James Burpee
Landscape painting is one of the genres in which I have worked for more than forty
years. Richard Diebenkorn’s landscapes were an inspiration to me in the late 1950’s. Diebenkorn encouraged me to apply to graduate school at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California, and I received my MFA in painting there in 1960. Many of the Bay Area Figurative painters were very influential in my early development, especially fostering a strong understanding of composition, which is evident in my current work. In the mid 1970’s I was an artist-in-residence sponsored by the National Park Service in Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii. I also exhibited in a national invitational exhibition of the 19th and 20th century paintings called “A Sense of Place, Artists, and the American Land”. During this time I traveled and painted through Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona. This journey loosely followed in the footsteps of Thomas Moran and others who were influential in the establishment of the National Park System. Part of my goal then and now is to contribute to the preservation of America’s (and the world’s) natural places, be they spectacular wildernesses or municipal parks.
My recent is in relation to a few sites in the Twin Cities, and in Northern
Minnesota. In the Twin Cities, Nine Mile Creek in Bloomington is a special favorite;
three of the four paintings from the creek are from the same point of view in 3 seasons. Another favorite regional location is Wirth Park in Minneapolis. My method is to work on a small canvas on site-- including Winter-- and then
develop a larger version in the studio where observation and compositional considerations are heightened and fused. The small Winter study here in the gallery was done on site, and was used as a basis for the larger Winter painting that is part of the 3 season trilogy mentioned above. Nature, like well made painting, is an integration of differences. While technical skill is required to make a good painting, the most important component of landscape painting proposes the value of empathy for all of us--toward nature and toward each other.
Education
B.A. Art, San Jose State College, San Jose, CA 1958
M.F.A. Painting; Printmaking Minor, CA College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA1960
Teaching Experience
1997-present -Uof M, Minneapolis, Painting & Drawing
1997-present -Administrative Assistant , The Kenwood Retirement Community, Mpls.
1987-1996 Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Professor of Painting & Drawing.
www.jamesburpee.com Shallow Creek Bed, Gold Light
oil on canvas 30 x 38
$3,400
| Small Pool with Orange Rock
oil on canvas 30 x 38
$3,400
Small Cascade Over Rock
oil on canvas 30 x 38
$2,950
Fall Creek Boulders #2
oil on canvas 32 x 40
$3,400
Dappled Light, Trickling Water
oil on canvas 38 x 30
$3,400
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