Northampton-based painter Scott Prior has lived as a working artist in the area since 1971, the year of his graduation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BFA in printmaking. A founding member of a small cohort of painters known as the “Valley Realists,” Prior is a Contemporary Realist who paints “contemporary Americana” (Ann Wilson Lloyd, Art in America, July 2002) with a style and finesse informed by his admiration for the Flemish and Dutch Masters. One of the many remarkable facets of the artist’s work is the way in which, in the spirit of Luminist influence, Prior casts the emotional tones of each of his scenes with beautiful variations on light. His paintings are not simply reproductions of what he views, but rather each is a vision – a landscape of sentiment with intricate details that beckon contemplation. Scott Prior has shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad. His artwork hangs in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the DeCordova Museum, the Danforth Museum, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Rose Art Museum, and other major public and private collections.

Artist Statement:  

“In New England we live in a world of changing seasons, which, I think, invites an almost sensual awareness of time and its effects. The New England landscape is small and intimate and directs our attention to things close at hand…I learned about making art by studying these things and capturing their surfaces, but always with an awareness that there was something hidden underneath. Although I have never been much of a celebrant of the unconscious I am grateful for the Surrealists’ reminder of the disconnect between objects and their meaning… I have always been fairly comfortable with the isolation and solitude of being an artist. At times I have been described as being detached, but with a sense of humor, of the mordant sort. Like a scientist, I have been an observer, striving to understand things. For many years my paintings were of unpeopled landscapes, tourist places off-season, empty rooms, and discordant still life subject matter. It wasn’t until I saw a lot of Edward Hopper’s paintings in one place that I recognized the significance and emotional power of light. That was thirty years ago, and I am still fascinated by the varied and countless effects of light on the tangible world of my experience.”

Education:

BFA University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

SELECTED COLLECTIONS:

American Express, New York, New York

Berkshire Art Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Boston Public Library

W.C. Bradley Co., Columbus, Georgia

Comptroller of the Currency, Washington, D.C.

Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, Massachusetts

DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts

Fidelity Investments, Boston, Massachusetts

Gardner, Carton and Douglas, Chicago, Illinois

Graham Gund, Cambridge, Massachusetts

IBM, New York, New York

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut

New England Life, Boston, Massachusetts

On Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Ropes & Gray, Boston, Massachusetts

Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts

St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York

Texaco, White Planes, New York

Wellington Management, Boston, Massachusetts

Ruth and John D. West Collection, The Rahr-West Art Musuem, Manitowic, Wisconsin

William Brinks Old Hofer Gilson & Loine, Chicago, Illinois