riffed on repeatedly. The picture depicts Sanford, probably a frequent patron, ordering a drink at The Honeywell bar in his West Harlem neighborhood. The picture was in fact commissioned by movie director Brett Ratner for his house whiskey brand, Hilhaven Lodge.

After Sanford’s neighbor, Mark jannot, left home (next door to the artist) for a bachelor pad a few blocks away, he established a weekly poker game. Sanford rarely attended, mainly because he is bad at poker and found it painful to fork over cash to the other fathers from the neighborhood, most of whom actually had jobs and thought of losing just a small price to pay to avoid their wives and children for an evening. But on occasion, Sanford would justify losing a few 50 dollar buy-ins to reconnect with his ex-neighbor. This picture seems to depict a critical moment in one such game. Jason Yarn appears to be going all, probably hoping for a straight in with just the river card remaining to be revealed. Sanfords hold a suited 2 and 10, the infamous “Doyle Brunson” hand and looking for the 10 on the river for his full house. Jannot, Chad Jones and Joe Jordan have folded and watch. John DiRe and Michale Moyer are also still in. What will Sanford do? True to form Sanford will fold and the river card was in fact the 10 of diamonds. exactly what the artist needed for his full house.

This event was precipitated by Avi Gitler presenting Sanford with a 50 dollar Burger King gift certificate for his 43rd birthday. The artist, needing subject matter and sensing an opportunity, used Gitler generosity to underwrite a whopper eating contest at a Harlem Burger King. Jon Heller, Esteban Ocampo Geraldi, Gitler and Sanford participated are are depicted in the picture. Boy Kong was among the observers of this disgusting display of gluttony and reposts that Sanford won the contest, eating 6 (650 calorie) whopper sandwiches in 30 minutes. He reported that the bottle of rye whiskey that Sanford washed each burger down may have been his secret as Sanford felt it “numbed the stomach and lubed the gullet.

Raphel is one of the guys who works at The Katrina Bodega on Sanford’s Hamilton Heights block. This good natured chap sells Sanford malt liquor, diet soda and paper towels and was willing to allow the artist to paint him. Raphel did seem a little weirded out when Sanford showed him the picture, perhaps he didn’t realize that the photos that the artist took a few days before were meant as reference for a painting, or perhaps he was just unimpressed by the results.

Tom Sanford 2019-20, acrylic on canvas, 69 inches x 120inches. It is believed that Sanford’s favored local watering hole was Uptown Bourbon, a small whisky and cheap beer oriented bar in his West Harlem neighborhood. Apparently he liked the rough around the edges character of its regulars and several of his subjects have frequented the bar. He was also able to make an arrangement with the bars ownership for an “unlimited tab” in exchange for art. A painting that Sanford painted of a Narragansett Lager and a bottle of Evan Williams bourbon hangs in the bar. Among the characters believed to be depicted in the paint are Sanford’s preferred bar tender Roni Hendrix, Elena Dávila and Andrew Castelli (the ownership), Avi Gitler (who had run a gallery next door, Max (no last named know) aka The Gold Boy, a suspected local drug peddler, Victor (a famously surly bartender), Carlos and Christopher (regulars), and Sanford himself.

Donald, one of Sanford’s more colorful neighbors, is a fixture on his block. Donald can help one with odd jobs, masonry work and can be relied on for a joint. He claims Jamaican heritage (and his accent would corroborate) and that his grandfather was a close associate of Marcus Garvey and he is also related to Idi Amin, none of which the artist can confirm or deny.

This Painting depicts Sanford’s wife and children traveling downtown on the A train. The car is filled with friends and neighbors. The most recognizable of which is Neil Patrick Harris, whose children were, at that time, in the same school as Sanford’s little ones. The various signage and logos that are woven into the painting mostly alludes to Sanford’s various associations and little jokes about his family’s neighborhood.

Sanfords favorite context for a painting would seem to be a bar. Here he depicts his friend and neighbor, the photographer Zenith Richards, at a favorite spot, ROKC. Sanford would later claim that he never went into ROKC and didn’t see Zenith holding down the bar, until sadly Zenith decamped for greener social pastures in Brooklyn during the pandemic of 2020.

Here Sanford paints his neighbor and fellow artist Stefan, aka Mr. Ayobe in his Hamilton Heights studio. While visiting Stefan’s studio a raccoon was attempting to access the building via the window.

This painting depicts a pretty typical subway car at rush hour, when Sanford would accompany his children on their morning commute to school.

During the summer of 2017, Avi Gitler and John Heller turned the Gitler & Gallery into a pay what you wish bookstore, which turned out to be a great boon for the business, as some money coming in, if only spare change, was better than none. After they closed the bookstore to get back to the less profitable, but more popular, business of giving away free beer, they were left with some left over inventory. To solve this problem, and the problem of employment for friend of the gallery and local loiterer, Garry, Heller set up a bookstand outside the gallery. He and Garry sold used books for a few months, Garry pocketing the proceeds.

Like an 21st century Norman Rockwell, Sanford draws on, again and again, the limited group of locals willing to pose for him. Here we see Mark Jannot, looking over served and Avi Gitler, looking none-to-amused playing cards at The Harlem Public Bar. Roni Hendrix again plays bartender and Sanford’s long suffering wife, Alex Sanford looks on. One detail of interest, is Sanford trying to tell the viewer something with the text on the blackboard, presumably crass names of beers listed on Harlem Publics black board/menu, are curated for some sort of editorial impact by the artist?