Daniel A. Gottsegen
"Though the environment in which I grew up was solid and quite typical when viewed from the outside, it was marked by anger and sadness. In this environment I had ways of coping, surviving, perhaps even thriving. I always drew, wandering constantly into worlds of my own creation. I found great comfort and even solace in wild places. Growing up in the "typical" suburbs of New York, traveling daily into New York city for school, and spending as much time as possible in the wildest places I could, shaped my relationship to place. Later other places where I spent a lot of time alone-- the Adirondack Mountains, the high Sierra, and the desert west, became great sources of inspiration to me. As a pre-teen, having gone to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to use the research library for a school paper-- only to be told I was too young to be allowed unaccompanied into the library-- I found myself alone in the museum with time on my hands. I discovered Baroque landscape painting. My world was changed. I found I could "travel" into the paintings, much as I could into the wood lots near our suburban house, and find comfort and wonder in them. And I could study. Always academically inclined, I found great joy in studying biology. And in reading. Artists, writers and poets influenced choices I made in my life-- outrageous perhaps, but it is a leap of faith to make art in the first place. Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry among others guided me with their work."
Dan Gottsegen
"Foggy Morning" Oil on canvas 36X36
"Jacob's Dream" Oil on canvas 60X54
For more information on Dan Gottsegen and a full collection of his work currently available
please Contact Polonaise Art Gallery