about

James Matson was born in Los Angeles California and grew up in Cooperstown, New York.

As an undergraduate in New York City, he studied business, along with Mandarin language and Chinese culture. After graduating college he worked in business administration for both Christie's and Sotheby's, the leading auction houses of fine art in New York City. Returning to upstate NY James received his M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program in 2019 and now works for the Fenimore Art Museum.

The landscape and scenery of upstate New York is the inspiration for his painting, and the methods of gesture he acquired learning Mandarin calligraphy influence his brush strokes.

As a result of his exposure to the modern art market, James became influenced by the styles of the American Abstract Expressionist painters, including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Barnett Newman. He seeks to combine each of these artists’ signature styles in order to create pictures that capture scenes and moods from his experience of America and upstate New York in the 21st Century.

Often depicting scenes that are reminiscent of natural water landscapes from the Catskill, Hudson Valley, and Central New York regions, he is currently applying the advanced post-war artistic style of American Abstract Expressionism to some of American Art history’s earliest subject matter: the landscapes of the Hudson River School.

CV

Exhibitions:

2023:
Members Art Show, Fenimore Art Museum, November-December
Holiday Art Show, Cooperstown Art Association, November-December
Water: The Exhibition, 25 Main Collective, October
Fine Arts on the Lawn, Cooperstown Art Association, September

2019:
Black & White, Henry March Gallery, January – April
Student Art Show, The Cooperstown Graduate Program, February-May
LEAF Art + Poetry Contest, Cano Gallery & Fenimore Art Museum, April

2018:
LEAF Art + Poetry Contest, Cano Gallery & Fenimore Art Museum, April
607- Emerging Artists from the Leatherstocking Region, Henry March Gallery, September-November
Members Art Show, Fenimore Art Museum, October

2017:
Fine Art by the Lake, Fenimore Art Museum, August
Fine Arts on the Lawn, Cooperstown Art Association, September
Members Art Show, Fenimore Art Museum, October
Open Call for Artists, Hyde Hall, June-October
Holiday Art Show, Cooperstown Art Association, December

Awards:

The Painters Award (for best use of color), Fine Art by the Lake, Fenimore Art Museum, 2017

Art Historical Research:

The Irascibles & Advancing American Art, 2014

Casual China by Russel Wright, 2017

Art for African American Art’s Sake, 2018

Norman Lewis: The Posthumous Success of a Post-War Painter, 2018

Adolph Gottlieb: Adjusting the Canon of Abstract Expressionism, 2018

American Barn Quilts of Otsego County, 2023