“There is no finer way to practice kindness towards oneself than through the contemplative reverie, luxurious beauty and strange incantatory spell that only art can cast.”  —Brian Rutenberg

Inspired by the woods and waters of the Lowcountry and vacation colors of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Brian Rutenberg’s landscape paintings are a place where nature and artifice collide in the bright and combustible—two places he says gave him a love of excess. To ground his abstract vision, vertical marks represent trees, horizontal ovals depict ponds, and slabs of jewel-toned paint sit easily beside pale washes. 

Rutenberg wants the viewer to read his paintings from left to right, as if wandering through the woods versus any fixed vantage point. For him, painting is a rhythmic process and a successful painting keeps our gaze in perpetual renewal. He offers this example of how it works: when we look through a window on a rainy day, we either see the raindrops on the glass or what lies beyond, but not both views at once. With patience, we begin to take in the whole. 

Whereas the paintings are the most obvious aspect of Rutenberg’s creativity, they lay the foundation for what transpires when we take time to contemplate an object outside of ourselves. Rutenberg believes this process causes the artist’s and viewer’s nervous systems to twist around, creating what he calls “the third thing.” He also believes that art is a form of empathy and the ability to extend oneself to that which is outside of oneself will save the world. That’s a wonderful idea to hold onto in these difficult times.

In a turbulent time when the art world is increasingly focused on status, luxury, and investment, Rutenberg’s paintings are a reminder that art is ultimately about aesthetic pleasure and intrinsic qualities. By following their own instinctive taste, eye, and intelligence, those who value this belief bind themselves to the rich history of art and its ongoing appreciation.

—Timothy Tew

Rutenberg’s paintings are held in the following museum collections:

Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, NC
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
The Bronx Museum, The Bronx, NY
Burroughs-Chapin Museum of Art, Myrtle Beach, SC
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC
Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA
Naples Art Museum, Naples, FL
Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY
Ogden Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, MA
Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, MI
Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, OH
South Carolina Arts Commission State Art Collection, Colombia, SC
Yale University Gallery of Art, New Haven, CT