Sterling Strauser Floral Abstraction

 

This dramatic painting is a highly abstracted floral still-life by modernist painter Sterling Strauser (1907 - 1995). Executed in oil on masonite, the painting is a excellent example of his innovative technique. Strauser would work quickly once the surface was prepared and a composition established. With areas of thick impasto contrasting with a thinly applied paint, he would draw directly into the paint with charcoal and the handles of his brushes and palate knives.

 

This painting captures the energy and spontaneity of his painting method. Clearly influenced by the abstract expressionists and action painters of the period, he is less interested in illustrating the flowers than he is in using them as inspiration for line, shape, color and composition. The finished result looks as much like an explosion of fireworks as a floral arrangement.

 

The painting is signed in the lower left center and was produced circa 1960. It is available for viewing in the Washington DC area. Provenance available.

 

Literature: "Sterling Strauser a Modernist Revisited" Reading Public Museum 1999.

 

L: 28 in. (71 cm)

H: 22 in. (56 cm)

 

5,000