Alain Hentschel

Graduating from a master’s program in drawing and painting at California State University Long Beach in 1976, I left the US in order to discover what the world held for a young artist. Two years and many destinations later, I landed in Paris with the hopes of studying the great works of art - my desire to soak up the rich resources of history still intact. As fate would have it, the City of Light became my home for the next twenty-four years. Many historically important artists with influence on my work include Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Richard Diebenkorn, Sam Francis and Willem De Kooning to name a few. All my time in Paris and other locales both here and abroad allowed me access, first hand, to examples of all of the history of western art. I find that in the process of creating my art today, I still reflect on the experiences of my past and draw on the ideas and concepts found there and aspire to creating something new from it.

Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, my earliest memories were of cold winters with bright snow collecting so high against our house that all you could see looking out the window was shear, blinding white. Apparently at one point, my parents had had enough of the frigid climate and mosquito infested summers to decide to head for California, sometime before my teenage years. Most of my young life was subsequently spent happily half submerged in tide pools, collecting shells and investigating sea-life, admiring the shining reflection of sunlight on every natural surface. The ocean was amazing to me and became a source for my creative impulse.After graduating with a master’s degree in drawing and painting from California State University, Long Beach in 1976, I left the US to discover what the world held for a young artist. My first stop was the island of Rhodes, in Greece, where again the charms of the ocean, already engrained in me, were enhanced by artifacts of ancient civilizations at hand. The world was unfolding in wonderful ways and the desire to capture that sensation was beginning to be manifest in my artwork. Two years and several destinations later, I landed in Paris thanks to a subsidized residency at the Cité International des Arts. I was already familiar with the city and the language thanks to my French-born mother and had hopes of studying many of the great works of art at the source. As fate and French lineage would have it, the City of Light became my home for the next twenty-four years!Looking back, highlights such as exhibiting at the Grand Palais in the group show Les Grands et Jeunes Aujourd’hui or at the Mona Bismark Foundation’s Les Artistes Américains à Paris (1945-1997) along with myriad other solo and group shows, made for indelible memories of a youthful adventure in the arts in arguably the most beautiful, albeit competitive, city in the world.Fast forwarding years later in my long-term employment at Parsons Paris, I ultimately served as Director of the Parsons Paris program from 1994 until 2002. It was then my wife and I decided to relocate to New York City. Back in the US, I continued working for the Parsons School of Design and contributed to its NASAD reaccreditation. Being able to experience the richness of art and culture in New York City only added depth to the realms of possibilities my own work might achieve. After my New York contract with Parsons expired, a new opportunity came in 2003 to be Associate Dean of one of the larger community colleges in the US, the College of DuPage, just outside Chicago. I was grateful for the additional experience of the illustrious resources of the Art Institute of Chicago, the local galleries and friendships of many artists I met and worked with in that art-friendly milieu. Finally, in 2009 I accepted a position south, as Dean of Florida School of the Arts where I worked until I retired in 2021. Upon retirement I was awarded the title of Dean Emeritus and have since maintained a working relationship with this wonderful school as a member of its Advisory Board.Coming to live in Florida felt like a return to a relationship with the sea, the ever-shifting weather that commands so much of life here. These half abstract but rooted in realty climatic elements continue to work their way into the themes and subjects of my paintings. I feel that since that last period of relocation, I’ve compiled a body of work that reflects my Floridian home through a particular lens. I therefore feel it is the right, indeed ideal time to share my evolved vision with the world.