Barbara Kassel
Artist Bio Artist Work
Barbara Kassel’s evocative paintings explore the passage of time. From her loft in New York City, she paints interior and exterior views, creating a visual diary of daily life. Working with oil on panel, the smooth surfaces are meticulously rendered serene scenes. Warm reds and yellow embrace cooler blues and grays and invite the viewer into the large-scale works. Kassel describes the paintings in part biographical and instinctually narrative. Carefully exploring the world around her, she mixes observation and invention as she captures fleeting moments in time.
Kassel received her MFA from Yale University and BFA from Slade School of Fine Art, London. Recent solo exhibitions include Maxwell Davidson Gallery, University Art Gallery, University of New Mexico, and Craven Gallery on Vineyard. Kassel"s paintings have been featured in group exhibitions at the Carpenter Center Gallery, Harvard University and Campbell Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, among others. Barbara Kassel"s s work can be found in numerous private, public and corporate collections
Education
1978 MFA in Painting, Yale University, New Haven, CT
1976 Diploma in Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK
1970-72 University of California at Los Angeles, CA
Teaching
1978-80 Assistant Professor, Colby College, Waterville, ME
1980-84 Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1984-90 Associate Professor, Goucher College, Towson, MD
1999-2001 Associate of the Carpenter Center, Harvard University
Selected Collections
New Britain Museum of American Art
The National Museum of Wildlife Art
Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Fidelity
Wellington
Bank of America
Chase Manhattan Bank
Elaine Dannheiser Foundation
Southeast Banking Corporation
U.S. West
Kanagawa Prefectural Government, Japan
Hospital Corporation of America
William A. M. Burden & Comapny
IBM Corporation
Signet Bank
Piper and Marbury
Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceutical
Exxon Corporation
Awards and Honors
2015
Borgo Finocchieto Artist Residency, Tuscany, Italy
2012
Borgo Finocchieto Artist Residency, Tuscany, Italy
2002
Medway Foundation Grant
1989
Beatrice Aitchison Grant, Goucher College, Towson, MD
1988
Cityarts Grant, Baltimore, MD
1986
Cityarts Grant, Baltimore, MD
1985
Ingram Merrill Foundation Grant
Maryland State Arts Council Grant
“Artscape ‘85” Award, awarded by Douglas Walla/Jack Cowart
1983
Yaddo Fellowship
1982
“Artscape ‘82” Award, awarded by Marcia Tucker
1978
Ford Foundation Grant, Yale University, New Haven, CT
1976
Boise Traveling Fellowship, Slade School of Art
1975
Helen Battell Stoeckel Summer Fellowship, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Coming Undone, Clark Gallery, Lincoln MA
2019
Interior Life, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2017
In the Despoiled and Radiant Now, A Gallery, Oak Bluffs, MA
2015
Musings, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2012
Hirschl & Adler Modern, NY NY
2010
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2009
Hirschl & Adler Modern, NY NY
2008
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Craven Gallery, "Paintings", Martha's Vineyard, MA
2006
Clark Gallery, “135 Duane St Paintings”, Lexington, MA
2005
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, “135 Duane St New Paintings”, NY
2003
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, “New Work New York”, NY
2002
University Art Gallery, University of New Mexico, Las Cruces
Craven Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard
2001
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
2000
Craven Gallery, Monoprints, Martha’s Vineyard
1999
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
1995
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
1993
Tatischeff/Rogers Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1992
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
1991
Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1989
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
1987
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
1986
Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York, NY
1984
Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York, NY
1983
Goucher College, Towson, MD
1981
Meredith Contemporary Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1980
Colby College Art Museum, Waterville ME
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
The Anxious and Serene Stillife, Zeuxis, Ceres Gallery, NYC,NY
2023
Flora, First Street Gallery (Zeuxis), First Street Gallery,NYC, NY
2022
For the Love of Chardin, First Street Gallery, NYC,NY and Miller Art Museum, WI
2021
Composing in the Key of S, First Street Gallery, NYC,NY
2019
Three Artists, A Gallery, Martha's Vineyard, MA
2018
Realism:Then and Now, Cavalier Galleries, New York, NY
Pistil and Stamen, Ille Arts, Amagansett, New York
Here and Now, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Winter Invitational, J Cacciola Gallery, Bernardsville, NJ
2017
National Wildlife Museum of Art, Jackson, WY
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2016
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2014
Our American Life, Hirschl & Adler Modern, NY NY
Western Visions, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Variations on a theme, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2012
Summer Selections, Hirschl & Adler Modern, NY NY
2011
Masterworks, Hirschl & Adler Modern, NY NY
2008
Cheryl Pelavin Gallery, NY NY
Clark Gallery, Salon Show, Lincoln, MA
Hirschl & Adler Modern, "Summer Selections", NY NY
Celebrating Women Artists, For Women's History Month,Hirschl and Adler Modern, NY
Interiors and Narrative, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia
2006
Summer Show, Hirschl and Adler Modern, NY
30th Anniversary Show, Clark Gallery, Lexington, MA
2005
Twelve Contemporary Artists III, Spanierman Gallery, Hamptons, NY
2004
Over 100 Years of New York City Art, Spanierman Gallery, NY
2003
Gallery Artists, Craven Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
2001
Summer Show, Craven Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
2000
Summer Show, Craven Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
1999
New Faculty, Four Painters, Carpenter Center Gallery, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Monoprints, Craven Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard
1998
Works on paper, Clark Gallery, Lexington, MA
1997
Twenty Five Treasures, Campbell Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
American Gothic, Suzanne H Arnold Art Gallery, Lebanon Valley College of Pennsylvania, Annville, PA
Works on Paper, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1997
Salon 97, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1994
Dealer’s Choice, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
1993
Daytime Fantasies/The Dark Side of Night, Riverside Museum of Art, Riverside, CA
Interiors, Tortue Gallery, Los Angleles, CA
Blue, Tatistcheff Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Distant Voices, Still Lives, PNYK, Kent, CT
1991
Coming Attractions, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
Aqua Puro: Images of Water in Comtemporary Art, H.B.O., NY
1990
Masterworks by Gallery Artists, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, NY
Underneath it All:Works on Paper,Maxwell Davidson Gallery, NY
1989
Group Exhibition of Gallery Artists, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, NY Four Artist’s Inner Realities-Outer illusions, Carone Gallery, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Caritas, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY (Traveling exhibition)
Revelations and Devotions : The Spirit of Religion in Contemporary Art, Sherry French, New York, NY (Traveling exhibition)
1988
Landscape, Three Perspectives, Curated by William Dunlop, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD.(Travels for one year)
40 Women Painters, Curated by Carol Vanderhouten, One Penn Plaza, NY
1987
The Artful Traveler, Curated by Michael Walls, BMW Gallery, NY
Works on Paper, Curated by Martin Armstrong, Indiana University Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Artscape ‘87, Maryland Art Place Benefit Exhibit
Surrealism/Realism, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, NY
Architecture as a State of Mind, School 33, Baltimore, MD
Jerome Carlin and Barbara Kassel, Janet Steinberg Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1986
Aspects of Light, Curated by Ned Rifkin, Artscape ‘86, MD
1985
An Architect’s Eye, Selections from the Collection of Graham Gund, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA
Artscape ‘85, Curated by Douglas Walla and Jack Cowart
How I Spent my Summer Vacation, Kathryn Markel Gallery, NY
1984
Venice Biennale, “Paradise lost/Paradise Regained: American Vision of the New Decade”, American Pavilion, Venice, Italy
Summer Paintings, Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York
Domestic Tales, University of Massachusetts Gallery, Amherst, MA
Maryland Annual, Annapolis, MD
Past & Present, Goucher College , Towson, MD.
1983
Contemporary Light, Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York, NY
Peer Selections, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
Horizons, Maryland Landscape, Maryland & Japan
1982
Works on Paper, JCC Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Artscape ‘82, Curated by Marcia Tucker
1981
Intimate Interiors, Goucher College, Towson, MD
Maryland Annual, Annapolis, MD.
1980-83
Faculty Exhibitions, Maryland Art Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD.
1979
Maine Biennial, Bowdoin College of Art, ME
Two Person Exhibition, Colby College Art Museum, ME
Works on Paper, Maine Coast Artists, ME
1978
MFA Show, Yale Art & Architecture Gallery, New Haven, CT
1976
Diploma Show, Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK
Biography/Reviews
MARTHA'S VINEYARD MAGAZINE: Barbara Kassel's Interior Worlds, Elizabeth Hawes, Summer 2017
MARTHA'S VINEYARD TIMES: Find a Story in Barbara Kassel's symbolic oil paintings at the A Gallery, Gwyn McAllister, August 1, 2017
PAINTING PERCEPTIONS: Interview with Barbara Kassel by Larry Goff, March 8, 2016
TRIBECA TRIBUNE: “Home work”, December 2005
NEW MEXICO TIMES: Exhibition at University Art Gallery, 2002
CATALOGUE: “In a Garden”, Stephen Greenblatt, 1999
LOS ANGELES TIMES: “Uneasy Air”, Barbara Kassel, Tatistcheff/ Rogers Gallery, CA. May 1993
ART NEWS: “Barbara Kassel”, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, Summer 1992
ART NEWS: “Barbara Kassel,” Grimaldis Gallery, Tom Weisner, Oct. 1992
ART PAPERS: “Barbara Kassel,” Grimaldis Gallery, Carol Wood, Sept/Oct 1991
ARTFORUM: “Barbara Kassel,” Maxwell Davidson Gallery, Ronny Cohen,1990
CATALOGUE: “Maryland Arts Place Critics Residency Program,” Carter Ratcliffe, 1987-88
ARTFORUM: “Barbara Kassel,” Maxwell Davidson Gallery, Jean Fischer, Sept. 1987
CATALOGUE: “Barbara Kassel” New Paintings,” Maxwell Davidson Gallery, Essay by James Merrill, May 1987
THE NEW YORK TIMES: “Barbara Kassel,” Maxwell Davidson Gallery, John Russell, May 15, 1987
THE CITY PAPER: “Building Blocks,” Tom Weisser, March 26, 1987
THE EVENING SUN: “Varied Media Explore Architectural Forms,” Steve Purchase, March 5, 1987
ART NEWS: “New York Reviews: Barbara Kassel:Kathryn Markel Gallery,” Susan Gill, May 1986
CATALOGUE: “An Architect’s Eye: Selection from the Collection of Graham Gund,” Sally Yard, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum,1985
THE BALTIMORE SUN: “The Forum Annual Artscape Exhibit,” Elizabeth Stevens, July 18, 1985
CATALOGUE: “Paradise Lost/Paradise Regained: American Visions of the New Decade,” 41st Venice Biennale, “United State Pavilion,” Essay by Marcia Tucker, 1984
CATALOGUE: “Domestic Tales,” University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Helaine Posner, 1984
BALTIMORE SUN: “Goucher Art Faculty’s Work, New Or Not,” John Dorsey, September 19, 1984
BALTIMORE SUN: “Goucher’s Kassel Exhibit Documents Artist’s Growth,” John Dorsey, November 4, 1983
THE BALTIMORE EVENING SUN: “Barbara Kassel’s Interiors,” Linelle Smith, March 29, 1983
THE BALTIMORE SUN: “Faculty Exhibitions ‘82, Mixed Media, Mixed Results,” Elizabeth Stevens, October 1982
THE NEWS AMERICAN: “Lively Arts,” T.P. Harris, February 21, 1982
THE NEWS AMERICAN: “Art for Every Taste of Charles Street,” R.P. Harris, April 15, 1981
THE BALTIMORE SUN: Landscape Exhibitions,” John Dorsey, February 1981