Philip Koch Paintings

Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, MD is holding The Mirror of Nature: The Art of Philip Koch  Nov. 8, 2014 - Feb. 22, 2015. It will include some 35 oil paintings, pastels, and vine charcoal drawings spanning the 1980's to today.  Here's a second collection of the notes I wrote for some of the wall labels for the paintings that will be in the show (you can read my first posting of these notes here ). Stone City Barns , oil on canvas, 24 x 48”, 1991-2011 Koch’s first solo exhibition at an art museum occurred in 1991 when the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in Iowa invited him to show in their galleries. While there Koch to traveled to nearby Stone City, IA where the famous American Regionalist painter Grant Wood used to conduct a summer painting school. The elegance of the 19 th century barns in Stone City charmed Koch into breaking his personal vow “to never paint a red barn.” Shadows on the House , oil on panel, 9 ¾ x 8 ¾”, 1982. The...

Here is a short interview on my paintings that was posted yesterday on the website for Beard's chain of framing stores in the Pacific Northwest ( link to the interview on Beard's website ) Interview with Artist  Philip Koch At Beard's Framing, we enjoy bringing you information and  insight on art. This is the first of a new series of posts, where we conduct interviews with artists to share their knowledge and perspectives on art. This interview is with painter Philip Koch. Beard's Framing: Can you tell me a little about yourself? Philip Koch:  I'm a former abstract painter who early in my career discovered the work of Edward Hopper. That alone inspired me to change to working in a realist direction. Since 1983 I have had unprecedented access to the privately owned Hopper studio on Cape Cod. This Fall I will enjoy my 15th residency staying and working in his studio. While in my MFA Program in Painting at Indiana University I began painting outdoors ...

I have been getting my upcoming exhibition together that will be at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts  in Hagerstown, MD.   The Mirror of Nature: The Art of Philip Koch  runs Nov. 8, 2014 - Feb. 22, 2015. As part of this I've compiled some notes we may use on some of the wall labels for a few of the paintings. Here are a few examples. The Song of All Days, oil on panel, 36 x 72”, 2008 (the painting above). Painted just as he was turning 60, Koch thought of this painting as a recollection and celebration of all the times he had spent painting surrounded by nature. He explained “I have the best office in the world.” Deep Forest Pool, oil on panel, 30 x 40”, 2011 Many of the 19th century farms in the Eastern U.S. have failed, allowing  the cleared land to revert to deep forest. Often the only relief from the darkness of their foliage canopy comes from the light that falls on small forest pools like this one. This painting was done entir...