SELECT 5
An Artsy-exclusive exhibitionFeaturing artists selected from the Garvey|Simon Artist Review Program
November 2, 2020 – January 31, 2021
Karl Hartman is a New Jersey-based painter whose work reflects a deep connection to place and memory. Born in Billings, Montana, in 1956, he grew up mostly in the plains states of Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. His meticulous oil paintings capture the vast landscapes of the prairies of his youth and the forests closer to his current home, shaped by his experiences both living in and later returning to these regions. Through a refined and detailed approach in oil paint, he distills the essence of these environments—open horizons, shifting light, and quiet drama—into detailed compositions that possess an uncanny quietude. His work explores the way sky and weather dominate space, the isolation of a single tree on the plains, or the subtle presence of interesting flora and fauna in the woods. Hartman’s practice engages with themes of solitude, transformation, and the profound stillness found in nature.
He received his BS from the University of Oklahoma, majoring in geology and minoring in art. He received his MFA in painting from the School of Visual Arts in New York. He lives with his family in New Jersey and travels back to Oklahoma to see family, take photographs and sketch. He has exhibited at the Kansas Museum of Fine Art in Wichita, KS; The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH; and The Charles A. Wustum Museum, Racine, WI. He has also shown at the The Grand Central Galleries, Lesley Heller Workspace, Adam Baumgold Gallery, the National Academy of Design (all in New York City) as well as the Yoyogi School of Fine Art in Tokyo, Japan. He was awarded the New Jersey State Council for the Arts Fellowship for painting 2006, and in 2024.
