Bryan Haynes: Missouri Regionalist Painter

Above: Winter: Grand Army Road, 24 x 16”
Above: Osage Lane, 36 x 24”
Above: Fence Builders, 36 x 24”
Above: Tavern Cave 1, 48 x 24”
Above: Snow at the McAtee’s, 24 x 12”
Above: Osage on the Bluffs Above the Missouri River, 36 x 18”
Above: Beyond Bethlehem, 36 x 24”
Above: Sycamorum, 24 x 16”
Above: Round Bailing 1, 24 x 12”
Above: Maifest, 24 x 16”

MISSOURI ARTIST BRYAN HAYNES is fast becoming one of Missouri’s most renowned fine artists. His approach to the landscape is distinctly his own—pure, romantic and stylized. Not to mention he has a color sense that can ratchet up anyone’s perception of color. His work is grandiose, and makes one feel humbled within the great design of nature. Shadows work magic in his paintings, turning entire fields into deep red blacks with patches of fire breaking through in critical spaces. He loves all of the seasons equally. And he has learned much from his personal studies of American illustrators, like Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish. As well, Hayne’s work shares affinities with the WPA style of the 1930s, giving us a kind of stylistic, heroic approach to what we see.

Haynes began his career graduating from the prestigious Art Center College in Pasadena, CA as an illustrator, and soon was working for some of the biggest and most important corporate clients in the world. But his heart has always been that of a landscape painter, continuing in the traditions of artists like Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry. Haynes can be understated with color as well as fully saturated, depending on his vision at the time.

The Haynes family lives in the woods, basically, in St. Alban’s, MO, on patch of land overlooking one of the most picturesque valleys in the state. There, he walks the paths amongst the hills finding the inspiration for his art. Haynes is a masterful interpreter of nature. With no apologies for being a romanticist, he makes no room for anything that does not fit within his re-creation and stylization of what he sees. This adherence to a code is what makes him unique. His work never wavers and never shows signs of indecision, for what you see is that of a sure hand and a steady vision. Whether he is painting large murals for institutions, restaurants and architectural interior environments, Bryan Haynes has his way of working. The best artists have always had this stubborn genius.

Haynes has a show that opens this Friday at the American Legacy Gallery in Kansas City, MO (March 6 - April 10, 2009). It is called “Historic Regionalists” and he will be keeping company with other masters like Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, Birger Sandzen, and Charles Banks Wilson, among others.

See more of Bryan Haynes artwork on his website: www.artbybryanhaynes.com. You can buy prints of any artwork, or commission a portrait or a mural. But buy an original while you can— Haynes is becoming widely collected.