New Jersey artist W. Carl Burger opens a solo exhibition of his work on January 18 at the Noyes Museum of Art in Oceanville, N.J. The self-titled exhibition includes artwork that celebrates the natural environment of southern New Jersey. Created exclusively for this exhibition, Burger’s large-scale expressionistic works were painted in some of southern New Jersey’s most treasured natural sites including Batsto Village, the Pinelands and the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge.
The public will have a chance to meet the artist at the Opening Reception on January 18 from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibition will be on display through May 9.
Burger, of Califon, N.J., is one of the state’s most notable artists with a career that spans over five decades. Working mostly in watercolors, he paints plein air, or on location, throughout the year on large sheets of watercolor paper held down on a table with bricks. Wetting the large-scale paper often means using a bucket of water or a garden hose, depending on his location. “If something goes wrong (with the painting) I attack it with a flood of water from the hose,” says the artist, “I build up the colors and then soften it with the hose.” Burger’s work is inspired by Cezanne, Braque and Picasso, artists who Burger believes to be the innovators in 20th century. He is also inspired by the Gothic and Renaissance imagery and architectural layouts of American and European landscapes. He has traveled throughout New Jersey and around the world to capture the natural images that give him his greatest inspiration.
Burger was born in Pforzheim, Germany in 1925. Six months later, his parents moved to the United States and settled in Irvington, N.J. Burger attended a grammar school that offered art programs and he was immediately intrigued. During high school, a watercolor demonstration by artist Maurice King inspired Burger to use the medium in the bulk of his artwork. Since the age of 15, Burger has created more than 700 oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and collages.
Burger received his master’s in fine arts education from New York University where he studied with the renowned Hale Woodruff, Tony Smith and Reginald Neal. During this time he was inspired both by the innovation of his professors and the momentum of the abstract expressionist movement. In an interview with Harry I. Naar, professor of fine arts and gallery director at Rider University, Burger explains, “I found a deep respect for the energy, sensuality and spontaneity of abstract expressionism. I realized that I could, in fact, create an image about reality and especially the landscape using dramatic colors with stronger brush strokes that captured my true inner feelings about the site.” Burger continues, “I realized that I did not have to be so literal in my depictions to create an image of a landscape. To me, the landscape is always changing and I feel that my style and technique tries to reveal that feeling.”
Burger received his master’s in fine arts education from New York University where he studied with the renowned Hale Woodruff, Tony Smith and Reginald Neal. During this time he was inspired both by the innovation of his professors and the momentum of the abstract expressionist movement. In an interview with Harry I. Naar, professor of fine arts and gallery director at Rider University, Burger explains, “I found a deep respect for the energy, sensuality and spontaneity of abstract expressionism. I realized that I could, in fact, create an image about reality and especially the landscape using dramatic colors with stronger brush strokes that captured my true inner feelings about the site.” Burger continues, “I realized that I did not have to be so literal in my depictions to create an image of a landscape. To me, the landscape is always changing and I feel that my style and technique tries to reveal that feeling.”
Burger took postgraduate classes at Columbia University and Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Burger exhibited work throughout the country including the Lincoln Center and the National Academy of Design in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institute and the Butler Institute of Art in Youngstown, Ohio. His artwork can be seen in various corporate collections including Johnson & Johnson, British Airways, and Nabisco World Headquarters. He taught design and drawing for over 40 years at Kean University in Union, N.J and is now Professor Emeritus.
The Noyes Museum of Art was founded in 1983 to collect, preserve and exhibit American fine art, crafts and folk art with an emphasis on New Jersey artists and folk art forms, reflecting the area's long traditions, history, landscape and culture. General funding for The Noyes Museum of Art is provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Arts; the Mr. and Mrs. Fred Winslow Noyes Foundation; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; the Odessa F. and Henry D. Kahrs Charitable Trust and the Shop Rite LPGA Classic. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday,10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m. and closed on Mondays and major holidays. For more information, please call (609) 652-8848 or visit http://www.noyesmuseum.org/ .
