Steve Wheeler 1912-1992

Gary Snyder Fine Art, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above

New Jersey, Montclair Art Museum, Steve Wheeler, 1997-98 

Canvas is not lined. In good condition aside from overall cracquelure. Canvas buckling. Slight frame abrasion. Under UV: possible signs of inpaint upper center and upper left (cloudy varnish in these areas).
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A contemporary of Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning, Steve Wheeler frequented the Cedar Tavern and was part of the downtown art scene in the late 1940's and early 1950's. His paintings were inspired by Native American imagery and integrated organic and geometric forms into a flat pictorial space. Although he never exhibited with the  Indian Space Painters, he is considered the leading artist who stimulated the development of this movement.  Throughout his career, he remained true to his vision of painting as an organic element through which to uniquely portray the dynamic urban American landscape.

"The primary element of Wheeler's art is the line which serves multiple, simultaneous functions of contour, path, and passage, taking the viewer on a journey beyond physical space into the mysterious, boundless world of both the artist's creative mind and the universal mind." (New York, David Findlay Jr., exhibition catalogue, September - October 2005)