George Chaplin | Paintings

On view October 27 – November 8 , 2014

EBK Gallery [small works].
218 Pearl St.
Hartford, CT

 

To be amazed is reward for the curious. Standing before a work of art by George Chaplin, is what is experienced when left alone a midst the sublime forces of nature. I’ve seen people look at one of his paintings, come close to dismissing it, only to realize they are in the presence of something to be wondered over and mystified by. Each artwork is a private dream. Chaplin has transcended academic and technical knowledge, and has endowed the poetic experience into each of his paintings. Light becomes color, color becomes a sensation. A sensation that luminesces and lingers well after you have taken your eyes off one. Timeless. There are many artists who are able to achieve a certain “spirituality” in creating their art. George Chaplin is one of the rare few who can pass that on through his art, to those who stand before his paintings and feel the same.   –E.B.K.

 

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Gallery Sheet and Pricing PDF

 

(Excerpts from a 2006 review by author: Linda Tomasso)
… Contemporary abstraction cannot mask the fact that the canvases in this exhibit trace their lineage to nineteenth century landscape. The tip-off is their irrefutable infusion of light. Chaplin acknowledges that his paintings are, in fact, greatly reduced references to nature, his foremost influences being J.M.W Turner and, to a lesser extent, Frederic Church. “When I go to the Tate Museum in England, I go see Turner. It’s like a pilgrimage to me.”

…Chaplin received his B.F.A. and M.F.A from Yale in the era of color field theory that presided over 1950s abstractionism. “I was returning from Tokyo at the end of my service in the Korean War to attend college on the G.I. Bill. It was recommended that I look into the Yale School of Art, which had as its Director in those years Josef Albers. Albers accepted me as his student based on my drawing sets rather than the five or six oil paintings I submitted.”

…With a body of work that is supremely atmospheric, Chaplin evokes conditions in nature of place rather than reference to place. “In atmosphere, there are no edges,” the painter explains. “I grew up in Portland, Maine, and I loved to watch the fog role in from the Maine seacoast. Under this recurring blanket of fog, I could see edges emerge and disappear. The sun rolled in, breaking through the fog. I will never forget how this excited me when I was a kid. And so does the presence of light excite me now. I can’t wait to get to it, to get to the next painting.”

…Chaplin excels in his use of spectral opposites—not forcing his colors into unnerving closeness—but melding them into impossibly seamless ribbons of pigment. They recall the pale violet/ochre cloudbursts of Turner’s Norham Castle; the teal/red couplings of Church’s Western wilderness skies. Albers said, ‘Any colors can go together in different amounts.’ I never presume to visualize the final paint when I enter the canvas. The painting process dictates to me the resulting painting.”
Questions about the line versus color dialectic produce a response more intriguing than one would imagine from a color field painter. Chaplin pauses a moment. “Line can appeal to the emotion, just as color can appeal to the intellect, although line is less important to me: the edge gives itself away. It becomes the period at the end of the sentence. I don’t want that punctuation. That’s where Turner comes in.”

George Chaplin taught painting at Trinity College for forty plus years and now lives and paints in Annapolis, Maryland.
CV / Resume
George Chaplin

Education:

1955 Yale University of Art, New Haven, Connecticut
(Chairman – Josef Albers)
BFA – 1958
MFA – 1960
Honors: The Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship (1959)
“Commend” for MFA thesis exhibition (1960)

Teaching:

1965-71 – Silvermine College of Art, New Canaan, CT
Chairman, Painting Department

1972-91 – Department of Fine Arts, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
Professor of Fine Arts and Director of Studio Arts Program

Exhibitions: (one man)

1960 Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
Dana Hall School, Wellesley, MA
1965 Feingarten Galleries, Los Angeles, CA
1966 Silvermine College of Art, New Canaan, CT
1967 Bednarz Galleries, Los Angeles, CA
1968 Silvermine College of Art, New Canaan, CT
1969 State University of New York, Cortland, NY
1970 The Wooster School, Danbury, CT
1971 Stamford Federal Savings and Loan Association, Stamford, CT
1972 Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1977 Hampshire College, Amherst, MA
1978 Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1979/80 Diplomatic Lobby, Department of State, Washington, D.C.
1980 Judy Birke Gallery, Woodbridge, CT
The Kent School Gallery, Kent, CT
1981 The Silvermine Guild, New Canaan, CT
1982 Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1983 Conference Room, Secretary of State, Dept. of State, Washington, D.C.
Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1984 Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1984/85 Conference Room, U.S. Mission to the United Nations, NYC
1985 Waterbury City Club, Waterbury, CT
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1986 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1987 Pump House Gallery, Hartford, CT
1988 Trinity College (Retrospective), Hartford, CT
1991 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1993 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1994 Trinity College (Retrospective), Hartford, CT
1995 Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Unitarian Meeting House, Hartford, CT
1996 Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
1996 University of Connecticut, West Hartford, CT
1998 Norwalk Community Technical College, CT
1999 Corbino Galleries, Longboat Key, FL
1999 Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT
2002 Trinity College, CT
2002 Corbino Galleries, Longboat Key, FL
2004 Desire Snyder Contemporary, Sarasota, FL
2006 Asolo Repertory Theatre, Sarasota, FL
2006 E.B.K. Gallery, CT
2007 Gallery 11, CT
2008 Unison Gallery, New Platz, NY
2009 Longboat Key Center for the Arts, FL
2013 E.B.K. Gallery, CT
2014 EBK Gallery [small works], Hartford, CT

Exhibitions: (Group)

1960 Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
The Choate School, Wallingford, CT
The Stable Gallery, New York, NY
1961 The Worcester Museum, MA
1967 The La Jolla Museum, CA
1968 Fairfield Youth Museum, Fairfield, CT
1971 Silvermine Guild of Artists, New Canaan, CT
1972 The Jorgenson Gallery, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
1972 The Merchants Bank, Norwalk, CT
The Silvermine Guild of Artists, New Canaan, CT
1973 Hartford Arts Festival, Hartford, CT
The State Capitol, Hartford, CT

1974 The Jorgenson Gallery, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
Marietta College, Ohio (“Mainstream ’74”)
The Carpenter Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

1975 The Jewish Community Center, Hartford, CT
The Gallery 5 East, Hartford, CT
Pisces Gallery, Truro, MA

1976 U.S. State Department, Art in Embassies Program:
Office of the Chief of Protocol, Washington, DC
Hartford Arts Festival, Hartford, CT
Trinity College, Hartford, CT

1977 U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program:
Office of the Deputy Secretary of State, Washington, DC
Bonn, Germany The Hague, Netherlands
New Delhi, India Brasilia, Brazil
Luxembourg, Belgium San Jose, Costa Rica
Ankara, Turkey Port au Prince, Haiti
Tel Aviv, Israel Nassau, Bahamas
Helsinki, Finland Mexico City, Mexico
Peking, China Budapest, Hungary
Guatemala City, Guatemala Beograd, Yugoslavia

1978 Connecticut ’78 (invitational) traveling exhibition:
Carlson Art Gallery, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT
Cummings Art Center, Connecticut College, New London, CT
Slater Memorial Museum (CT Artists/invitational), Norwich, CT
Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
NATO Summit Meeting, Belgium
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies Program:
Warsaw, Poland Managua, Nicaragua
Madrid, Spain Ascuncion, Paraguay
Athens, Greece London, England

1979 U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program:
Paramaribo, Suriname
Rabat, Morocco
Lisbon, Portugal
Manila, Philippines
Lome, Togo
Cairo, Egypt
Luska, Zambia
Wellington, New Zealand
Soundview Day Care Center (invitational) West Haven, CT (1st Prize)
Trinity College, Widener Gallery, Hartford, CT

1980 U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program:
Singapore, Malaysia Kuala Lampur, Malaysia
Artists Equity Exhibit, Old State House, Hartford, CT
Soundview Day Care Center, West Haven, CT (First Prize)
Hartford Arts Festival (invitational), Hartford, CT
31st New England Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition,
Silvermine Guild, New Haven, CT
Bethel Gallery, Bethel, CT 1981

1981 U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
32nd New England Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition,
Silvermine Guild, New Canaan, CT (Awarded David G. Lyon Award)
Trinity College, Widener Gallery, Hartford, CT
Branchville Soho Gallery, Georgetown, CT
1st Annual Faber Birren Color Award Exhibition, Stamford Art
Association, Stamford, CT (First Prize)

1982 U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program:
Abu Dhabi, Arabia Bangkok, Thailand
Dublin, Ireland Monrovia, Liberia
Valletta, Malta Beijing, China
Panama Cairo, Egypt
Islamabad, Pakistan Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Amman, Jordon Berlin, Germany
Media Exhibition, Greenwich Art Barn, Greenwich, CT (invitational)
Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
Silvermine Guild, Center for the Arts, New Canaan, CT
The 49 Collection, Stamford, CT

1983 U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program:
Valletta, Malta Accra, Ghana
Nassau, Bahamas Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Nouakchott, Mauritania Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Yaonde, Cameroon
“Works on Paper”, Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
Silvermine Collection ’83, New Canaan, CT

1984 U.S. Representative, Disarmament Conference, Stockholm, Sweden
U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program:
Bendar Seri Begawan, Brunei Bamaka, Mali
Praia, Cape Verde Brazzaville, The Congo
Tunis, Tunisia Kuwait, Kuwait
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Guatemala City, Guatemala
Nicosia, Cyprus Khartoum, Sudan
Papua, New Guinea

Silvermine Collection ’84, Richardson-Vicks, Wilton, CT
“The Connecticut Artist – A Rare Show”, Xerox Corporation, Stamford, CT
Bloomingdale’s 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Stamford, CT
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (Slide Talk)
1985 U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program:
Vienna, Austria Warsaw, Poland
Reykjavik, Iceland Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Tel Aviv, Israel

“Diversity of Vision”, Stamford Plaza Hotel, Stamford, CT
“Drawing”, Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
Gallery Opening (invitational) Gallery 990, West Hartford, CT
“Invited Celebrities”, Gallery-on-the-Green, Canton, CT
“Silvermine Collection ’85”, Richardson-Vicks, Wilton, CT
“125th Anniversary Exhibit”, Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
“20th Anniversary Faculty Exhibit”, Wooster Community Art Center,
Danbury, CT
1986 “The Color Red”, Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1987 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1988 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1989 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1990 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1991 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1992 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1993 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
1994 Munson Gallery, New Haven, CT
“The George Chaplin Collection”, Widener Gallery, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1995 Norwalk Community Technical College, Norwalk, CT
1996 Bayer Corporation, Tarrytown, NY (Permanent)
1998 Corbino Galleries, Longboat Key, FL
2001 Global Art Source, Zurich, Switzerland (Continuing)
2003 Wallace Fine Arts, Longboat Key, FL
2004 Swanson Reed Contemporary, Louisville, KY
2005 Green Contemporary, Sarasota, FL
2007 New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT (new acquisitions)

Collections:

Aetna Life & Casualty, Windsor, CT
American Can, Stamford, CT
Asolo Repertory Theater, Sarasota, FL
Bayer Corporation, Terrytown, NY
Connecticut Bank & Trust, New Haven, CT
Connecticut Savings Bank, Foxon, CT
Connecticut Saving Bank, New Haven, CT
Corporate Health Strategies, New Haven, CT
Covington & Burling Law Firm, D.C.
Fuchu Welfare Center, Fuchu-Shi, Japan
Hospice, Branford, CT
Judy Birke Art Consultants, Hamden, CT
Kennecot Corp., CT
Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
Perkin-Elmer, Wilton, CT
Solaris Group, Bedford Hills, NY
Scovill, Inc., Waterbury, CT

State University of New York, Cortland, NY
Tectonic Industries, Berlin, CT
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
Uniroyal, Inc., Naugatuck, CT
United Technologies, Hartford, CT
U.S. State Department, Washington, DC
World Bank, D.C.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT