Gregory James Gallery Offering Signature Frank Metz Landscapes
Pemaquid Point (42×38)
Two of landscape painter Frank Metz’s strongest works from the early 1970s are now on display and available at Gregory James Gallery.
Metz, who has a home in Roxbury, CT, and recently turned 96 is known for impeccable draftsmanship that provides the foundation for highly evocative works that have evolved over the years from an impressionistic tone to more solid and bold paintings constructed from core landscape elements—earth, stone, wood, water, and sky.
“He uses his powerful views of the skies, fields, woods, farmhouses, and snow-covered vistas to allow the viewer to feel the sense of serenity, quiet, and the lush landscapes in these paintings,” the artist’s website explains. “As with all of his work, Metz creates great expanses of skies and covers the canvas liberally with the rich greens and blues to evoke the landscapes that surround him.”
Deer Island, Stonington, and the rocky beaches of Maine, the hills and valleys of Litchfield County, and the vast-feeling landscapes and seascapes of Western Scotland are his favored subject matter.
At some point before the pandemic, gallery owner Greg Mullen visited the artist in Roxbury and was wowed by a painting from the ’70s. “It had a very modern feel to it and the palette and simplicity of the painting gave it great depth and emotional resonance,” Mullen recalled.
The Channel (36×42)
Metz gave Mullen the painting to display at the gallery and sell, and before long it found an enthusiastic buyer. When Mullen returned recently, he asked if there were more paintings from the era and Metz produced the pair that are now in the gallery, “Pemaquid Point” (42×38, 1972) and “The Channel” (36×42, 1968).
Metz studied at the Philadelphia Museum School (1943-49), Art Students League in New York City (1948), the New School for Social Research (1949-50), and Atelier 17 in Paris (1949-50).
Among his many exhibits he has had one-person shows at Parma Gallery, Roko Gallery, Alonzo Gallery and Haber Theodore Gallery, all in New York City, at Gross McLeaf Gallery in Philadelphia, and locally at the Minor Memorial Library in Roxbury.
His works are in the collections too numerous to list, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Ball State Teacher’s College, as well as corporate settings including JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, IBM, Verizon, AT&T, Price Waterhouse, the Oppenheimer Fund, and Forbes Magazine.
Contact gallery owner Gregory James Mullen for additional details and pricing at 860-354-3436 or by email at GregoryJamesG@aol.com, or visit the gallery at 93 Park Lane Road in New Milford (Route 202) anytime from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Artist Frank Metz at his home in Roxbury, CT.