Gallery 23 proudly presents a month-long retrospective entitled “Curtis Engesser: An Industrial Tradesman’s Observations of the Natural World, plein air oil paintings.” His works will be on view September 1 to 30, 2026 at the gallery, located at 23 Main Street in Blairstown, NJ.
A public reception celebrating Engesser’s artistic legacy will be held on Saturday, September 19 from noon to 4:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public. The artist will be in attendance.
Curtis graduated from Lafayette College with a degree in English and pursued a career in publishing. He quickly discovered he needed to pursue a more hands-on profession that exploited his skills of making and fixing things. Eventually, he started his own welding business and became an expert at making metal repairs, building decorative railings and crafting metal furniture. He taught welding at Sussex County Technical School for 17 years. He retired in 2020.
He started painting in college, and it quickly became a passion. After reading about how the French Impressionists painted outside, he began doing his landscape painting en plein air. Being out in nature allows him to see colors as they are, while being in front of his subject. Once a painting is started, there’s an urgency to complete it before the light changes. Learning to finish his work quickly he describes: “It’s like an explosion. The paintings seem to happen by themselves, I just have to show up.”
Curtis enjoys being out in nature and sharing it with birds and animals, including the occasional bear and bobcat. His favored landscape locations are The Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area and Sandyston, in Sussex County. His work has been influenced by American and French impressionists including artists from the Pennsylvania Impressionists of the early 20th century, especially Edward Redfield.
All of Curtis’s works, on display at Gallery 23, will be available for purchase. A 10% discount will be offered on one item, priced over $100 (limit one item per person), purchased during September.
Gallery 23 is located at 23 Main Street in Blairstown, NJ. For more information, visit http://www.gallery23.net, email info@gallery23.net, or call 908-362-6865.
