Jon Schueler: To the North

Jon Schueler: To the North by Gerald Nordland. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781858941776.

This is the first comprehensive testimony to the power and poetry of the paintings by this American artist who began his career in 1950s New York. Art historian Gerald Nordland explores Schuelers student days, placing his work in the context of faculty members Clyfford Still and Hassel Smith and fellow students Ernest Briggs and Edward Dugmore. He then traces Schuelers bold, early abstract paintings as they evolved towards an imagery informed by his experiences during World War II. Critic Richard Ingleby expands on the significance of Scotland and "the north" in Schuelers work and notes the artists admiration for J.M.W. Turner. Drawing on the artists published memoirs, Ingleby examines Schuelers struggle to maintain a balance between painting and writing, and his relationship with Mark Rothko.