Janet Hochstein

“Janet Hochstein is a painter of the world we see, yet the power and energy in her work is more passionate than most of us ever experience this world. Looking at her landscapes or seascapes we see much more than vibrant color and beautiful form, we feel the majesty and nearly violent strength in the oceans roar. The land comes alive as the real living matter that it is. In the paintings of sunsets the sheer beauty of the color is not decorative or simply glowing, it resonates with life and seems to have a force of it's own that is something poetic, and at the same time it is filled with the intensity of spirit which must have it's genesis in the heart and hand of the painter. The paint is applied with such a sure stroke that we see no hesitation or anything withheld, we see confidence and a unique touch.

Her still life and flower paintings are anything but still. They are built of bold, gestural strokes and color that make a quiet scene jump out at you, but unlike a poor painters use of garish colors to accomplish sensation, she has a varied palette that is brilliant in its range and displays such a sensitivity to color that it recalls the masters. The still lives remind one of Joan Mitchell, and the land and seascapes of Turner come to mind, yet hers is a contemporary palette and one that is personal and very much her own.

She has built a career on the most romantic painters. It is with a view of optimism and joy that her work is born, yet we can feel the pull of something much greater, much deeper, much more emotional. Painting is surely about the life force in all of us, but it is the rare painter that can illustrate the subtle complexities of how that joie de vivre is made of opposites and struggle. Hochstein is such a painter and we are all better for her expressions which celebrate life in all its depth and glory.”

- Brainard Carey author,artist, art critic