Richard H. Eyster

Richard Hannaford Eyster is a widely respected painter who approaches a variety of subjects with the lustrous precision available through dry-brush watercolor.  Because the pigments retain their translucence, it is possible to develop a subtle, almost magical glow by laying down rich layers of color.

Working with Kolinsky sable brushes and an absolute minimum of water, the pigment dries quickly and deeply on heavy archival French paper, allowing layers of rich luminous color to emerge through the image with sharp defining detail. The finely detailed work invested in each painting often consumes three to five months.

For his more photorealistic work, he is drawn outward toward bountiful, microstudies of nature – craggy, barnacled coastlines, the succulence of a berry bush in high summer, and the quiet decay along a November forest floor.  A single leaf might take a week for the precise layering of color.  Whether conveying a leaf on the ground or a shell scape on the ocean floor, the work is built on a deep and evocative power.

Eyster is also irrevocably drawn to a darker, quirkier, and more personal realm.  These paintings are primarily photo-surrealistic, illuminating the most personal explorations in carefully detailed imagery.  There is no ostensible “meaning” to his paintings…the symbolism, if any, is unintentional and, at best, subconscious.  He recognizes that many artists are able to work with a great consistency of subject matter – but has long recognized that he is not one of them.

This latter collection from his Uneasy Truce Studio includes the occasional cockamamie vision – a moose in a plaid suit doing stand-up comedy (“This Deer Walks Into a Bar”), a bawling baby boy being tagged out by a huge adult catcher as he slides into home, and a commuter train made up of nothing but scarlet toasters, transporting slices of bread on their way to work.  This collection is also the source of some of his most deeply unsettling work – portraits of his daughters dead or lost, an imagined view inside the cockpit of the American Airlines plane just before it penetrates the World Trade Center, and a paranoic vision of homeowners arriving on their porches as a mob gathers in the distant darkness.

It is the rare collector of his work that is drawn toward the naturalistic and the far more personal realm.  It is for this reason that he generally channels his work through two very different studios.  Richard’s paintings have been shown in the National Arts Club (NY), the American Watercolor Society at the Salmagundi Club (NY), and National Academy of Design (NY).  His paintings are exhibited throughout the Northeast and held in numerous private and public collections.

Paintings by Richard H Eyster available for purchase at the gallery-

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Dawn Frost’ ~ Original Watercolor on Paper 22″ x 30″ Retail $2700.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘A Tussle of Oaks’ ~ Original Watercolor on Paper 22″ x 30″ Retail $2700.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Here They Come’ ~ Original Watercolor on Paper 30″ x 22″ Retail $2700.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Creek Shadow’ ~ Original Watercolor on Paper 30″ x 22″ Retail $2700.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘All Aboard the Toaster Train’ ~ Original Watercolor on Paper 28″ x 40″ Retail $3200.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Synesthesia’ ~ Dry-brush Watercolor on Paper 9″ x 12″ Retail $900.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Shame and Playfulness’ ~ Dry-brush Watercolor on Paper 24″ x 18″ Retail$1200.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Childhood Remembered’ ~ Dry-brush Watercolor on Paper 24″ x 18″ Retail $1200.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Sanctuary ‘ ~ Dry-brush Watercolor on Paper 22″ x 15″ Retail $1000.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Did Somebody Leave the Stove On’ ~ Dry-brush Watercolor on Canvas 20″ x 16″ Retail $900.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Terra Infirma’ ~ Dry-brush Watercolor on Paper 14″ x 20″ Retail $1000.

Richard Eyster ~ ‘Emergent’ ~ Dry-Brush Watercolor on Paper 20″ x 14″ Retail $1000.

Paintings by Richard sold at the gallery-

Richard H. Eyster ~ Shellscape- Blue Hue’ ~ Original Watercolor on Paper $900. SOLD