Michael Godfrey
Michael Godfrey
Michael Godfrey is a true American landscape painter. He is revered by his peers and highly sought after by his collectors. He has a deep understanding of the land, which enables him to depict its beauty.
Most of us stand on awe as we view of his depictions of the Shenandoah Valley, the Green River in fall or the majesty of Loch Vale at sunset. We press to study his careful use of detailed brushstrokes in snow scenes and the power he portrays in the lure of a dangerous pacific coastline.
It seems Michael Godfrey is an enigma; he can paint anything into a moving, powerful striking scene. It’s as if he builds a secret message into each of his paintings – they just keep us mesmerized.
He travels the country to paint and then blogs about his experiences. While his paintings reflect a very serious man – he has an equally funny side to him. It is a privilege for Saks Galleries to represent this stellar artist
Michael Godfrey is the recipient of several prestigious awards such as the Eiteljorg Museum Quest for the West Palette Award, Best in Show -American Art Invitational Awards sponsored by Saks Galleries Cherry Creek, Bronze Medal – Yellowstone National Park Purchase Award and The Landscapes Award – Arts in the Parks. Michael Godfrey is a member of the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Artists receiving his BFA from East Carolina University.
Michael Godfrey is a representational landscape artist whose work hangs in many private and corporate collections.
Born in Germany in l958 and raised in North Carolina, he earned a BFA in Fine Arts from East Carolina University. Over the past 25 years Michael Godfrey has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe painting landscapes. He spends hours field sketching and photographing, preparing for a well thought out painting. Typically, he starts a major work using small oil studies done on location. These field studies provide color accuracy and photographs provide special details. Godfrey composes his paintings from on site sketches in the field and photography references.
In studio, work progresses in successive layers of paint and light is orchestrated to create a painting that appeals to his internal sense of order. “A landscape artist has to have some knowledge of many disciplines (geology, chemistry, physics, architecture), to understand the world in which they are trying to create. An artist must observe with the idea that what is observed must be interpreted and distilled. For a landscape artist, it is just as important what you do not include in a work as what is eventually laid down. I ask myself, what is the dominant truth – is it color, shape of land forms, or time of day? I try to get an understanding of what I am seeing, so that the final work will capture the visual emotion."
Awards
2010 Best in Show American Art Invitational – Denver Colorado hosted by Saks Galleries
2010 Best in Show at the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters National Exhibit
2007 Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art Quest for the West Palette Award
1998 Bronze Medal – Yellowstone National Park Purchase Award
1996 Landscape Award – Arts for the Parks
Select Shows
American Art Invitational Denver Colorado 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014
Booth Museum of Western Art 2008
Qwest for the West Invitational 2007
Jackson Hole Art Auction 2007
Altermann Art Auction 2006
Sea to Shining Sea Invitational 2004
Peppertree Invitational 1995 - 2008
Arts for the Parks Top 100 – 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96
Gene Autry Museum – Annual Classic American Western Art Show 1995
CM Russell Auction 2005 - 2009
National Wildlife Museum Miniatures Show 1998 - 2010
Select Publications
Books
Art from the Parks – Rachel Rubin Wolf; From Sea to Shining Sea
Magazines
Southwest Art, feature article December, 2010
Art of the West, feature article May/June, 2010
Western Art Collector - February 2008, pgs 159,160,164, and 165
Western Art Collector – November 2007, pgs 170, 174
American Art Collector – April 2006, pgs 214, 215
American Artist – September 1998, Cover story
Michael Godfrey is a true American landscape painter. He is revered by his peers and highly sought after by his collectors. He has a deep understanding of the land, which enables him to depict its beauty.
Most of us stand on awe as we view of his depictions of the Shenandoah Valley, the Green River in fall or the majesty of Loch Vale at sunset. We press to study his careful use of detailed brushstrokes in snow scenes and the power he portrays in the lure of a dangerous pacific coastline.
It seems Michael Godfrey is an enigma; he can paint anything into a moving, powerful striking scene. It’s as if he builds a secret message into each of his paintings – they just keep us mesmerized.
He travels the country to paint and then blogs about his experiences. While his paintings reflect a very serious man – he has an equally funny side to him. It is a privilege for Saks Galleries to represent this stellar artist
Michael Godfrey is the recipient of several prestigious awards such as the Eiteljorg Museum Quest for the West Palette Award, Best in Show -American Art Invitational Awards sponsored by Saks Galleries Cherry Creek, Bronze Medal – Yellowstone National Park Purchase Award and The Landscapes Award – Arts in the Parks. Michael Godfrey is a member of the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Artists receiving his BFA from East Carolina University.
Michael Godfrey is a representational landscape artist whose work hangs in many private and corporate collections.
Born in Germany in l958 and raised in North Carolina, he earned a BFA in Fine Arts from East Carolina University. Over the past 25 years Michael Godfrey has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe painting landscapes. He spends hours field sketching and photographing, preparing for a well thought out painting. Typically, he starts a major work using small oil studies done on location. These field studies provide color accuracy and photographs provide special details. Godfrey composes his paintings from on site sketches in the field and photography references.
In studio, work progresses in successive layers of paint and light is orchestrated to create a painting that appeals to his internal sense of order. “A landscape artist has to have some knowledge of many disciplines (geology, chemistry, physics, architecture), to understand the world in which they are trying to create. An artist must observe with the idea that what is observed must be interpreted and distilled. For a landscape artist, it is just as important what you do not include in a work as what is eventually laid down. I ask myself, what is the dominant truth – is it color, shape of land forms, or time of day? I try to get an understanding of what I am seeing, so that the final work will capture the visual emotion."
Awards
2010 Best in Show American Art Invitational – Denver Colorado hosted by Saks Galleries
2010 Best in Show at the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters National Exhibit
2007 Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art Quest for the West Palette Award
1998 Bronze Medal – Yellowstone National Park Purchase Award
1996 Landscape Award – Arts for the Parks
Select Shows
American Art Invitational Denver Colorado 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014
Booth Museum of Western Art 2008
Qwest for the West Invitational 2007
Jackson Hole Art Auction 2007
Altermann Art Auction 2006
Sea to Shining Sea Invitational 2004
Peppertree Invitational 1995 - 2008
Arts for the Parks Top 100 – 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96
Gene Autry Museum – Annual Classic American Western Art Show 1995
CM Russell Auction 2005 - 2009
National Wildlife Museum Miniatures Show 1998 - 2010
Select Publications
Books
Art from the Parks – Rachel Rubin Wolf; From Sea to Shining Sea
Magazines
Southwest Art, feature article December, 2010
Art of the West, feature article May/June, 2010
Western Art Collector - February 2008, pgs 159,160,164, and 165
Western Art Collector – November 2007, pgs 170, 174
American Art Collector – April 2006, pgs 214, 215
American Artist – September 1998, Cover story
