Art lovers know is that looking at a work of art is an emotional experience that can transport us to breathtaking places and stir feelings in us that can make us feel calm and serene. Many of the American artists whose works are in our gallery discovered places that they loved to paint and share with the world.
Wolf Kahn 1927-2020
Wolf Kahn and his wife, painter Emily Mason, lived and worked in Manhattan. In 1968, they began to spend summers and autumns on their farm on a hillside in Vermont, where the landscape inspired him.
Kahn liked to tell the story of an early interview with a local Vermont newspaper:
“The first question was, ‘How many paintings do you do a year?’ I said maybe 100. The second was, ‘How much do you charge?’ I said a couple of hundred bucks. The next time I had to have my barn reshingled, all of a sudden the price went up.” Kahn nevertheless thinks highly of his neighbors, be they the farmers who live next door or their cattle that graze his land.
I’ve gotten to feel like I’m no longer just a flatlander — I belong here.”
Kahn was inspired by the Vermont landscape and took refuge in his New York studio. In New York he painted from memory, creating the scenes and colors of Vermont with his paints and brushes, while viewing the gray of the skyscrapers and the top of the Empire State Building that he could see outside of his studio window.
Neil Welliver 1929-2005
Neil Welliver found serenity in the woods and waters of Lincolnville, Maine. He studied art at Yale, taught there and at Cooper Union and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he became chairman of the University of the Graduate School of Fine Art, from which he retired in 1989.
A series of tragic events marred much of Welliver’s middle years. In 1975 his home and studio burned down and he lost much of his artwork. He experienced the death of an infant daughter, two sons and his second wife.
Welliver found solace in his painting. In harsh winters and brutal summers, he would carry his supplies in a backpack and walk into the woods. When he found a spot he liked, he would do a detailed study and then return to his studio, where he worked on completing the painting. A single painting would take him four to six weeks to complete.
Neil Welliver died in 2005. He left a legacy of remarkable paintings. He was survived by two sons, Ethan and Titus Welliver. Titus is not only a painter, but also an actor, known for playing the title role in the tv series Bosch.
Anthony Thieme 1888-1954
Anthony Thieme was born in Holland. He spent his young adult years studying art and traveling the world. He settled in Boston, then met and married in 1929. The couple settled in Rockport, where he became an active part of the arts community.
In 1935, Thieme became a U.S. citizen. He and his wife spent summers in St. Augustine, Florida.
Please contact us if you would like more information about the works of Wolf Kahn, Neil Welliver, Anthony Thieme or any of the other fine artists whose works are available at Surovek Gallery.
References:
Terry Teachout. Portrait of a Painter. The Core Magazine, University of Chicago. Spring/Summer 2009.
David Ambrose. Neil Welliver: Paintings and Woodcuts, 1967-2000 at Tibor de Nagy. Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art. February 2019.
January 20, 2021
