THE HOWSE COLLECTION
presents
Gerald Schwartz
“The sky's the limit!”
The open road, an expanse of sky, storm clouds in the distance,
Diana Krall on the radio; Gerald Schwartz sets out on one of his
road trips. Whether returning from an arts festival, or just a
solo drive, he takes in the world around him and breathes in
the cool, clear air of the heartland. He photographs sun drenched
skies, farm houses, solitary road signs and clouds...always the
clouds. Once home in Arizona, the visions of his travels still
occupying his mind, Gerald looks back through his photographs &
begins to paint. The canvas transforms with long roads, stretched
out beneath big blue skies. Sunsets seem to set the canvas on
fire. And Gerald's rain slicked streets are so real you can
almost smell the road.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1940, Gerald Schwartz began his
life as an artist at sixteen when his father took him to an art
store. Gerald noticed a Salvador Dali print on the wall and
having never seen anything like this before, turned to his father
& said, “I too want to be an artist.” Eloquent & absolute, the
decision was made and the journey began. Schwartz spent six years
at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, working in
inks, pastels, watercolors & acrylics. He went on to work for a
fashion magazine, then worked as an illustrator on a book
presented at the 1984 Winter Olympics. With life leading him in
many directions, he traveled & explored his creative options, but
the artist remained, and he continued to paint.
At the age of forty-five, Gerald decided to forgo all other things
in his life to simply live & work as an artist. Working exclusively
with oils, he started to develop his unique photo realistic style
and his signature genre. Schwartz takes us to a place we all know,
a place we all love; the open roads, shorelines and small towns of
America. Each piece evokes emotion in the viewer, a reminder of
where we have been and where we are going, always at home in the
tranquillity of the vast, Americana landscapes. Gerald lives in
Arizona with his wife, Gloria. He has two children and three
grandchildren. Gerald paints according to his motto: “The Sky’s the
limit.”
