Vance Kirkland 1904-1981

Vance Kirkland (1904-1981) was a mysterious American painter whose unique abstract methods were not discovered and appreciated until after his death. During the first half of his 54-year career, Kirkland gained national fame in the United States for his masterful realist and surrealist watercolor, gouache, and casein paintings. The abrupt transition to abstraction and oil sent him into a spiral of oblivion but also into increasingly brilliant and distinctive paintings. His paintings have been rescued from their isolation in the heartland of America to take their rightful place in international art and are now touring museums and exhibition halls in Europe.