‘Foxhounds in the Kennel’, an oil painting by Joseph Sulkowski
whose work is currently on view at The Halcyon Gallery Birmingham and London.
(Updated 8/7/01)
Artist visits UK
‘Foxhounds
in the Kennel’, an oil painting by Joseph Sulkowski
whose work is currently on view at The Halcyon Gallery Birmingham and London.
ONE
OF the world’s leading canine and equestrian artists, Joseph H. Sulkowski,
has recently made a rare visit to the UK to observe the sights and sounds of
Royal Ascot.
The Nashville-based artist spent a a week in the country to take reference for
his sporting art, which is collected worldwide. As well as visiting Ascot, he
will be spending time at Woburn Abbey at the request of the estate.
Sulkowski’s passion for the outdoors is evident in much of his work. Working
from life rather than photographs, he relies on plein-air painting to capture
the moment often painting on location on a field easel. He believes that also
painting other genres, for example portraits, landscapes or still-lifes, brings
a fresh perspective to his work, while his delight in the physical act of painting
also keeps him inspired.
Sulkowski’s work is, he believes, influenced by his ancestors’ participation
in the arts. In eighteenth century Poland, count Alexander Sulkowski commissioned
one of the most ornately designed Meissen china dinner services, 
while
the Polish magnates of Weilkopolska produced the first Jozef Sulkowski: a scholar,
warrior and aide-de-camp to Napoleon.
Sulkowski studied at the Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts in Philadelphia
from 1969-1970 and later at the Art Students League of New York from 1974-1979.
It was here that he met his greatest influence and mentor Frank Mason, who was
the foremost American authority on the techniques o the Old Masters.
Sulkowski has continued to paint in the style of the old masters. Today he refers
to his style as ‘poetic realism’, an interpretative form inspired
by the natural world. He pursues the ideal in his work and values the freedom
he has to view the world the way he wants and then to translate that vision
on to canvas. He says, “I want a painting to look like a painting, but
I want it to look like it happened by itself. I work hard on a painting, but
I don’t want it to show. It’s like the old masters - the work looks
like they just breathed it. The challenge is to put the world on canvas in just
a few strokes”.
Sulkowski’s work is available in the UK from the Halcyon Gallery at 29
Bruton Street, Mayfair; Selfridges, Oxford Street, and the International Convention
Centre, Birmingham.
