Samuel Kaplan
Figurative Landscape Painter
Samuel Kaplan is a recognized contemporary artist whose paintings capture the essence of the ever-changing American Landscape.
Born in New York, Samuel attended the Brooklyn Museum Art School at the age of ten, where he found his voice as a visual artist, while viewing the Museums extensive collection of the Great Masters on his way to art class.
As a figurative landscape painter, Kaplan’s artistic sensibility is a blend of American Realism as practiced by Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, George Bellows and French Impressionism. He draws his inspiration from the natural beauty of his surroundings, whose narrative encompasses moments of impermanence that embrace the fading of the American Experience.
He is intrigued by the way the painting can reflect both past and present times, whether it is a decaying car sitting in a field of grass in Vermont (Studebaker), a solitary payphone camouflaged by an overgrown forest (Last Payphone Maine) or a 1930 Ford Model A sitting next to old air pump with an eBay Motors sign on the windshield (eBay). These juxtaposed images remind us of our history and the changes we have experienced.
Kaplan’s artwork is rooted in American Realism, but not confined to the traditional narratives of landscapes.
“During a studio visit with painter and teacher Knox Martin I got a first hand view of how color and image could be looked at in a new and introspective way. Created to convey a dialogue between the artwork and the viewer, while paying close attention to the history and techniques of the Great Masters. This is the aim of my work, to convey a personal narrative with others”.
Kaplan’s work has been exhibited since 1979 in galleries and Museum’s throughout the U.S. with recent showings at the Edward Hopper Museum and Guild Hall Museum.