American Realist Landscape Paintings

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

Here oil on canvas images are photorealistic and gorgeous.

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

Gary Faigin says of Kurt Solmssen’s work, “Though a realist, Kurt Solmssen does not so much record what he sees, as use his surroundings as a point of departure for poetic homages to...

What makes this work important? It's not that it's a commissioned artwork for a men's 60s pulp adventure magazine depicting the instant a soldier is shot. The big point of the painting is how brilliantly the formal elements are thought out, designed, and executed. John McDermott tells a story using a complex figural composition in an unexpected wide-angle vision. The work is as abstract as it is representation. His use of light is significant because it creates a high-contrast two-color style that bears the mark of its creator. This is a work done by a master artist/illustrator without peers compared to artists living today. If the contemporary art world gave awards for draftsmanship, painting technique, and graphic design .... John McDermott would win the highest accolades. Initialed lower left - unframed John McDermott (August 30, 1919 – April 20, 1977), also known under the pen names J.M. Ryan and Mariner, was an American illustrator and author noted for action and adventure illustrations.[1] McDermott worked as an in-between and effects animator for Walt Disney Studios and as a US Marine combat artist,before establishing himself as a cover illustrator for 1950s paperbacks and pulp magazines such as Argosy, American Weekly, and Outdoor Life. Under his J.M. Ryan pen name, he wrote the novels The Rat Factory (1971), a derogatory satire of Walt Disney and the Disney studio; Brooks Wilson Ltd (1967), on which the 1970 film Loving was based; and Mother's Day (1969) about Ma Barker. Under his own name, he novelized director-writer Bo Widerberg's screenplay for the 1971 film Joe Hill, which would be his final published book. Early life John Richard McDermott was born 30 August 1919 in Pueblo, Colorado, the younger of two sons of Henry McDermott, an oil broker. McDermott was a young child when his father committed suicide.[4] The family eventually moved to Los Angeles where McDermott's mother, Hazel, worked in a beauty parlor. He graduated from Hollywood High School in 1936. Although he had had no formal art education, he took a job as an artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Career Disney At Disney, McDermott worked as an in-betweener and effects animator on Brave Little Tailor, Pinocchio, The Reluctant Dragon and Fantasia. His experiences while working at Disney, particularly during the time of the 1941 Disney animators' strike, would later become the basis for his 1969 satirical novel The Rat Factory. McDermott left Disney to fight with US forces during World War II. US Marines McDermott World War II sketch titled "Buddy is Wounded" On September 29, 1942, McDermott enlisted with the US Marine Corps. He served as a "pistol and palette" combat artist assigned to the map-making section. As a sergeant with the III Amphibious Corps, McDermott was involved in battles in the South Pacific theater of war, documenting the Guam, Okinawa and the Guadalcanal Campaigns. McDermott considered his wartime years to be his art education. "In the Marines, as a combat artist, I traveled with the troops and for three years got all the drawing opportunity anyone could want. My work changed enormously during this time and I’m sure it was due to constant drawing, every single day, from life, just putting down what I saw around me. In a few instances it was a dangerous kind of scholarship." According to the Marine Corps history journal Fortitudine, McDermott was so prolific that his contemporary style pen-and-ink sketches became easily recognizable to both Marines, from published work in Leatherneck Magazine, and civilians, from glossy copies supplied by the Marine Corps to the nation's press.His wartime art appears in World War II history books and is displayed at the Pentagon and the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Illustration Following the end of World War II, McDermott moved from California to New York City to work as a freelance illustrator. McDermott made his reputation drawing modern action, war and adventure scenes. His work adorned the covers and inside story pages of popular pulp magazines of the 1950s such as Argosy, Adventure, Blue Book, Outdoor Life and American Weekly. McDermott's illustrations appeared on numerous covers of 1950s paperback novels published by Dell, Fawcett Gold Medal, Bantam Mystery and others. His action graphics were geared toward thriller and detective genres, such as Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm books Murderers' Row and The Betrayers. He also created covers for science fiction comic titles such as Voyage to the Deep[citation needed] and horror-themed paperbacks such as the classic 1955 science fiction novel The Body Snatchers...

American, b. 1950 Marla Korr attended Brooklyn College, earning both a B.A. and a M.F.A. There she studied with Philip Pearlstein, Lennart Anderson and Jimmy Ernst. She has also s...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NY & LA --The process of endless building and reconfiguring transcends the mere physical and encompasses the spiritual and symbolic. The scars a...

Alex Roulette’s paintings depict false realities. The artist constructs landscapes from numerous source photographs, which he uses as references to create his finely-tuned oil painti...

Hector Garrido is an American book cover illustrator. He illustrated numerous science fiction, horror and adventure book covers, including all the covers for the Baroness series of pulp novels, and covers for the Destroyer series. He also illustrated romance and gothic novels, and Nancy Drew and Hardy...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

Born in Spokane, WA (1986), Tamalin Soleil Baumgarten paints quiet landscape scenes with a tonal, melancholic realism. She received her MFA from New York Academy of Art in 2015 and h...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- For decades, Wes Hempel has been committed to re-envisioning the depiction of masculinity in contemporary art. By setting psychologically acute portraits of modern-day men against backdrops appropriated from such disparate sources as neoclassical history...

Karen Woods paints a traveler’s view through the window of a moving vehicle rendered in subtly nuanced gestures in oil on canvas or panel. These views from the front seat of a car looking through an often rain-splattered windshield or side window, are always about water: water from above, as a rainstorm, or from below, as a man-made sprinkler system. She is drawn to the interplay of water and light, and how it affects our perception of reality through reflection, distortion, and transformation. The compositions often include a bit of the car - the edge of a window, a side mirror, the clear curved area left by a windshield wiper - these markers situate the viewer on the journey Woods is on - we are taken inside the vehicle and shown the vignettes that catch Woods’ eye. The paintings reclaim that point in time, explore its detail, and unearth its emotional content. Woods’ work freezes and compresses a moment of everyday life; then elongates and decelerates it and in so doing, reveals its accompanying emotional weight: its anticipation, reflection, isolation, and longing. Woods is coaxing us to recognize the transcendent experiences offered by the most mundane or ordinary surroundings of our daily lives. Karen Woods was born in Seattle, WA, in 1963. She received her BFA from the California College of the Arts (Oakland, CA) in 1987 with additional studies at California Polytechnic State University and Studio Art Centers International, Florence, Italy. Her paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States with solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston, among others, and her work has been published in New American Paintings, American Art Collector, art ltd, Artweek, Western Art & Architecture, Fine Art Connoisseur, and the Idaho Statesmen. Woods’ paintings are included the public collections of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK, James Castle...

“I do think the big problem in a way…is how you deal with ordinary life—that is not extraordinary, that does not involve heroism, that does not involve crises, really. But the way in...

Represented by George Billis', NYC and LA galleries -- When I think about the conventions of painting -- a tradition I respect immensely -- I notice that my concern has always been...

“I do think the big problem in a way…is how you deal with ordinary life—that is not extraordinary, that does not involve heroism, that does not involve crises, really. But the way in...

Karen Woods paints a traveler’s view through the window of a moving vehicle rendered in subtly nuanced gestures in oil on canvas or panel. These views from the front seat of a car looking through an often rain-splattered windshield or side window, are always about water: water from above, as a rainstorm, or from below, as a man-made sprinkler system. She is drawn to the interplay of water and light, and how it affects our perception of reality through reflection, distortion, and transformation. The compositions often include a bit of the car - the edge of a window, a side mirror, the clear curved area left by a windshield wiper - these markers situate the viewer on the journey Woods is on - we are taken inside the vehicle and shown the vignettes that catch Woods’ eye. The paintings reclaim that point in time, explore its detail, and unearth its emotional content. Woods’ work freezes and compresses a moment of everyday life; then elongates and decelerates it and in so doing, reveals its accompanying emotional weight: its anticipation, reflection, isolation, and longing. Woods is coaxing us to recognize the transcendent experiences offered by the most mundane or ordinary surroundings of our daily lives. Karen Woods was born in Seattle, WA, in 1963. She received her BFA from the California College of the Arts (Oakland, CA) in 1987 with additional studies at California Polytechnic State University and Studio Art Centers International, Florence, Italy. Her paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States with solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston, among others, and her work has been published in New American Paintings, American Art Collector, art ltd, Artweek, Western Art & Architecture, Fine Art Connoisseur, and the Idaho Statesmen. Woods’ paintings are included the public collections of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK, James Castle...

Karen Woods paints a traveler’s view through the window of a moving vehicle rendered in subtly nuanced gestures in oil on canvas or panel. These views from the front seat of a car lo...

American, b. 1949 In his more than three decades as an artist, Nicholas Berger (b. 1949) has created an outstanding body of work that continues to evolve and excite viewers. Best kn...

The starting place for Golightly’s work is decades old found photos. The stillness of a photo belies an anticipation to know what happened before and what is to come next. These imag...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

I have been burning images into wood and paper as a means of drawing for over two decades. During that time I have continued to refine and at the same time experiment with the process. Using propane torches I burn, scorch, re-burn, sand and scratch the surface of paper or wood to create my drawings. My earlier work, the Nocturne Series was inspired by walking at night in the light filled streets of American cities; those drawings were often mistaken for soft focus sepia toned photographs. My present work is a considerable departure in regard to content, execution and appearance - from those dark, abstracted cityscapes, my current drawings are light filled, clearly rendered landscapes. The burning process I use to make my drawings evolved differently for each series. Experimentation (in both bodies of work) is always important to me and always informs the resulting image. In the case of the Nocturnes the image arose from intermixing water with the flame from a large industrial torch. With these new works, I’ve tried to create a visually stimulating accumulation of (often minuscule) marks on the wood surface using the tiny flame from a jeweler’s torch...

I have been burning images into wood and paper as a means of drawing for over two decades. During that time I have continued to refine and at the same time experiment with the proces...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- Humanity is archival, like the strata that compose the earth. Our structures and art, superfund sites to cathedrals, exist because o...

“I do think the big problem in a way…is how you deal with ordinary life—that is not extraordinary, that does not involve heroism, that does not involve crises, really. But the way in...

Heller covers monumental and lesser-known works starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and tracing his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph ...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas of human habitation rather than landscapes that reference the natural world. But my subjects are certainly not all urban – some are suburban, some small towns and some are ruins, such as a faded sign and abandoned business bleaching in the desert sun as once populated areas return to their former empty silence. While I often treat older architectural forms, I want to make it clear these are not paintings about nostalgia – all are contemporary scenes, recently observed. Currently I've painted a number of pictures which seem neither urban nor rural but are set in that particular non-space that now covers so much of the landscape – the limbo of freeway exits and on-ramps and their attendant fast-food franchises. What I feel these mostly unpopulated places I choose to paint have in common is a potency, some kind of emotional charge that enables them to function as settings for a subjective fictional narrative. As the artist I choose and edit the scenes, setting the stage for viewers to bring their imaginations and private meanings to these places made special by my selection and attention." Notes: Urban, Rural, Movies, Theatre...

Heller covers monumental and lesser-known works starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and tracing his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph ...

“I do think the big problem in a way…is how you deal with ordinary life—that is not extraordinary, that does not involve heroism, that does not involve crises, really. But the way in...

I think of my work as being like a visual journal- observations and interpretations of people, places and things I experience day to day. Translating that experience into two dimensi...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Signed lower right. Complemented by a hand carved and gilt frame. Peter Sculthorpe (b. 1948) Peter Sculthorpe was born in ...

I have been burning images into wood and paper as a means of drawing for over two decades. During that time I have continued to refine and at the same time experiment with the process. Using propane torches I burn, scorch, re-burn, sand and scratch the surface of paper or wood to create my drawings. My earlier work, the Nocturne Series was inspired by walking at night in the light filled streets of American cities; those drawings were often mistaken for soft focus sepia toned photographs. My present work is a considerable departure in regard to content, execution and appearance - from those dark, abstracted cityscapes, my current drawings are light filled, clearly rendered landscapes. The burning process I use to make my drawings evolved differently for each series. Experimentation (in both bodies of work) is always important to me and always informs the resulting image. In the case of the Nocturnes the image arose from intermixing water with the flame from a large industrial torch. With these new works, I’ve tried to create a visually stimulating accumulation of (often minuscule) marks on the wood surface using the tiny flame from a jeweler’s torch...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NY & LA --The process of endless building and reconfiguring transcends the mere physical and encompasses the spiritual and symbolic. The scars a...

Ron Rizk’s paintings depict the intimate personal history of locales from his life. Ethereal and yet grounded in reality, the paintings tell the stories of very real places as seen ...

I have been burning images into wood and paper as a means of drawing for over two decades. During that time I have continued to refine and at the same time experiment with the process. Using propane torches I burn, scorch, re-burn, sand and scratch the surface of paper or wood to create my drawings. My earlier work, the Nocturne Series was inspired by walking at night in the light filled streets of American cities; those drawings were often mistaken for soft focus sepia toned photographs. My present work is a considerable departure in regard to content, execution and appearance - from those dark, abstracted cityscapes, my current drawings are light filled, clearly rendered landscapes. The burning process I use to make my drawings evolved differently for each series. Experimentation (in both bodies of work) is always important to me and always informs the resulting image. In the case of the Nocturnes the image arose from intermixing water with the flame from a large industrial torch. With these new works, I’ve tried to create a visually stimulating accumulation of (often minuscule) marks on the wood surface using the tiny flame from a jeweler’s torch...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Signed lower right. Complemented by a hand carved and gilt frame. Peter Sculthorpe (b. 1948) Peter Sculthorpe was born in O...

For the past dozen years or so I’ve focused on bridge elements by selecting portions of bridge structures and painting segments in a realist style. Previous shows at the Billis Gal...

Born in San Pedro, California in 1969, Francis DiFronzo has been painting and exhibiting his artwork in the United States for more than thirty years. "I discovered at a young age that art had the ability to transport me out of my world and into the lives of artists I admired. When I looked at paintings by Andrew Wyeth or Edward Hopper, I felt as though I was momentarily living in the worlds they created. I wanted to do the same thing. I wanted my work to have that power." After receiving his B.F.A in 1994 from California State University, Fullerton, DiFronzo moved to Philadelphia, PA where he continued his studies in drawing and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. There he worked and learned under the guidance of artists Murray Dessner, Jan Baltzell, Sidney Goodman, Vincent Desiderio and Irving Petlin...

Activity at the West Shore Terminal, the Woolworth Tower rising in the distance. Commuters in late afternoon on a summer day, 1954, take the ferry Westfield to reach Jersey City.

Film noir crime drama painted in a single frame. In narrative art, telling a story in a single image is harder than doing it in episodes. "'That police officer...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Much of Bennett Vadnais’ subject matter comes from his surroundings in Manhattan and Brooklyn. With a strong background in plein ...

Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas can easily frame the everyday. But my task is to t...

American, b. 1958 Louis was born in Omaha, NE in 1958. At the age of nine he began painting in oil, and at 14, he began studying painting, drawing, and art theory under Stanley Stephanowitz, and then under Frank Novak at the Norwich Art School and Slater Museum in Norwich, CT. As a young man, he also studied under master artists Dean Keller, Ken Davies...

Heller covers monumental and lesser-known works starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and tracing his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph ...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NY & LA --The process of endless building and reconfiguring transcends the mere physical and encompasses the spiritual and symbolic. The scars a...

Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas can easily frame the everyday. But my task is to t...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- Alex Roulette’s paintings depict false realities. The artist constructs landscapes from numerous source photographs, which he uses a...

A walk through any major museum will reveal paintings that depict or legitimate only certain kinds of experience. Despite the good intentions of critical theorists questioning the va...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Every painting begins with a place to stand. Sometimes I find one in seconds; sometimes the hunt goes on for many seasons. A canvas c...

Kevin Weckbach's (US based) "The Grinder" is an original, hand made egg tempera painting that depicts an industrial Gristmill made up of metal buildings, a elevator and a grain silo ...

From the artist statement, "When asked about my work, my mantra used to be, “The subject matter of my work is not as important as how I paint it. Whether it be people, places, or thi...

Heller covers monumental and lesser-known works starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and tracing his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph ...

Heller covers monumental and lesser-known works starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and tracing his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph ...

Water does not have a form; it adapts to forms created by energy. There is something kind of futile yet exciting about capturing the effect of water in a painting. There is no start...

Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Much of Bennett Vadnais’ subject matter comes from his surroundings in Manhattan and Brooklyn. With a strong background in plein air ...

Nicholas Berger Biography American, b. 1949 In his more than three decades as an artist, Nicholas Berger (b. 1949) has created an outstanding body of work that continues to evolve a...