Business Profile: Springsteel Gallery

Springsteel Art Gallery in Greenport exhibits original paintings and sculptures by owner Bernard Springsteel, with a guest artist or photographer featured every month.

“My watercolor and oil paintings reflect somewhat different themes, but nevertheless reflect the world as it is and particularly the way it was before us,” Mr. Springsteel said. “I particularly like to find old homes and watercraft that have seen the test of time and now make a statement of their antiquity. The light and shadow of these old structures really whet my appetite for their beauty of form. I have found that painting places I have traveled to has added a rich addition to my work and makes me part of a tradition of artists who traveled and painted.”

With a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Pratt Institute and 30 years’ experience as an art director in magazine and book publishing, Mr. Springsteel began a fine arts career after many years of working with other artists and photographers. “This had given me a rich background in the arts, and I now devote my time to watercolors, oils and sculpture,” he said. “Having all this time to concentrate on these crafts is a gift of life, after so many years of working for publishing houses.”

The techniques of figurative sculpture and bas relief are thousands of years old, and are little changed except for the introduction of synthetics. “This and the fact that artists continue to pursue this form speaks for its reason to always be a legitimate art form,” said Mr. Springsteel. “Mankind does not become modern. He perpetuates as did early man. So too, figurative art is not an abstraction but a real mirror of the generations.

“The best description of my sculptural work is contemporary figurative and classical in scope, dealing with mythological and thematic figures, sometimes with humor,” he added. “The classical human form and the relationships between humans intrigue me. Having been to many museums in the world, I have always been struck with the figure and how it has come down chronicled by art through the ages.”