The Shawangunk Mountains and the Wallkill River were home to painter George Wexler who lived in the woods outside New Paltz, New York, with his wife, the sculptor Thyra Davidson-Wexler (b. 1926). Described by some as a Neo-Hudson River painter, Wexler’s style had evolved from abstraction through an expressionistic response to nature to his detailed panoramic views of the Hudson River and sites in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains.
Working almost entirely from nature, Wexler returned many times to the same site to complete his views, following in the footsteps of 19th Century plein-air painters who revisited their sites at different times of the day to capture the mood and lighting as it changed. One critic described Wexler as “…the painter of the great outdoors… harking back to a period when the landscape was grand, awesome and unsullied.”
We are pleased to be offering a fine selection of George Wexler’s paintings in our September 5th sale, featuring property from the immaculately restored Victorian home, Brookbound, in Claverack, New York. Included in the sale are Hudson Valley views: Morning at Wappinger Creek, oil on canvas, 1983; The Hudson from Poughkeepsie, oil on canvas, 1985; and Morning on the Wallkill River; oil on canvas, 1984; as well as a selection of Wexler’s still lifes and views in Maine and Massachusetts.