Matthew Schaefer

"The Banana Plant, " Oil on Canvas signed by Matthew Schaefer

1993

"Sunrise," by American artist Matthew Schaefer, is a fauvist expressionist painting with bold, bright colors and gestural marks in a style similar to the abstractionists Willem de Ko...

"Dried Flowers in Raku Vase" is an original oil painting by the Wisconsin-based artist Kevin Knopp. Known for his lyrical landscapes and sensitive still life, influenced by what the ...

"Red, Orange, Green with Plant" is a still life painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon from 1970. The 30.5" x 39" oil on board features a table top still ...

Graphic, abstract fruit still life painting in a bold palette of green, orange, and blue Oil on canvas 54 x 44 inches This vertical, abstract-style still life painting was created by Hudson Valley-based artist Christopher Engel in 2010. The composition features broad, confident brush strokes in crimson, royal blue, black, emerald and orange against a varied light and dark green background. Some strokes are bold and crisp, while others appear drizzled on the canvas, resulting in a varied, almost tactile surface texture. About the artist and work: Calm and confident brush strokes sweep over each canvas in a selection of abstract paintings by Christopher Engel. His work vibrates with the energy of bold, gestural lines that intersect at points between the foreground and background. These fields are bridged together in a web of kinetic, interconnecting lines which create a remarkable sense of three dimensionality. The close examination of space, or how we create it and replenish a void, is a study that Engel has pursued since he started as a landscape painter in the early 70s. “I was deeply affected by the relationship between the elements of the landscape; trees, shrubs, bushes, and elements on the periphery,” he states, “everything worked to define the space that contained and moved me.” Engel currently works out of a studio near Roxbury, NY, where a pellet stove warms the high ceilings and sunlight penetrates through sky-lights. Nestled in the Catskill mountains, he continues to honor the influence of the natural landscape and remain enamored by the impact of color. With several canvases standing over four feet tall, the surfaces are rich in a sophisticated palette of earth tones; greens, browns, blacks, blues and occasional use of bright red and orange allude to an aesthetic that straddles both landscape and abstraction. Yet despite representational titles such as “Canyon,” Ice Storm”, and “Clear Skies”, Engel’s vision immerses the viewer in suggestions of horizon lines or tree branches rather than orient them directly toward a conventional depiction. Tensions of push and pull are achieved with both opacity and transparency, as well as the natural flow of the medium. Ultimately, the point of departure is radically transformed and the end result is nothing short of powerful. SOLO SHOWS: 2017 Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY 2016 Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY 2014 Commons Gallery Margaretville, NY 2014 Zoom Gallery, Fleishmanns, NY "Selections" 2006 Erpf Gallery, Arkville, NY “A Selection of Works” 2004 The Commons, Margaretville, NY “Survey from the 1980s to 2004 1991 Roxbury Arts Group, Roxbury, NY 1987 Soho Gallery, Seattle, WA, “Selected Works” 1986 Hundredwaters Gallery, Seattle, WA, “New Works” 1982 Hallwalls Gallery, Buffalo, NY, “Rites of Passage” GROUP SHOWS: 2017 WAAM Woodstock, NY “Abstract Evocative” 2014 Zoom Gallery, Fleishmanns, NY "Summer Show" 2011 Byrdcliffe Members Show 2010 Byrdcliffe Members Show 2010 Byrdcliffe Small Works Show 2010 Woodstock Artist Association and Museum Show 2008 Woodstock Artist Association and Museum Gray Matter Show 2008 Woodstock Artist Association and Museum Inside/Outside the Box 2008 Woodstock Artist Association and Museum Small Works on Paper 2004 Roxbury Arts Group, Roxbury, NY, “Now, Then and Before” 2003 Roxbury Arts Group, Roxbury, NY, 1994 Hallwalls Gallery, Buffalo, NY, “Men in Suits” 1989 Print Show, Ward-Nasse Gallery, NY 1988 Hundredwaters Gallery, Seattle, WA, “Art and Religion” 1987 New York Print Fair, Eldindean Press 1986 Summit Show, Seattle, WA 1986 Pierot Gallery, Seattle, WA 1985 Donnally Books Gallery, Seattle, WA, “Woodcuts” 1985 Fourwalls, Hoboken, NJ 1983 Sharpe Gallery, NY, “Self-Image” RESIDENCIES: 2012 and 2011 Byrdcliffe June Artist’s Residency Programs HONORS: Elected to the board of Woodstock Artist Association and Museum AWARDS: 2011 Woodstock Artist Association and Museum 3rd Annual Regional Show Honored for Best Abstract Painting in Show 2011 Woodstock Artist Association and Museum March Group Show Honorable Mention 1985 Grant from Change, Inc. Full Tuition Scholarship, Art Center College of Design COLLECTIONS: Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland Carol Pulin, Print Curator Smithsonian, Washington, DC Elizabeth Hahn, Print Specialist Christies, NYC Mary Lou Knode, Print Department MOMA, NYC Kathy Caraccio, Print Maker and Publisher of Etchings, NYC Leslie and Stuart Reiser, Wayne, NJ. Rouse Corporation, New York, NY Robert Heller...