Jeffrey L. Neumann - Artist's Statement

"My aim is to create deeply personal work that speaks about the soul of America."

Throughout my life I have spent a great deal of time on the road. My art is a distillation of that experience through the filter of my memory, my imagination and my hand.

Although there is an aspect of cultural anthopology in my work, I have to experience a profound personal connection with my subject. That connection can be as intrinsic as a part of my personal history or it can be an emotional response to a particular scene. This emotional response is what I try to convey through my paintings. I’m seeking to evoke a certain mood through the limitations of paint and my style of realism.

For me the most satisfying way to get at the mood I am trying to convey is through a realistic approach. My influences range from the old masters to the photorealists. Although I’m interested in the craft of painting and I try to create well-executed art, my paintings are not just about painting. They are also very much about the subject. Not necessarily a literal representation of the subject but one that contains a psychological aspect that comes from the heart.

Biography

Jeffrey L. Neumann
b. 1953 Cedar Rapids, IA
Education: Minneapolis College of Art & Design 1974
Springfield College B.S. 1981

Although he has been painting seriously for over 30 years, Jeffrey Neumann has only recently begun to develop his fine art career on a full time basis. After graduation from college Neumann worked as a radio disc jockey, a graphic designer and an art director before beginning a career in the fine paper industry, where he was employed for 20 years. He worked in sales and marketing positions for Parsons Paper Company and Crescent Cardboard Co. For the last five years of his paper industry career, he was U.S. Product Manager for Arches Paper, a 500+ year old French brand which he managed for ArjoWiggins S.A. Neumann is a recognized industry expert on fine art papers. He has presented numerous industry training seminars and authored several published articles on fine art papers. He was the creator and developer of Arches Infinity®, the world's benchmark digital fine art print paper.

A battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the early 1990's caused him to seriously re-evaluate what was really important to him in life but it was not until late 2005 that he finally left the corporate world to pursue his true passion, which is making art.

The recipient of numerous awards and commissions, Neumann has exhibited in many group shows dating back to 1979 and has had five solo exhibitions: Great South Bay Gallery, Hudson, NY, 2006, Art Exchange Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2005, Earthfoods Restaurant, Hudson, NY, 2004, Becket Arts Center, Becket, MA 1997 and Cafe Manhattan, Springfield, MA 1992.

Neumann has also exhibited at The Paradise City Arts Festival, Northampton, MA, Spring 2002, and the Minds Island Show at The Pen & Brush Gallery, New York, NY, July 2002 and many other regional group shows.

Neumann was featured on the cover of Art World News in August 2006 and in Jan. 2004 by Art Business News magazine in a "Trendsetters" profile. He was the the subject of a feature article in The Artful Mind magazine, August 1999. His work is represented in numerous corporate and private collections including: Fleet Bank, Mass Mutual Life Insurance Co., WWLP Television, WGGB Television, Baystate Medical Center, United States Congressional Offices and The City of Springfield, MA.