You can move to various places with one line. For Long Island artist Van Howell, his career as an illustrator, portraitist, cartoonist, artist, newspaper reporter and teacher has drawn him to England and Australia around the world. Now he is back home and participating in exhibitions at his gallery in his Suffolk County his community his College Lyceum in Riverhead. “Van Howell: Drawing the Line” runs until November 18th and will be his first solo exhibition since 1966. After more than 50 years, how does it feel to see his work on such a large scale?
“Pretty good,” Howell said with a chuckle.
The exhibition happened by chance. Curator Margery Gosnell-Kur, professor of arts and art history and an artist herself, went to see Howell’s work. After looking through a stack of drawings she recalled, “I looked at his work and went from the process of thinking these were pretty good, to the process of thinking these were great, to the process of thinking about how much this was going to be. I wanted to buy them…and that almost never happens.”
She offered him a show on the spot. “We teach a lot of drawing and illustration courses on our campus. We are the digital arts and graphic design campus of Suffolk County Community College. So I thought this was great. It’s just exquisite.” It’s a great drawing skill,” she says. She said,” she added, “He can teach you how to draw just by watching what he does.”
what “Van Howell: Drawing the Line”
when | where Until November 18th, artist talk and reception until November 12th at 2pm. Monday-Thursday 10am-7pm, Friday 10am-4pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Suffolk Community College Eastern Campus, Montucket Resource Learning Center Library, Level 1, 121 Speonk- Riverhead Rd., Riverhead
information Free; 631-548-2536, sunnysuffolk.edu
his skill set
This exhibition will reveal how Howell built a career that spanned more than 30 years, painting for Marvel Comics, Newsday, Random House, The New York Times and more. He recalls the early days, saying, “I was sitting at Penn Station with a dime in every newspaper in the phone book. I was really stuck around G and thought it was such a waste And then came to the Wall Street Journal and they said they were coming soon.
He ended up making over 500 drawings for this thesis. Several are on display, along with illustrations from Newsday and the book Proust for Beginners, which features Howell’s portraits of artists and writers such as Claude Monet and Henry David Thoreau.
More than 80 works are on display, including drawings from real objects, caricatures of buildings, and studies from nature. Look for vibrant trees that seem to jump off the page and dance, cathedral interiors rooted in exquisite tracery, and portraits that demonstrate a mastery that can only be achieved after years of practice. “He’s a master of lines,” he said Mr. Gosnell-Qua.
form matters
But Howell might say the most important thing lines can do is help you see. “When you look at someone’s face, you can see their entire life and all their ancestors. That’s the form, the history of the materials that make it up.”
Howell’s paintings are intricate, precise, and highly accomplished, yet delightful, straddling reality and fantasy. Gosnell-Qua said, “With all these characters and illustrations that people know, it’s like taking a trip down memory lane.” These are small but intimate and compelling beauties.For those who paint, or who appreciate painting, I think this is one of the best shows they’ll see.
People can meet Howell to find out more, with an artist reception and talk scheduled for November 12th. “I hope there is enough life in the painting to remind people that they are alive,” he said.
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