Featured Artist: Nicholas Oberling

Nicholas Oberling’s new body of work further establishes his presence as a contemporary master of landscape painting. He is represented by new paintings that reflect an even greater sense of his familiarity and ability to depict the land and shore of New England. With a keen ability to draw with the brush, Oberling captures the weather beaten trees and the tangles of branches, foliage, and thickets along the undeveloped coastline. He is a natural observer and often paints a scene or area he is interested in after he has had time to reflect or meditate on it. Although he still paints out-of-doors regularly, he has discovered that by allowing an image to mature in his mind, he is then able to capture the essence or mood of the scene, and a poetic interpretation of the forms of nature emerges. There is a greater sense of atmosphere and mystery in these new paintings as he interprets the effects of light at all times of day; stunning sunrises and breathtaking twilight scenes are the result.

Originally from rural Long Island, Oberling traveled extensively as a youth, crossing the Atlantic with his parents over half a dozen times, observing first hand the open ocean and its storms. His early observations and fascination of nature’s exuberance led to his study of biology and ornithology at Cornell University. He continued that focus on nature during his seven years of painting at the Art Students League of New York. Those early years of academic training and careful observation of nature, instilled in him a vast knowledge of nature’s design which he explores in a heightened way in his painting.

Exhibits of his work include shows at The Cornell University Club, NYC; the National Arts Club, NYC; the Salmagundi Club, NYC; The Union League Club, NYC; the Miniature Auction Benefit at the CM Russell Museum, Montana; the Hockaday Museum of Art, Montana; the Paris Gibson Square Museum, Montana; and numerous galleries across the country. His paintings and commissions are represented in corporate and private collections, including the personal collection of New York’s Governor George Pataki. He is a founding member of the Montana Painters’ Alliance. He has been Artist in Residence for the Helena National Forest and for Glacier National Park. His biography is listed in Who’s Who of America. Nicholas Oberling has received many awards during his career, perhaps most significant is the Montana Arts Council Fellowship.

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SYLVAN GALLERY