Don Chase, 20th Century American, Large 1960s Abstract Oil on Canvas Painting

Lot description

Don Chase, 20th Century American, Large 1960s Abstract Oil on Canvas Painting. Overall Size: 41 x 31 in. Sight Size: 40 1/2 x 30 1/2 in. Don Chase was born in Peoria, Illinois, where he lived near his paternal grandfather, a portrait artist in his younger days. It was seeing his grandfather's paintings that awakened in Don an Pinterest in art, and he began to notice color and line in things around him at an early age. After high school, he served with the United States Army, spending a part of the time in Japan. There he studied with a Japanese artist, more for pure enjoyment than with any thought of serious application. The influence of that learning is still apparent in his work today, revealed in the gently flowing backgrounds and the wispy forms of his "soft" paintings. The work is properly an honest portrayal of the artist as a man. The bold use of color, the sensitivity of design and subject, the strength of pattern in the "textured abstracts", the gentle entwining of old memories with today's dreams, the upsurging sweep of brush stroke, all depict the nature and vitality of Don Chase. Being largely a self-taught artist, he has had little formal art education. His natural talent and the experiences of his life aided by an avid curiosity, a love of books and people, and a bold willingness to try new methods serve him well. He resides and works in Whittier, California, where he prolifically creates the paintings which are owned by hundreds in the California area and elsewhere across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.