‘Near and Far’ solo show by Henry Isaacs at Gleason Fine Art

Gleason Fine Art presents work by Henry Isaacs in the exhibit “Near and Far,” featuring oil paintings of Maine, Vermont and Nepal.

The show runs from July 1 to Aug. 3, with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. July 2. A show catalog is available.

Isaacs has traveled the world over, painting as he goes, often working on commissions — Europe, Central and South America, all of the Canadian provinces, the Himalayas, and 49 of the states in the United States. Returning to home base, Isaacs and his wife have ping-ponged between the coast of Maine and rural Vermont.

Isaacs paints with energy, passion, and self-assurance. His style — broken brushwork and a palette of delicate blues, greens, pinks, and yellows — marks him as one of the most recognizable artists painting in New England today.

Isaacs’ methodology is as unique as his paintings are. He never works from photographs. Instead, wherever he goes, he totes a backpack loaded with oil paints, brushes, and tiny canvasses and panels. To capture the essence of a spot that takes his eye, he paints what he calls “notes.” Some of these “notes” are just a few brush flicks; others, though small in size, resemble finished paintings. For a large painting, Isaacs might make dozens of these “notes.” For a commission, he makes scores.

Commissions have taken Isaacs to far-flung places — to the Kalahari Desert, for example, and twice to Nepal. Isaacs is only the second career artist to have tackled painting on-site in the Himalayas (the first, Nicolas Roerich, worked nearly one hundred years ago) — a fact that is especially amazing considering that Isaacs turned 70 this spring. Two of Isaacs’ smaller Himalayan paintings, of Ama Dablam Mountain, in the Everest Range, are featured in this catalog. They measure 3 feet by 4 feet. Several even larger paintings of the Himalayas are available at the gallery.

Many reviewers have waxed poetic when writing about Henry Isaacs’ paintings, but perhaps his close friend and former Maine Today Media arts reviewer Dan Kany says it best: “Isaacs balances warm and cool tones brilliantly. His handling of paint owes an unapologetic debt to the chunky boldness of the early Modernists and Fauves. The brushwork is strong and primarily dedicated to pushing the paint around on the canvas — an activity Isaacs clearly enjoys.”

Isaacs will be in attendance for his reception and thrilled to be able to chat in person with his friends and admirers. The artist and gallery owners are all fully vaccinated.

Gleason Fine Art is at 31 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call Gleason Fine Art at 207-633-6849, email the gallery at [email protected], or go to www.gleasonfineart.com.