J. Steven Manolis (b. 1948 - )
Blue Land Splash (Palm Beach), 2018
Acrylic on Canvas
60 x 72 inches
This an abstraction of a Palm Beach seascape. Manolis states, "As a full-time resident of Palm Beach from 2003 to 2014, I never took for granted Palm Beach’s uniquely exceptional and beautiful elements."
"Through the influence of my mentor Wolf Kahn, my early painting career was as a colorist. When I wanted to find my own voice, and move away from Khan’s style, I decided that Watercolors would be my medium since it would force me to paint differently from Wolf because he painted in oils and pastels. I spent most of my painting years perfecting watercolors. I now use water color techniques with acrylics, creating translucent layers.”
Manolis, is an American abstract expressionist artist who paints in both watercolors and acrylics on canvas. He studied for 30 years under the tutelage of world renown colorist and former student of Hans Hofman, Wolf Kahn (1927-2020).
Donald Kuspit, a leading art critic, would go on to write about Manolis, "When it comes to Color, and the intellectual pursuit of ‘Communicating Through Color,’ Wassily Kandinsky’s long-awaited heir-to-be is J. Steven Manolis, whose works signal an ebullient 21st-century renaissance of the long-absent glories of Abstract Expressionism.”