George Chaplin

b. 1931 , Portland, ME

George Chaplin’s paintings are abstract and based in color studies. A former student of Josef Albers at Yale University, Chaplin’s color field paintings and pastels reflect an objectivity towards subject matter and an exploration of the capacity of color. Inspired by nature and the landscape, Chaplin seeks to convey the serenity and excitement of natural elements such as water and fire which he notes are always the same yet always moving. In his larger oil paintings, Chaplin uses a pallet knife to work and mix colors both on the pallet and on the canvas directly, creating a soft Ombre from one color to the next. Of his paintings, Critic Shirley Gonzales wrote that, “Although he runs through the spectrum of what we usually think of as warm and cool colors, none of Chaplin’s colors are really cool…The color fills the room, vibrates, and seems to fluctuate as if moved by currents of air.”

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(P54) Duet

(H12) Akaku Natte

(S64) Sunrise

(H09) Akai Da

(H63) Reds with Surf