In over thirty years of painting the American landscape, from the coast of Maine to the desert southwest, artist David Pontbriand has developed and refined a powerfully unique and personal vision. |
The artist is best known for his thirteen-year study of the Arizona desert. The Sonoran DesertWorks (1985-1997), well known and widely exhibited throughout the southwest and across the USA, have been recognized for their brilliant expressive color and lyrical stylization. |
Born in Massachusetts in 1951, Pontbriand developed, at a young age, a deep feeling for the landscape and a taste for solitude. He first learned to paint directly from the landscape, working outdoors in all seasons and in every kind of weather. The artist studied design, color theory, and painting under Ann Wallace and John Bageris at the former Hudson Institute, and earned a Certificate in Fine Arts in 1971. He moved his studio to Portland, Maine in 1977. |
Three years later, Pontbriand turned his attention to Arizona, first to produce a distinctive series of Grand Canyon paintings. For the next fifteen years he explored and painted the deserts of the southwest USA, and Mexico's Baja peninsula. His "discovery" of the Sonoran Desert region, in 1985, marked an important turning point leading to the evolution of the Sonoran DesertWorks. |
In March 1997, Pontbriand presented a multi-media exhibition entitled THE SEA....and THE LiGHT, combining a single large scale painting with controlled lighting and the artist's own original music compositions, to create a meditative atmosphere for viewing art. |
Other plans will include the first public exhibition of Pontbriand's abstract paintings. Since 1971 his work has alternated between figurative landscape and abstraction, but only the landscapes have been shown. The artist's latest series of abstract works represents the distillation of thirty years investigation into the expressive power of the language of color and form. |
David Pontbriand will be returning to Arizona to further develop and expand the Sonoran DesertWorks series in the spring of 2002. |
David Pontbriand a short Bio |
Upcoming |
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
">
last updated: March 10, 2002
Copyright 2001 David Pontbriand Arts |
