Duane Albert Armstrong On Sale

Duane Albert Armstrong, a native Californian, was born in Fresno on Christmas Day in 1938. He was raised in the countryside near San Luis Obispo until 1950 when his family moved to the Santa Clara Valley. Duane’s mother, a teacher, was also an artist and writer. She wrote several short stories and lyrics for several songs, some of which were published. With this background, Duane learned about painting materials and techniques while still in his childhood. He also had exposure to art shows and museums at the time and was fascinated by the way the various artists were able to make their canvases come alive with paint. This was the beginning of a lifelong interest in painting, which has resulted in several significant breakthroughs in the world of art, his most popular being his "Fields of Grass" series, which has been reproduced worldwide. Duane now has over 185 paintings in print, and his art has been marketed in over 3,500 department stores in the United States.

During the 1970s, his work earned him the status of being one of the top five print sales artists in the nation. Of this widespread acceptance, a representative of Heritage Publications stated, "Duane Armstrong will be recognized as one of the top five contemporary painters in America during this decade." Armstrong has worked with many young artists, encouraging them to branch off into their directions and styles, to produce and work, knowing quite well that painting is not so much involved with that mystical gift some call "talent" as it is with that four-letter word, "work." He has always chosen to work and produce rather than sell and promote, which explains why he very rarely attends his shows. Duane believes that creating art and marketing art are two different worlds and prefers to leave the marketing to others while he spends his time exploring the unlimited realm of visual expression.

(Biography provided by Robert Azensky Fine Art)

It could be argued that cave walls were the canvases for the world’s first landscape paintings, which depict and elevate natural scenery through art, but there is a richer history to consider.

The Netherlands was home to landscapes as a major theme in painting as early as the 1500s, and ink-on-silk paintings in China featured mountains and large bodies of water as far back as the third century. Greeks created vast wall paintings that depicted landscapes and grandiose garden scenes, while in the late 15th century and early 16th century, landscapes were increasingly the subject of watercolor works by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolomeo.

The popularity of religious paintings eventually declined altogether, and by the early 19th century, painters of classical landscapes took to painting out-of-doors (plein-air painting). Paintings of natural scenery were increasingly realistic but romanticized too. Into the 20th century, landscapes remained a major theme for many artists, and while the term “landscape painting” may call to mind images of lush, grassy fields and open seascapes, the genre is characterized by more variety, colors and diverse styles than you may think. Painters working in the photorealist style of landscape painting, for example, seek to create works so lifelike that you may confuse their paint for camera pixels. But if you’re shopping for art to outfit an important room, the work needs to be something with a bit of gravitas (and the right frame is important, too).

Adding a landscape painting to your home can introduce peace and serenity within the confines of your own space. (Some may think of it as an aspirational window of sorts rather than a canvas.) Abstract landscape paintings by the likes of Korean painter Seungyoon Choi or Georgia-based artist Katherine Sandoz, on the other hand, bring pops of color and movement into a room. These landscapes refuse to serve as a background. Elsewhere, Adam Straus’s technology-inspired paintings highlight how our extreme involvement with our devices has removed us from the glory of the world around us. Influenced by modern life and steeped in social commentary, Straus’s landscape paintings make us see our surroundings anew.

Whether you’re seeking works by the world’s most notable names or those authored by underground legends, find a vast collection of landscape paintings on 1stDibs.