Howard Behrens Bio

To fully appreciate the work of Howard Behrens, there is another personality, besides that of the artist, that is crucial to understand--that of the palette knife.

It is a stubborn, and when compared to the brush, a rather inflexible instrument--a diamond of metal with a handle affixed to one end. It lends itself to boldness rather than subtlety. It reveals its secrets slowly, and only to those with patience and persistence. Although it is familiar to most artists who utilize it in its more traditional role as a mixing tool, it becomes rather intractable when drafted for the purpose of actually painting on canvas. However, for the few intrepid artists willing to see the learning process through, it will deliver the most thrilling of results. Behrens is one of those select few. He writes about his evolution to the palette knife below:

"One fact always puzzled me during my early years as a painter. Why was the color of the paint on the palette so much brighter, more exciting than the paint on the canvas?

Palette knife painting forces you to be free, forces you to be spontaneous, forces you to use color. It's so difficult to be painstaking with it. You can't sit there and draw in minute detail. When you start painting with the knife, you have to start splashing the paint."

Chronology

1933-Howard Chesner Behrens is born in Chicago
1940-The Behrens family moves to a suburb of Washington, D.C.
1951-Now seventeen, the young Howard breaks his leg in a sledding accident. Bedridden, he returns to painting to pass the time.
1959-Behrens receives his BA from the University of Maryland, and goes on to study medical art at John Hopkins University. He becomes disillusioned, and returns to University of Maryland to obtain a degree in painting and sculpture.
1961-Behrens is hired by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C., where he is to work until 1981, serving as a chief artist for ten years. He continues to paint on weekends and nights. It is a period of experimentation and development, reaching a turning point in 1976, when he adopts the palette knife.
1969-Howard Behrens marries Rosemary Suckow
1980-First one-man show at the Philips Gallery in West Palm Beach. Paintings sell for $1500.00
1982-First one-man show at the Findlay Gallery in West Palm Beach. Paintings sell for $1500.00-$3200.00
1985-Fifth one-man show at Findlay Galleries, New York. Paintings sell for $10,000.00
1986-Behrens' serigraphs first published
1987-Eighth one-man show at Findlay Galleries, New York. Paintings sell for as much as $20,000.00
1989-Tenth one-man show at Findlay Galleries, West Palm Beach