Jon Schueler

Jon Schueler
Jon Schueler, 1981 by Archie I. McLellan
Born	(1916-09-12)September 12, 1916 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died	August 5, 1992(1992-08-05) (aged 75) New York City
Nationality	American
Known for	Painting
Movement	Abstract Expressionism, New York School
Website	Jon Schueler Estate

Jon Schueler (September 12, 1916 – August 5, 1992), was an American painter known for his large-scale, abstract compositions which evoke nature. Recognized first as a second-generation Abstract Expressionist he lived in New York City and in Mallaig, Scotland, inspired by the dramatic skies over the Sound of Sleat. His work is included in international collections such as the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh), Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), and the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra).

In 1975 Whitney Museum of American Art director John I. H. Baur described Schueler's distinctive style: "We see his paintings one minute as clouds and sea and islands, the next as swirling arrangements of pure color and light. And they shift back and forth in our vision from one pole to the other, amassing richness from both." In 2006, at the time of solo exhibitions of his work in Edinburgh and New York, art reviewer Janet McKenzie wrote of "his remarkable commitment and development as a mature painter, abstract, yet inspired by natural phenomena." Schueler himself wrote: "When I speak of nature, I’m speaking of the sky, because in many ways the sky became nature to me. And when I think of the sky, I think of the Scottish sky over Mallaig."

Jon Schueler was born on Sept. 12, 1916 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a B.A. in Economics (1938) and a M.A. in English Literature (1940). He wrote briefly for the New Haven Evening Register before joining the US Army Air Corps in September 1941. As a B-17 navigator stationed in England, he flew missions over France and Germany. Hospitalized and then discharged from the Air Corps in 1944, Schueler moved to Los Angeles. In 1947 he taught English Literature at the University of San Francisco and, increasingly interested in painting, enrolled under the G.I. Bill at the California School of Fine Arts (San Francisco Art Institute). From 1948-1951, he studied under such artists as Clyfford Still, Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Hassel Smith, Edward Corbett, and met Mark Rothko. In 1951 he followed his friend and mentor Clyfford Still to New York City where he was introduced to Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, and Ad Reinhardt. Schueler's first solo exhibition was held at the Stable Gallery in 1954. A second solo show at the legendary Leo Castelli Gallery in 1957 drew favorable reviews in the New York Times and Life Magazine.