Joseph Sundwall

Joseph Sundwall was raised in a suburb of Chicago at a time when the arts were an integral part of a child’s education.  Encouraged by family and art educators, he found his art path early on, and completed his first oil painting in third grade.

When it came time for college he chose the Kansas City Art Institute with the intention of majoring in painting, but after getting a taste of other arts in the first year foundation program, he became fascinated by the peculiar work being done in the graphic design department.  The rigorous program was based on the design and color ideas Josef Albers developed at Yale. It included color theory, composition, photography, typography and printing.   Of key importance was the development of sensitivity to negative spaces, including the relationship of spaces between forms and within forms.  Students were encouraged to consider design less a decorative art than one of problem solving, which should yield a solution relevant to the content and objectives of the problem.  It was about being clear and simple in execution.  And elegant.  Minimalist.

After college Joseph moved to New York City and worked for several years as a graphic designer and type designer before taking up the study of fine art again.  He took oil painting courses at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design, and at St Oswald’s Studios in London.  

“My teachers were primarily portrait painters: David Leffel, Ron Scherr, Everett Kinstler, Charles Hardaker.  I’d been painting portraits since I was a kid and always had good eye/hand coordination, patience with myself, curiosity about my materials, and a child’s love of just watching how the work gets done; I’m still enthralled by the process of painting and because of my design background, I’m never not aware of the ‘big picture’ – how the central focus of the painting relates to the whole, whether I’m being direct or indirect, and if the technique agrees with the inner intention of the work.

“Having focused for years on people portraits, on a lark I went to see a polo match and found myself captivated by the ponies – their beauty, intelligence and athleticism astonished the city boy in me.  Before long I was painting polo and other equestrian events, including dressage, foxhunting, bassetting and horse racing, then all kind of hounds and birds and animals were integrated into my work.  I feel that I was somehow destined to paint the figure – humans and animals in motion and at rest. “

Today, Joseph divides his time between figure painting and landscape, which usually includes animals and, of late, birds in particular.  As much as possible he paints from life, preferring the simple oil sketch as reference material to the use of photography, though photos are indispensible for fidgety children and animal subjects. 

His painting style relies in great part on wet-into-wet techniques, plus the juxtaposition of areas of flat paint with modeling and vigorous brushwork playing off areas of studied strokes.  

“I’m a realist painter,” Joseph says, “but more than just making things look ‘real,’ I’m interested in putting down no more than is necessary to get a point across… to discover what can be left out or merely implied; this requires more conscious involvement in the process of painting for me, and invites greater participation by the viewer when coming in for a closer look.” 

Joseph has taught oil painting privately in New Jersey and New York, and regularly demonstrates the art of portrait painting before arts associations. He recently moved to Montgomery, NY, and has enjoyed painting en plein air in the celebrated Hudson Valley. Joseph is represented by J.M. Stringer Gallery in Vero Beach, FL, and Portraits North in Lexington, MA.