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Nick Schlee
PORTRAITS OF A LANDSCAPE
NEW COLLECTION TO ARRIVE SOON (2023)
1931 Born in Weybridge Surrey. Won both Gold and Silver medals for under 18’s given by Royal Drawing Society. 1955 Studied part time at the Arts Students League New York. 1956 lived in London. Studied part -time at the Central School, Moreley College, Putney Art School and The Slade
1989. Lives and works in Upper Basildon, Berkshire.
Solo Exhibitions include: Yehudi Menuhin School,Sussex, The Grange Rottingdean, Wantage Museum Oxford, Century Gallery Henley on Thames, Flying Colours Gallery Edinburgh, Barbican Centre, Castlegate House Gallery Cumbria, Wantage Museum Oxford, Simon Carter Gallery Suffolk, The University of Liverpool,Christ Church Picture Gallery Oxford, Gallery 27 London, Corn Exchange Newbury, River & Rowing Museum Henley on Thames, Modern Artists Gallery Whitchurch on Thames Oxfordhire. + Many Group Exhibitions to include Templeton College Oxford, Beatrice Royal Gallery Hampshire,Museum of Modern Art Oxford, Sue Rankin Gallery, CCA Gallery Oxford,Roy Miles Gallery.
'The subject of my painting must excite me.
The task then is to paint in a way that will create a similar excitement in who ever sees the picture.
Colour, rhythm and energetic brushwork are the means' It’s like living near the railway line. After the first two hours you just don't see the electric pylons because the beautiful countryside just dominates everything. Our house hasn't a view so I have to go out to look for subjects to paint.Work
Being lazy I usually go by car taking oil pastels and an A3 spirally bound smooth cartridge pad. I stop when something strikes me. It is usually because of the colour. I back up until I've got the view in my sights. Sometimes I get out and draw on the car bonnet as a support but often I just look through an open window with the crayons on the passenger seat.
Working at speed I try to capture the elements that are the essential components that make the scene worth recording. I leave out detail but am careful about getting everything in the right place. I work from the sketches in my studio to paint the large oils. My aim is to make them look as if they were painted on the spot.’
Celebrated for his dramatic paintings of the English countryside. Nick Schlee presents us with a glorious artists view of our countryside above Pangbourne in Berkshire.
Paintings and sketches by this celebrated artist focus on the historic Ridgeway trail. This section of national trailmeanders through open downland to the west of the River Thames, and through secluded valleys and woods in The Chilterns to the east, following the same route used since prehistoric times by travellers, herdsmen and soldiers.
Nick Schlee paintings provide an opportunity to see the artist's progress from en plein air studies which provide the catalyst for the large studio paintings, which vary in size and complexity. What they all share is a passionate response to the landscape and a charming evocation of rural idyll in the rolling hills and hidden hamlets of the Chilterns.
Painted with immense vigour and intuition, perfectly capturing in each painting the scale of our green and pleasant and complex landscapes.
Nick Schlee lives and paints from his studio in Upper Basildon, Berkshire, where he lives with his wife Anne Schlee the award winning English novelist.
Publication
Nick Schlee Paintings from 1987 - 2008
Nick Schlee Drawings from 1958 - 2010
Nick Schlee Three Aspects of Landscape 2015
Nick Schlee Drawing to Painting 2016 - Available at Modern Artists Gallery