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John Evans

This body of paintings has evolved from inspired connections to the artist’s favorite places over the past 40 years. Living just outside of Boston on the Massachussetts coast, his favorite haunts have included the Charles River just down the street, Truro and Provincetown on Cape Cod, a few beach towns in Florida and Southern California, and Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Season after season, year after year, and decade after decade Evans has worked on location from these motifs so that they have become mythicized in his imagination. The suns and moons that arrive in these paintings are not formulaic but are deeply present in his memory.

Biography

Balancing precision in form and composition with a sense of nature’s wild beauty, John Evans’s paintings capture the feel of physical and psychological immersion in a landscape. His quiet scenes are infused with an invisible human perspective, an intelligent eye that organizes the view while taking in its infinitely rich colors and textures. Evans has characterized his paintings as “ultimately spiritual,” as “theaters that invite meditation.” His work opens a window into a parallel reality and invites us to enter.

An ARTnews review describes the surfaces of Evans’ paintings as resembling “raw silk”—an effect achieved by a continual building up and scraping away of oil paint. As he works, each canvas takes on a life of its own, with inspirations branching off one another organically. “You set something in motion,” he says, “and over time it begins to tell you what it needs.” The paintings are not snapshots, but rather collages of moments, often combining different qualities of light and times of day.

Born in 1945, Evans grew up in the Northeast and received his MFA from Boston University, He has exhibited at galleries and museums across the U.S., with work in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC; the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and others. After more than four decades of painting, his motivation remains simple but profound: “Making something out of nothing, creating an expression, is a very powerful, satisfying drive” that never fails to return him to his studio.

Born

1945  Mt. Vernon, NY.


Education

1975  MFA, Boston University, Boston, MA.

1969  BFA, Boston University, Boston, MA.


Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023  Recent Paintings, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito

2022 Botanical Garden, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco

2020 Just Dreaming, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena

            Breathing, Gallery Henoch, New York

            Breathe, Gallery Henoch, New York

2018  A Collection of Time, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco

2016  Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

            Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

2013  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2012  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2011  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2010  Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.

2009  Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.

2008  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2007  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2005  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2004  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2003  Chase Gallery, Wilmington, NC.

            The Field Gallery, West Tisbury, MA.

            Alpers Fine Art, Andover, MA.

            Coastline, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

            Low Tide, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA.

2002  Boats, Alpers Fine Art, Andover, MA.

            The Field Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA.

2001  Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA.


Selected Group Exhibitions

2020 Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York

2019 Art Miami, Miami, FL

            Summer Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York

            Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch

            Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York

2018 35th Anniversary Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco

2018 Art Market Hamptons, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, NY, NY

2018 LA Art Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2018 Art Market San Francisco, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, SF, CA.

2017 Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.

2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.

2014  Palm Springs Art Fair, J Willott Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.

            Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

            Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.

2013  SF Art Fair, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, San Francisco, CA.

            Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.

            Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2012  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

            Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.


Selected Private and Corporate Collections

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. • Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA. • Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX. • Decordova Museum, Lincoln, MA. • Rose Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. • Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK. • Boston Public Library, Boston, MA. • AT&T, New York, NY. • Chase Manhatten Bank, New York, NY. • E.F. Hutton & Co., New York, NY. • Bank of Boston, Boston, MA. • Paine Webber, Boston, MA. • Hale & Dorr, Boston, MA. • W.R. Grace Co., Dallas, TX. • Diamond Shamrock Co., Dallas, TX. • Mercantile Bank, Dallas, TX.

• Total Systems Services, Columbus, GA. • Wellington Management, Boston, MA. • Stockton, RE, Bermuda. • David L. Babson & Co., Boston, MA. • Allan Stone, New York, NY. • Merrill Lynch, Boston, MA. • Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA.

Press

PRESS

Selected Artworks

Watching the Stars

Watching the Stars

Oil on Canvas

40 x 96 inches

24034

River

River

Oil on Canvas

60 x 48 inches

23666

Ancient

Ancient

Oil on Canvas

72 x 50 inches

23665

Corn Hill

Corn Hill

Oil on Canvas

38 x 34 inches

23648

Dunes | SOLD

Dunes | SOLD

Oil on Canvas

20 x 36 inches

23647

Garden

Garden

Oil on Canvas

24 x 30 inches

23646

Night | SOLD

Night | SOLD

Oil on Canvas

28 x 22 inches

23645

Two Boats | SOLD

Two Boats | SOLD

Oil on Canvas

34 x 26 inches

23644

Peninsula

Peninsula

Oil on Canvas

38 x 30 inches

23643

Rising | SOLD

Rising | SOLD

Oil on Canvas

60 x 34 inches

23642

Source

Source

Oil on Canvas

38 x 28 inches

23641

Burgundy | SOLD

Burgundy | SOLD

Oil on Canvas

21.5 x 38.75

23640

French Farm | SOLD

French Farm | SOLD

Oil on Canvas

48 x 48 inches

23437

Last October

Last October

Oil on Canvas

66 x 86 inches

23303

Center Stage

Center Stage

Oil on Canvas

60 x 48 inches

220005

High Society

High Society

Oil on Canvas

60 x 48 inches

210784

Among Other Things | SOLD

Among Other Things | SOLD

Oil on Canvas

50 x 72 inches

210242

Solo

Solo

Oil on Canvas

62 x 42 inches

200437

Elemental

Elemental

Oil on Canvas

60 x 48 inches

200404

Hush

Hush

Oil on Canvas

72 x 50 inches

190359

Realm

Realm

Oil on Canvas

38 x 30 inches

180505

Bee Bop A Loo La

Bee Bop A Loo La

Oil on Canvas

48 x 60 inches

160300

Born

1945  Mt. Vernon, NY.


Education

1975  MFA, Boston University, Boston, MA.

1969  BFA, Boston University, Boston, MA.


Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023  Recent Paintings, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito

2022 Botanical Garden, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco

2020 Just Dreaming, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena

            Breathing, Gallery Henoch, New York

            Breathe, Gallery Henoch, New York

2018  A Collection of Time, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco

2016  Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

            Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

2013  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2012  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2011  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2010  Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.

2009  Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.

2008  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2007  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2005  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.
2004  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2003  Chase Gallery, Wilmington, NC.

            The Field Gallery, West Tisbury, MA.

            Alpers Fine Art, Andover, MA.

            Coastline, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

            Low Tide, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA.

2002  Boats, Alpers Fine Art, Andover, MA.

            The Field Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA.

2001  Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA.


Selected Group Exhibitions

2020 Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York

2019 Art Miami, Miami, FL

            Summer Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York

            Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch

            Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York

2018 35th Anniversary Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco

2018 Art Market Hamptons, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, NY, NY

2018 LA Art Show, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2018 Art Market San Francisco, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, SF, CA.

2017 Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.

2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.

2014  Palm Springs Art Fair, J Willott Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.

            Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

            Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.

2013  SF Art Fair, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, San Francisco, CA.

            Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.

            Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

2012  Gallery Henoch, New York, NY.

            Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Henoch, Dallas, TX.


Selected Private and Corporate Collections

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. • Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA. • Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX. • Decordova Museum, Lincoln, MA. • Rose Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. • Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK. • Boston Public Library, Boston, MA. • AT&T, New York, NY. • Chase Manhatten Bank, New York, NY. • E.F. Hutton & Co., New York, NY. • Bank of Boston, Boston, MA. • Paine Webber, Boston, MA. • Hale & Dorr, Boston, MA. • W.R. Grace Co., Dallas, TX. • Diamond Shamrock Co., Dallas, TX. • Mercantile Bank, Dallas, TX.

• Total Systems Services, Columbus, GA. • Wellington Management, Boston, MA. • Stockton, RE, Bermuda. • David L. Babson & Co., Boston, MA. • Allan Stone, New York, NY. • Merrill Lynch, Boston, MA. • Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA.

Balancing precision in form and composition with a sense of nature’s wild beauty, John Evans’s paintings capture the feel of physical and psychological immersion in a landscape. His quiet scenes are infused with an invisible human perspective, an intelligent eye that organizes the view while taking in its infinitely rich colors and textures. Evans has characterized his paintings as “ultimately spiritual,” as “theaters that invite meditation.” His work opens a window into a parallel reality and invites us to enter.

An ARTnews review describes the surfaces of Evans’ paintings as resembling “raw silk”—an effect achieved by a continual building up and scraping away of oil paint. As he works, each canvas takes on a life of its own, with inspirations branching off one another organically. “You set something in motion,” he says, “and over time it begins to tell you what it needs.” The paintings are not snapshots, but rather collages of moments, often combining different qualities of light and times of day.

Born in 1945, Evans grew up in the Northeast and received his MFA from Boston University, He has exhibited at galleries and museums across the U.S., with work in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC; the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and others. After more than four decades of painting, his motivation remains simple but profound: “Making something out of nothing, creating an expression, is a very powerful, satisfying drive” that never fails to return him to his studio.

John Evans
Biography

Press

Breathe

American Art Collector

April, 2020

Comfort Food for the Soul & Drunk on Pulp Fiction

The Wall Street Journal

March 13, 2015

Link

Paintings by John Evans Make us Question, Has Man Made Nature Better?

Artsy

March, 2015

Link

Artist Profile: John Evans

Artscope Online

August 31, 2015

This body of paintings has evolved from inspired connections to the artist’s favorite places over the past 40 years. Living just outside of Boston on the Massachussetts coast, his favorite haunts have included the Charles River just down the street, Truro and Provincetown on Cape Cod, a few beach towns in Florida and Southern California, and Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Season after season, year after year, and decade after decade Evans has worked on location from these motifs so that they have become mythicized in his imagination. The suns and moons that arrive in these paintings are not formulaic but are deeply present in his memory.

John Evans

I am a frequent visitor of the local Audubon Wetlands Sanctuary, and over the past decade have found it a primary source of inspiration for my paintings. Initially, using photographs to construct paintings that expressed the qualities that both inspired and challenged me, paintings sought to capture the light, the character of water, both reflective and translucent, the time of day, etc. Recent paintings have been more driven by other concerns, especially rhythms and patterns that originate from my observations as well as photos, but have broken loose from the natural appearance of things.

SAGGITARIA began as an exploration of plants in the wetlands, particularly one called Saggitaria. Arrow shaped and turning bright Yellow in Autumn, the arrow shaped leaves morphed and reconfigured themselves during a difficult impasse and resurfaced as an invention that met the needs of the painting.

So, too, with EXQUISITE IN SILK. Water Lilly leaves have become saturated in their Autumnal splendor and configured into clusters of invented patterns, spreading and flowing, floating in rhythms that separate and reconnect out to the edge of their rectilinear universe. Both paintings are inventions, made up; metaphors of the experiences I have had immersing myself into their world.

This body of paintings has evolved from inspired connections to the artist’s favorite places over the past 40 years. Living just outside of Boston on the Massachussetts coast, his favorite haunts have included the Charles River just down the street, Truro and Provincetown on Cape Cod, a few beach towns in Florida and Southern California, and Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Season after season, year after year, and decade after decade Evans has worked on location from these motifs so that they have become mythicized in his imagination. The suns and moons that arrive in these paintings are not formulaic but are deeply present in his memory.

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