About the Artist

Joseph Sundwall was raised in a suburb of Chicago at a time when the arts were an integral part of a child’s education.  Encouraged by family and art educators, he found his art path early on, and completed his first oil painting in third grade.

When it came time for college he chose the Kansas City Art Institute with the intention of majoring in painting, but after getting a taste of other arts in the first year foundation program, he became fascinated by the peculiar work being done in the graphic design department.  The rigorous program was based on the design and color ideas Josef Albers developed at Yale. It included color theory, composition, photography, typography and printing.   Of key importance was the development of sensitivity to negative spaces, including the relationship of spaces between forms and within forms.  Students were encouraged to consider design less a decorative art than one of problem solving, which should yield a solution relevant to the content and objectives of the problem.  It was about being clear and simple in execution.  And elegant.  Minimalist.

After college Joseph moved to New York City and worked for several years as a graphic designer and type designer before taking up the study of fine art again.  He took oil painting courses at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design, and at St Oswald’s Studios in London.  

“My teachers were primarily portrait painters: David Leffel, Ron Scherr, Everett Kinstler, Charles Hardaker.  I’d been painting portraits since I was a kid and always had good eye/hand coordination, patience with myself, curiosity about my materials, and a child’s love of just watching how the work gets done; I’m still enthralled by the process of painting and because of my design background, I’m never not aware of the ‘big picture’ – how the central focus of the painting relates to the whole, whether I’m being direct or indirect, and if the technique agrees with the inner intention of the work.

“Having focused for years on people portraits, on a lark I went to see a polo match and found myself captivated by the ponies – their beauty, intelligence and athleticism astonished the city boy in me.  Before long I was painting polo and other equestrian events, including dressage, foxhunting, bassetting and horse racing, then all kind of hounds and birds and animals were integrated into my work.  I feel that I was somehow destined to paint the figure – humans and animals in motion and at rest. “

Today, Joseph divides his time between figure painting and landscape, which usually includes animals and, of late, birds in particular.  As much as possible he paints from life, preferring the simple oil sketch as reference material to the use of photography, though photos are indispensible for fidgety children and animal subjects. 

His painting style relies in great part on wet-into-wet techniques, plus the juxtaposition of areas of flat paint with modeling and vigorous brushwork playing off areas of studied strokes.  

“I’m a realist painter,” Joseph says, “but more than just making things look ‘real,’ I’m interested in putting down no more than is necessary to get a point across… to discover what can be left out or merely implied; this requires more conscious involvement in the process of painting for me, and invites greater participation by the viewer when coming in for a closer look.” 

Joseph has taught oil painting privately in New Jersey and New York, and regularly demonstrates the art of portrait painting before arts associations. He recently moved to Montgomery, NY, and has enjoyed painting en plein air in the celebrated Hudson Valley. Joseph is represented by J.M. Stringer Gallery in Vero Beach, FL, and Portraits North in Lexington, MA.

Notable Exhibits and Awards

Solo Exhibition Burnt Mills Gallery at the Ryland Inn (Whitehouse, NJ) ‘02-03 “Great Chefs” 

Solo Exhibition  depicting eight of the greatest chefs of the last 400 years

Solo Exhibition  Portraiture and Equine-related work, Chatfields (Gladstone, NJ) 9/03

Finalist Portraiture competition for Artist’s Magazine, 12/03 (13,000 entries)

Best in Show Somerset Art Association Members Show, 1/04

Arthur F. Maynard Award  “Jester”, The Ridgewood Art Institute, 1/04

Best in Show Mrs Tara Sutherland (portrait), Juried Exhibit (Bernardsville Library, NJ) 4/04

Solo Exhibition  Windsor Gallery (Colt’s Neck, NJ) 5/04

Grand Prize “Mrs Kathleen McDermott with Lucy” National Juried Exhibition, Equine Artists, NJ

Col.G.Morales Award “Jester”  - Allied Artists (Salmagundi Club, NYC) 10/04

Best in Show “Craig Shelton” - Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists (Old Lyme) 3/05

NJEAA Art of the Horse Prallsville Mills (Stockton, NJ) 7/05

Solo Exhibition “Faces”, The Dillon Library (Bedminster, NJ) 8/05

Two-artist Exhibition “BIG” , The Dillon Library (Bedminster, NJ) 11/05

Two-artist Exhibition “Harvest”, The Purnell School (Pottersville, NJ) 12/05

Finalist Animal painting competition, Artist’s Magazine, 12/05

Award of Merit  “Art of the Horse”, National juried show, NJ Equine Artists (Bedminster) 6/06

Solo Exhibition  “Faces & Places”, The Bernardsville Library (NJ) 9/06

Second Place “Mark Stocks” - Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists (Greenwich, CT) 2/08

Group Exhibitions J.M. Stringer Gallery (Bernardsville, NJ) 10/07, 10/08, 10/09, 10/10, 12/12

Invitational Group Exhibit "Horseplay", The Morris Museum (Morristown, NJ) 10/09

Open Juried Exhibit American Academy of Equine Art (Lexington) 10/10

Group Exhibition Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists "Faces of Winter" (Old Lyme) 3/11

Portrait of Walt Disney (posthumous) joins Players Club Hall of Fame collection (NYC) 4/11

Two-artist figure painting Exhibit Stringer Gallery (Vero Beach, FL) 10/11

Group Exhibition  Stringer Gallery (Bernardsville) 12/11

Two-artist Exhibit Stringer Gallery (Vero Beach, FL) 4/13

Allied Artists  “The Silversmith” National Arts Club (NYC) 10/13 

Richeson Figure/Portrait “Georgie” (online) 10/13 

Richeson Wildlife Exhibit 2014

Richeson Animals/Birds Exhibit 2014

State of Being (Rahway, NJ) 5/14

Audubon Artists (Salmagundi Club, NYC) 9/14

Allied Artists  “Internet Bride” National Arts Club (NYC) 10/14 

“NJEAA Art of the Horse” (Basking Ridge, NJ) 10/14

The Dog Show: The Art of Our Canine Companions Morris Museum (Morristown, NJ) 11/14

Lydia Prina Memorial Award for Oil Painting (Amelie) Ridgewood AI (Ridgewood, NJ) 2/15 

Best in Show (Catnip Madness) Richeson Small Works (Wisconsin) 2/15

Four-artist Exhibit Stringer Gallery (Vero Beach, FL) 6/15

‘Pets We Love’ Gallery 25N (online) 7/15

Four-artist Exhibit Stringer Gallery (Bernardsville, NJ) 9/15

Audubon Artists (Salmagundi Club, NYC) 10/15

NOAPS online “Amelie” 4/16

NOAPS ‘Best of America’ Most Original, ‘Eyes Right’, Addison Art Gallery (Orleans, MA) 9/16

‘Birds of a Feather’ Solo show at SUNY Orange 10/16

‘Natural Wonders’ Stringer Gallery (Vero Beach, FL) 1/17