An Explosion of Colour

Lynne Drexler, Blue Horse, Red Rider, 1957-58, oil on canvas

I love the explosion of colour that is Lynne Drexler.

A second generation Abstract Expressionist, she was inspired by abstraction, nature, classical music (she would often sketch at Carnegie Hall concerts), and above all - colour.

Lynne Drexler, Decidious Empire, 1964, oil on canvas

Drexler was born in Newport, Virginia in 1928. On her mother’s side, she came from Southern aristocracy, descended from Robert E. Lee and the first royal governor of Virginia.

Lynne Drexler, Untitled, 1960, Watercolor and crayon on paper

This heritage remained an innate part of her even later in life when she was known as a bohemian eccentric. “Under all the unkemptness and disdain for order,” recalled a friend from Monhegan Island, where Drexler eventually settled, “there was a very proper southern woman. She could curse like a pirate, but she judged people by their manners.” (https://www.artandantiquesmag.com/symphonies-of-color-2/)

Lynnen Drexler, Maui Melody, 1968, oil on canvas

Drexler showed an early aptitude for music and painting, which was encouraged by her family, going on to study under Hans Hofmann and later Robert Motherwell.

While she eventually established a reputation as an abstract expressionist artist, she was known for uniting into a cohesive whole several different stylistic expressions into works that were driven first and foremost by colour, with form following.

Lynne Drexler, Embattled Blue, 1968-69, oil on canvas

Some time after her marriage to the painter John Hultberg, the couple began summering on the rural Monhehgan Island off the Maine coast. There, Drexler sketched outdoors and, upon returning to New York, reimagined the sketches into colourful abstracted landscapes.

Later in life Drexler separated from her husband, settling permanently on Monhehgan Island. She became a beloved figure with the residents and continued fostering her connection with nature which shows so beautifully in her work.

Lynne Drexler, Divided Firest, 1980, oil on canvas

Drexler (1928-1999) exhibited extensively throughout her life. Her work is part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Monhegan Museum, Farnsworth Museum, Brooklyn Museum and the Queens Museum, among others. She died at the age of 70 on Monhehgan Island.