Otto Bierhals: A German-American Artist in Woodstock

February 1 – May 10, 2020

Reception: Saturday, February 8, 4 – 6 PM

PHOEBE & BELMONT TOWBIN WING

Curated by Bruce Weber

Otto Bierhals (1879-1944) spent over twenty summers in Woodstock, where he became one of the historic art colony’s leading landscapists. Active as a painter, watercolorist, printmaker, and illustrator, Bierhals devoted himself to depicting the picturesque mountains, forests, fields, farmlands, houses, and waterways of the area, and in the process developing great technical mastery of the palette knife. In 1929, he bought a tract on Mill Hill Road on which he built a combined house, gallery, and school, successfully marketing his work and offering lessons in landscape painting. This is the first solo display of Bierhals’ work since his 1938 exhibition at the Albany Institute of History and Art. Otto Bierhals: A German-American Artist in Woodstock features forty works highlighting Bierhals’ accomplishments as a landscape painter of the Catskills, a delineator of scenes of the local village, New York City and his native Germany, and as a painter of still lifes. Among the treasures on view is Henry Peper at the Forge, which pictures the local blacksmith engaged in work at his shop. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring an essay on Bierhals’ life and career by art historian Bruce Weber, who has served as the guest curator.

A 46-page catalog accompanies the exhibition, featuring an essay by the exhibition curator, Bruce Weber, 23 color reproductions, and an illustrated checklist of the 40 works that comprise the exhibition. $20