gary koeppel

Gary Koeppel is a landscape painter living and working in Boston, Massachusetts. Having inhabited a variety of studios through the course of his career, his current location is in his home boasting an expansive view of the Boston skyline.

Koeppel is inspired by color, light and composition. He draws inspiration from the likes of Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Fairfield Porter and Van Gogh. He paints the landscape to pay homage to his emotional response to the land. He utilizes a direct, painterly approach to the realism of a scene. That being said, his work conveys a sense of heart and spirit to the viewer – something more than a “pretty picture”. Koeppel’s goal is that the viewer react to the emotionality in his work, and be drawn in by its composition. Pleasure comes when the viewer is moved to feel something akin to how a special song invokes a powerful memory from the past.  

Plein air painting is Koeppel’s first love. However, he also creates studio work from photographs he has taken. Plein air and studio painting represent two distinct opportunities for understanding Koeppel’s work. Painting on location is constrained by the limitations of the movement of light. The result is a loose rendition of a scene painted quickly. These paintings can be done in one or several sittings. 

The studio paintings have the luxury of time to get each brushstroke and nuance of color carefully placed. However, they are not mere representations of the photographs. Koeppel’s practice of “trusting the brush” learned from the plein air work, allows spontaneity of technique to inhabit even his most carefully rendered paintings. These works get the light ”just right” thanks to the plein air experience.  

Koeppel is on the organizing committee of Open Studios in his community. His work has won awards, has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout New England, and is in private collections in the US and Europe.

more

AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST