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Biography
Bruce Lauritzen's art, over the past five decades, reflects his Northern California roots. Born in San Francisco, and raised in Marin County, he attended the California College of the Arts (CCAC) on scholarship, and the San Francisco Art Institute, where he received his Master of Fine Arts degree. Later, he was instructor of art at the College of Marin, and the Academy of Art Univ. in S.F.
Art has been his life long passion encompassing many forms of creative expression including painting, multimedia, photography, and architecture. He attended adult figure drawing classes at ten years of age. His solo exhibition accompanied the inauguration of the Marin Center for the Performing Arts. He served on the founding Board of Directors of the Marin Arts Council where he helped launch their Artists Grants Program.
Lauritzen's first solo exhibition of his paintings was held in Milan, Italy, in 1964, where he resided for six years. (1964, a pivotal year, saw the USA sweep the grand prize at the Venice Biennale.) Since then, his work has been the subject of over a hundred exhibitions, and is included in private, institutional, and museum collections in the United States and abroad, i.e. the permanent collections at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Achenbach Foundation at the California Palace Legion of Honor.
However frontal and graphic, Lauritzen's paintings are infused with nautical atmosphere, with light and weather. His simple, iconographic forms, yet highly structured compositions, hint of his architectural experience. His conversation with line sets the foundation for his work, creating mathematical rhythms "a kind of visual poetry". Although the subject provides the initial inspiration, it is the ensuing interpretation that moulds the image into something unique. "For me, every painting is a new adventure."
The artist currently lives and works in his West Marin studio.
Artist Statement
I've spent a lifetime at the easel. Art is my passion and my nourishment. It centers me, keeps me alive. My mediums include everything from the delicacy of watercolor, to the richness of oil, to experimental, texture-laden surfaces on canvas. I insist on keeping myself open to any new concept, any new approach that occurs to me, even though I tend to paint in series, which may last for a year or a decade. "Formula" art is not for me. Every new piece is an experiment, an adventure. My subject matter may be sparked by a sudden inspiration from my immediate environment, or may creep up from a subconscious internal place. The 'Bull,' inspired by my trips to Spain, provided an emblematic and metaphoric subject, the eternal contest between man and beast. Also the 'Horse,'an icon of civilization, has been a presence in my life since I was a child. I am paying homage to both in this current show. Although I was born in San Francisco, I grew up in Marin County when it was more rural than suburban. West Marin, where I have lived now for twenty years, provides me the opportunity to thrive in fresh air, unencumbered by noise and traffic, and where, incidentally, we are surrounded by horses and bovines. Designing our home, studio, and landscaping provided our custom habitat, as well as my "sculptural" outlet. I love to smell the earth and see things grow... and keep making art. On the edge of the sea, between forest and rolling hills, what more could one ask for? (Don't tell anybody.)
Bruce Lauritzen's art, over the past five decades, reflects his Northern California roots. Born in San Francisco, and raised in Marin County, he attended the California College of the Arts (CCAC) on scholarship, and the San Francisco Art Institute, where he received his Master of Fine Arts degree. Later, he was instructor of art at the College of Marin, and the Academy of Art Univ. in S.F.
Art has been his life long passion encompassing many forms of creative expression including painting, multimedia, photography, and architecture. He attended adult figure drawing classes at ten years of age. His solo exhibition accompanied the inauguration of the Marin Center for the Performing Arts. He served on the founding Board of Directors of the Marin Arts Council where he helped launch their Artists Grants Program.
Lauritzen's first solo exhibition of his paintings was held in Milan, Italy, in 1964, where he resided for six years. (1964, a pivotal year, saw the USA sweep the grand prize at the Venice Biennale.) Since then, his work has been the subject of over a hundred exhibitions, and is included in private, institutional, and museum collections in the United States and abroad, i.e. the permanent collections at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Achenbach Foundation at the California Palace Legion of Honor.
However frontal and graphic, Lauritzen's paintings are infused with nautical atmosphere, with light and weather. His simple, iconographic forms, yet highly structured compositions, hint of his architectural experience. His conversation with line sets the foundation for his work, creating mathematical rhythms "a kind of visual poetry". Although the subject provides the initial inspiration, it is the ensuing interpretation that moulds the image into something unique. "For me, every painting is a new adventure."
The artist currently lives and works in his West Marin studio.
Artist Statement
I've spent a lifetime at the easel. Art is my passion and my nourishment. It centers me, keeps me alive. My mediums include everything from the delicacy of watercolor, to the richness of oil, to experimental, texture-laden surfaces on canvas. I insist on keeping myself open to any new concept, any new approach that occurs to me, even though I tend to paint in series, which may last for a year or a decade. "Formula" art is not for me. Every new piece is an experiment, an adventure. My subject matter may be sparked by a sudden inspiration from my immediate environment, or may creep up from a subconscious internal place. The 'Bull,' inspired by my trips to Spain, provided an emblematic and metaphoric subject, the eternal contest between man and beast. Also the 'Horse,'an icon of civilization, has been a presence in my life since I was a child. I am paying homage to both in this current show. Although I was born in San Francisco, I grew up in Marin County when it was more rural than suburban. West Marin, where I have lived now for twenty years, provides me the opportunity to thrive in fresh air, unencumbered by noise and traffic, and where, incidentally, we are surrounded by horses and bovines. Designing our home, studio, and landscaping provided our custom habitat, as well as my "sculptural" outlet. I love to smell the earth and see things grow... and keep making art. On the edge of the sea, between forest and rolling hills, what more could one ask for? (Don't tell anybody.)