Virgil Lampton
About the Artist
The vibrant colors and texture of artist Virgil Lampton's paintings sweep across the canvas with dramatic movement, conjuring images of high winds on the plains and approaching storms. Bold hues and varied brushstrokes dance across the surface, much like an Oklahoma sunset. His works are inspired by the dramatic weather events in Oklahoma. His paintings combine the American landscape tradition with abstract expressionism. While his technique shows the influence of abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning, Lampton's theme and composition recall the stormy seascapes and romanticism of landscape painter, JMW Turner.
Of Lampton's paintings, writer Ernest Goldstein once wrote, "In his work, reflected light plays tricks within the landscape. The viewer sees the substance of the landscape, which is at once tangible, and a stormy ocean where hills undulate like waves and vibrate with the colors of the sea. The repetition of large forms erupting in rhythmical motions gives the feeling of nature performing its dance of life and death."