About

Paul Gruhler: Paintings

Highland Center for the Arts
Greensboro, VT
July 16-August 29, 2021

Harmonics Exhibition with Paul Gruhler and Judith Wrend
AVA Gallery & Art Center in Lebanon, NH
(June 5-July 10, 2015)

Harmonics Exhibition – Paul Gruhler and Judith Wrend
Julian Scott Memorial Gallery
Johnson State College
(January 12-February 14, 2015)

AVA Gallery & Art Center in Lebanon, NH – 2011

AVA Photographs by John Miller

Read Exhibit Commentary by Alex Hanson, Staff Writer,
Valley News by clicking here.

Watch interview with Paul Gruhler and Charlet Davenport on YouTube below –

Biography

I grew up in New York City, in awe of the tall buildings and the orderly grid of streets and avenues. My first exposure to fine art was at the China Institute on 65th Street where I attended Christian church services with my parents. There, surrounded by the intense color and abstract forms of ancient Chinese ink paintings and porcelains, I became aware of universal art.

During the following years, I experienced many other art forms firsthand – from the ancient to the contemporary – through my travels to Mexico, South America, the Far East and Europe.

As a self-taught artist, I was fortunate to have met many artists who were very helpful to me by introducing me to the art world and nurturing my creativity. Among them were the sculptor Michael Lekakis and his friend, painter Harold Weston, in whose company I began to love the conversation and the history of art. It was Harold Weston, creator of the legislation for the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Council on the Arts, a precursor to the NEA, who bought the first painting I sold. The colorist painter Herb Aach instructed me in the technical aspects of acrylic painting.

My first exhibition, of abstract paintings, was in New York City in 1965 at the DeMena Gallery. Subsequently, I showed my work in galleries and museums in Mexico City, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, and throughout the United States. My most recent one-person shows were at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, VT.

In a review of the exhibit “Inner Color Line” at St. Michael’s College, Mark Awodey wrote:

“McCarthy Arts Center Gallery of St. Michael’s College presents the hard-edged abstract minimalism of distinguished central Vermont painter Paul Gruhler. His 14 canvases and drawings are surprisingly accessible as a result of superbly balanced, perfectly executed proportions and closely cropped chromatic harmonies. Gruhler’s squares and rectangles can speak volumes to those open-minded enough to listen.”

To celebrate the Helen Day Art Center’s 20th anniversary in 2006, I curated the exhibition, “Vermont Collections”, art works selected from 17 public collections. From 2008 through 2011, I curated “The Art of Vermont: The State Collection”, a series of exhibitions that is traveling to ten museums and art centers across Vermont. These installations are funded by the Vermont Arts Council through an NEA grant, and the State of Vermont.

My studio and home are in Craftsbury, VT.