Max Flandorfer On Sale

Max Flandorfer, a plein air painter, is always seeking to capture the spiritual and humble quality of nature. His work evokes a restful, contemplative stillness that he seeks, both in life and his art. Growing up in Miami, Flandorfer spent most weekends and summers outdoors in the Everglades, or on the water soaking up the rich color, and beauty of the tropical landscape. He lived in California for over 20 years and currently resides in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Mostly self-taught, Flandorfer was forever drawing and sketching as a kid, but the beautiful landscape and rich artistic heritage of the Monterey peninsula's artist colony was the deciding influence on his later works. An illustration instructor, Jane Miller of Monterey Peninsula College, encouraged him to study early California greats such as Granville Redmond and Guiseppe Cadennaso, whereby they helped to influence his early palette and style. Although Flandorfer’s current work is uniquely his own, he owes a debt to the early pioneers of California Impressionism. With so much of that landscape quickly disappearing, he tries to capture the spiritual beauty and glimpse of paradise we all seek in our lives. Flandorfer exhibited at Monterey Peninsula College (student /faculty show), Ohr O'Keeffe Museum of Art and “Juried Gulf States Competition 2006.” He is a member of the California Art Club (painting patron).

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.