George Van Hook

George Van Hook is a plein air artist, born and raised in Abington, PA. He began painting very early and was able to participate in the vibrant artistic culture of the region where his family owned a farm in Bucks County Pennsylvania. His early influences were the “Brandywine Tradition”, the illustrative work of Howard Pyle and generations of the Wyeth’s.  George spent many summers painting in coastal Maine and on North Haven Island, where his wife’s family owned property. Oil and watercolor painting are his passion.

Van Hook’s love of the European tradition began early. Following college, he spent nearly a year copying at the Louvre and traveling through France, Italy, and Holland, making numerous “En Plein Air.” After marriage and start of a family, George left California and returned to the East Coast. He eventually settled in Cambridge, NY with his wife Sue, a Mycological Consultant, and their three daughters.

Van Hook thinks of his painting as primarily a visual response to the selected environment, be it a landscape, figure or still life. “I want the color to be beautiful and the drawing firm and secure,” he says. The paintings are a marriage of external and internal forces – what emerges on the canvas should be a reflection of both the beauty of the world and the artist’s inner response.

For the last several years, Van Hook has been involved in Plein Air competitions across the country, and has won numerous awards. Among them, Best of Show and Artists Choice. He served in 2014 as a juror and judge for the Connecticut Plein Air Society and was invited by Plein Air magazine in 2015 as a live instructor at the Plein Air National Convention in Monterrey, CA.

Liliedahl Productions and Plein Air Magazine released 90-minute instructional film, “How to Paint Impressionism Outdoors” by George Van Hook.

George Van Hook: www.georgevanhookfineartist.com

Contact the Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery for additional works currently exhibited.