Painter Daniel Anthonisen looks for the drama in everyday life in his landscapes and portraits.
By: Jessica Loughery
On a blustery day a few years back, artist Daniel Anthonisen wandered through a patch of woods near Tohickon Creek in Point Pleasant, Pa., with a friend. It had been raining and the creek water was well churned up, causing unusually large waves that broke and frothed tumultuously.
"My friend said to me, ‘It looks like a biblical event,’ referring to the chaos of the waves," he says. He returned home with the thought and picture in his mind and later painted "Tohickon Events," a representation of an active-looking section of the creek. This and 43 other oil paintings will be on view as part of the exhibition Moved by the Water 2006 at Travis Gallery in New Hope, Pa., which continues through Oct. 28.
"I try to look for different kinds of drama or events in everyday life," Mr. Anthonisen says of his approach to painting. In capturing these events in both landscapes and portraits, he seeks not to analyze, but simply to portray. "My paintings are like journal entries, not so much in that they make conclusions, but in that they present a time, an experience, a concept."
Perhaps because of the way he captures and portrays moments of time, Mr. Anthonisen has been compared to earlier Bucks County Impressionist artists. "Naturally I admire some of the work a lot," he says. "But I also see myself very much as exploring a new path."
Mr. Anthonisen paints primarily in oils, but has also done woodworking, drawing and painting in egg tempera. He began showing his work in 1999, and since then has participated in group exhibitions in Pennsylvania and New York. Moved by the Water 2006 is his second solo exhibition at the Travis Gallery.
As the title of Mr. Anthonisen’s current exhibition suggests, he most often paints rivers, creeks and other local water sources. He works both in the studio and en plein air, where he often paints in a boat or canoe, while standing in the water or from an island. "It’s so important to get outside," he says. "It always revitalizes me."
When asked what makes a painting uniquely his, Mr. Anthonisen replies with a laugh, "I’ve wondered that same thing. I would like to think that something comes through. I know what I like and that’s bound to come through in different ways, meaning what I gravitate towards and what I aspire to."
There is one particularly notable individual whose success in the arts Mr. Anthonisen aspires to: his father. George Anthonisen, who recently turned 70, has been sculpting for 40 years. His work is in permanent collections as far away as the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and as local as the Michener Museum in Doylestown, Pa. He currently has an exhibit on view at Yale University’s Jonathan Edwards College Master’s House titled The Sculpture of George R. Anthonisen, which continues through Nov. 20.
Mr. Anthonisen went to his father’s opening reception in September. "It had been raining and then there was a break in the (bad) weather," he says. "All the bronzes were wet from the rain and these beautiful stone buildings and lovely courtyard were the background."
George Anthonisen’s work is well known for its philosophical and social exploration. In an essay written for the Yale exhibition’s catalog, John Zarobell, associate curator of European painting and sculpture before 1900 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, writes, "The artist seems to say that art exists to make the world more beautiful, that it tests our capacities for thinking and feeling, and that, most importantly, it challenges us to empathize with a world that exists around us, with people who have experienced sufferings and joys we will never know."
"(My father’s) work is so profound and so meaningful and has so much integrity," Daniel Anthonisen says. "It’s not only a joy to look at and experience, it’s also a challenge. It’s hard to live up to because of its greatness but I welcome the challenge."
He does see a basic connection between the themes present in the two bodies of work. "I think the main thing is the thought process," he says. "(My father is) really a humanist. I think in that way the values in my work are much in keeping with the idea of identifying with the human being as someone of this world."
But Mr. Anthonisen is careful not to compare himself to someone he sees as having a lifetime full of artistic success. "I am not making a false claim to the significance of my own work and career at this point in my life," he writes. "I think my father’s work confronts a viewer with very difficult subject matter, and I do still aspire to that quality and aspect of his work. At the same time, there must be a healthy balance between accepting this challenge to greatness and profound things, and a willingness to operate in a healthy way as who I am not on a mode of what I should be… to avoid comparison in this respect."
Both father and son celebrate and support the work of the other. In 2001, they participated in a joint exhibition at Bianco Gallery in Buckingham, Pa. "It went better than we ever thought it would go," Mr. Anthonisen says, though with qualification. "The market for sculpture is an interesting phenomenon," he adds. "That was a much younger point in my career and my father has spent a lifetime building his prices and his body of work and I think sculptures have been harder to sell than paintings. They’re more difficult to purchase and place in homes and I think I was conscious of selling a lot of paintings and my father being so happy seeing me growing into a career."
With a father figure as supportive and artistically active as George Anthonisen in the house, it’s easy to see how the son grew up learning to think creatively. "Being creative wasn’t as simple as picking up a pencil or clay," Mr. Anthonisen says. "(It was) also having the ability to face yourself and face each other and think about how you openly explore and relate to one another."
The Anthonisens lived in Solebury, Pa., while Daniel was growing up. He has spent the bulk of his lifetime in Bucks County, in and around the river systems that adorn the area. "I grew up fishing and playing and at times working by the river," says Mr. Anthonisen, who now lives in Point Pleasant. "It’s a natural environment that I have all kinds of associations with and so, when I paint a river scene like Tohickon Creek, there’s a story evolved naturally from whatever associations I have." Mr. Anthonisen puts these personal experiences and associations to work when he depicts various Bucks County landscapes.
He also encourages viewers to enrich interpretation by adding their own meanings. He says "Veiled," a painting of a veiled, naked woman standing or perhaps floating above a riverbed, was inspired by a simple fishing trip with his father, but entertains an open array of meanings, from the subconscious-water connection to the idealization of the female form. "(My paintings are) open for people to make their own associations with but I’m (also) happy to share personal associations."
Daniel Anthonisen is constantly thinking critically not only about the natural environment around him, but also about himself, his perception of the world and the different ways he expresses how he sees things. For him, this continuous exploration and development of his own voice of expression will never end. "I’ve been reassessing my direction in preparing for this show," he says.
And he will continue to reassess, and explore, and contemplate. "In some ways it keeps it interesting to be on an adventure in terms of plans. I don’t have a just-get-by attitude," he says. "I want to push myself and I would like to branch out into another gallery or galleries depending on what feels right or what works or where I am accepted but definitely I would like to keep growing or expanding with my own work and professionally."
Moved by the Water 2006, featuring paintings by Daniel Anthonisen, will be on view at Travis Gallery, 6089 Lower York Road, New Hope, Pa., through Oct. 28. Gallery hours: Tues.-Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For information, call (215) 794-3903. On the Web: www.danthonisen.com

