Bastow
Alexander Bastow
American Tonalist in New England
"Elaborate frames surround Alexander Bastow's ethereal soft-edged sunset landscapes and skillfully rendered winter ponds. His oil paintings call to mind acclaimed artist George Inness, two centuries his senior."- Sharon Smullen, Berkshire Eagle correspondent Feb 6, 2020
Alexander grew up in Berkshire County, a wooded, magical place in western Massachusetts, an area steeped in history, and culture. Many acclaimed artists of all genres have resided there such as Norman Rockwell, Herman Melville, Edith Wharton, and James Taylor, to name a few. From a young age, Alexander had a knack for drawing and painting, and an impeccable sense of and curiosity for the nature that surrounded him. Developing a strong bond with the natural world through fishing and hunting and small farm life, he seeks to capture on canvas the ever-fleeting childhood memories of the blissful landscapes of home.
"When I paint, I like to imagine that what I'm looking at is experiencing the emotions that we all do. Pain, sadness, sunny days, storms... On canvas, I try to create a space for these things where they can be remembered or have a voice. To some people it's just a tree, or just a mountain, but think of the lifetimes they've endured and will continue to endure long after we're gone. Maybe a place to be seen by human eyes the way they once were, a tree to a sapling, a pond to a puddle... or an old, crumbled rock wall that centuries ago kept a farmer's sheep from running away. Who knows. Just a glimpse of their story that was never in one's thoughts. In the end, it's important to remember that the surrounding landscape doesn't belong to us. We belong to it."
