About Howard Behrens

If ever there was a composer of color, it is Howard Behrens, a brilliant painter who has emerged among a sea of artists to become the preeminent modern master of the palette knife and an incomparable translator of color. “Using an analogy from music, I like to think of myself not as a piano player, but as a composer. There are a lot of piano players, but they are playing someone else’s music. I want to be remembered as a master ‘composer’ of art, not a ‘musician.’”

Indeed, Behrens will be remembered as the composer. He will also be remembered as a master colorist, a palette knife magician, and a kind and gentle soul. “One thing about the palette knife is that you get great color and you can play with the texture,” he said. “So it’s color and texture and real genuine paint where you see the act of painting.”

The experts couldn’t agree more. “Howard is the best colorist among a large group of post-Impressionist painters in the United States today,” shared Harriet Rinehart, founder of Rinehart Fine Arts. “Although many people try to imitate him, they always come up second best.” “There are many who have tried to imitate his style, but no one has come close,” added Josh Miller of Ocean Galleries in Stone Harbor and Avalon, New Jersey. “There are different people trying to do what he does, but they just don’t pull it off,” agreed Rick Moore of Rick Moore Fine Art in Naples, Florida, and Rick Moore Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

At once an introspective and humble man and a skilled painter, Behrens has created a world of beauty in his work that combines a love of paint, a passion for travel, and a mastery of style and color.