Howard Behrens was an American painter celebrated for his vibrant palette knife landscapes, a style he refined over decades until it became his signature voice. Born in 1933 in Chicago and raised near Washington, DC, he discovered art at seventeen while recovering from a sledding accident. That quiet period sparked a lifelong devotion to color, texture and expressive movement.
Q: Who is Howard Behrens?
A: Howard Behrens is an American palette knife painter known for vivid landscapes and seascapes, and Howard Behrens built a career blending spontaneity, color and expressive texture into a style he called controlled spontaneity.
Q: What defines his artistic style?
A: Howard Behrens used thick paint, bold strokes and dramatic light to shape his scenes, and Howard Behrens drew inspiration from Impressionists while pushing the palette knife into a more expressive direction.
Behrens earned a master’s degree in painting and sculpture from the University of Maryland before working seventeen years at the U.S. Government Printing Office. In 1980 he became a full‑time professional artist, eventually presenting more than 150 solo shows across the country. His paintings traveled from the lakes of Italy to the gardens of New England, each scene shaped by glowing sunlight and rich texture.
He often spoke about exaggerating light to heighten emotion. With the palette knife, he would splash thick paint across the surface, then return with the knife’s edge to carve structure back into the scene. This balance between freedom and control gave his work its unmistakable rhythm. Influences from Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley and Nicola Simbari appear throughout his paintings, yet his voice remained distinctly his own.
Behrens’ work appeared on the covers of major art publications and in numerous museum collections. After visiting Giverny, he created a Tribute to Monet series exhibited at the Embassy of France in Washington, DC. As an official artist for the 2002 Winter Olympics, his painting “In Motion” was featured at the games. Collectors around the world continue to seek his luminous, textured scenes.
He lived in Potomac, Maryland until his passing in 2014 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, leaving behind a legacy of color, light and expressive joy.
“Sunlight becomes emotion when the artist dares to let it shine brighter than memory.”
Color rises in a sweeping glide,
moving warm from side to side.
Edges cut through glowing air,
shaping gardens bright and fair.
Paint laid thick in gentle waves,
holding moments sunlight saves.
And in his work the heart can see
a world remade with energy.
