Al Lachman
by Michele Malinchak
Ever since he sold his first painting at age 17, Al Lachman has lived and breathed his art. During his 62-year career as a fine artist, he has drawn and painted thousands of original works. He’s a master at his craft, yet technical expertise plays a minor role in creating his vibrant expressionist work. Intuition plus the willingness to take risks are what keep his work fresh and alive.
“I do not think that painting is about technique,” Al said. “It is about a particular perception of the world around us. Showing how skillful I am is not important. In fact, it gets in the way. I believe talent is the ability to take risks and with that in mind, I am willing to risk all every time I paint.’’
His expressionist style hovers between the real and the abstract with subject matter ranging from figurative to landscape and still life. In much of his work he simplifies forms and liberates color in a way that sets him apart. The negative space surrounding objects takes on equal importance, but the subjects themselves serve merely as a vehicle to get to the other side. “I let my subconscious take over,” he said, “and go into that zone where the soul emerges.”
Al believes all art is abstract to some degree and said, “If it is literal, then where is the art? Whether a painting has recognizable objects or not, it is still an abstraction of nature or man. What matters is that uniqueness has to be there.”
His free and spontaneous style allows viewers to involve themselves visually and emotionally in each painting. “I let their imagination finish the painting while my imagination has made that possible,” he said.
Imaginations are easily stirred in his painting entitled, A Happening. The dreamlike landscape is radiant with mountains rising like amethysts from a silvery sweep of water. The sky glows with an ethereal light as you find yourself entering another realm. In all of his work he is able to connect with the subconscious in a powerful way.
Though he sometimes works from photos, he typically relies on memory. In the painting Le Chateau, which once graced the walls of the now closed French restaurant Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia, Al drew upon his childhood memories. He always loved castles and was able to capture on canvas the image he conjured up in his mind.
During the first 25 years of his career, Al painted in oil, then moved on to acrylics and pastels. “I can’t live without pastels,” he said. A skilled colorist, he often combines all three mediums in his work, always aiming for translucency. To achieve a dry look, he uses pastels while acrylic paints provide a wet effect. Sometimes he mixes oil paints and water to produce a marbleized look. “In the end result,” he said, “the medium is only a tool to achieve the desired effect.”
Al approaches each painting with a minimum of predigested information. He begins each painting with a premise and rarely uses the same one twice. “It is based on what I see and what I am feeling at that moment,” he said. For example, he may decide to paint with only cool colors one day. Adhering to a premise creates a boundary that lets him focus on his intent.
Currently he is writing a book about how working with premises solves the problems of what and how to paint.
Prior to each painting he’ll do a composition, value and color sketch on a pad. Following the adage “less is more,” he likes to simplify colors into three or less values in each painting (their range of lightness or darkness). “I can hold a painting together by controlling values,” he said.
Working in his studio with no distractions, he’ll stick with a painting until it’s finished. “I draw and paint intuitively. If it feels right, it is right. If it feels wrong, it is wrong,” he said.
His free and easy style is enhanced by listening to classical or jazz music while he paints. In his painting Windswept III, his fluid brushstrokes on the windswept trees became an extension of the music. “As the crescendo came, it made me paint faster! Painting is a lonely pursuit,” he added, “and music lets in the outside world.”
For several years he painted portraits of homeless people in New York and Philadelphia, objectively portraying them in way that let their humanity shine through. In 2001 the Canadian government conducted a census of their homeless population and chose four of his images to help raise public awareness.
Equally compelling are his Social Comment paintings. Reminiscent of the German expressionists, the portraits are haunting and thought provoking. Not surprisingly, some of his favorite artists include expressionists Egon Schiele and Emile Nolde. He also admires the work of Edgar Degas and Toulouse Lautrec. Of Nolde, Al remarked, "Hitler stopped him from painting in Nazi Germany. He used to do tiny little watercolors and hide them under the floorboards."
Born in the Bronx in 1936, he has fond memories of his parents who were always supportive of him. “I never knew we were poor because we were happy,” he said. His mother’s kindness and generosity inspires him to this day. “She loved to doodle,” he said.
His father, an organizer for the painter's union, had a rough exterior, but was incredibly sensitive on the inside. “He was a big guy with large hands, intelligent and liked to do crossword puzzles. He never showed emotion until later in life.” His father took Al and his two sisters to museums and exposed them to nature and art. While his father encouraged Al to draw, it was taboo in those days to promote art as a career.
Al attended Morris High School in the Bronx and was captain of his track team. Though he didn’t know him personally, former four-star general and Secretary of State Colin Powell was a shot putter on the team. “Back then it was the best cross country team in the country,” he said.
After high school he received a scholarship in track and attended Syracuse University. “I was in way over my head,” he said. “I was homesick and didn’t want to take all the required courses—I just wanted to paint.” He left after one year and moved back home where he entered the Art Students League in NYC.
There he was taken under the wing of his instructor, Robert Philipp, who at the time was considered one of the ten best painters in America. Philipp, known for his abrasive personality, was also an opera singer. He had a studio in Carnegie Hall where Al was invited to watch him paint.
At the Art Students League Al sold his first painting for five dollars. Ever since he has found a market for his work and has held only two other jobs that he remembers. One was at a photography studio that only lasted three days until he was fired. Then he worked as an art messenger for $35 a week. The office was in the Empire State Building and he ran all over the city delivering to ad agencies and galleries. He could have worked at his father’s painter's union for $75 a week, but his father pushed him into the messenger job. “I think someday he wanted me to work with small brushes instead of large ones,” he said.
Al also studied at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. While grounded in formal training, “School only teaches you so much,” he said. “Ninety percent of what I learned was on my own.”
His work is represented in scores of private and corporate collections throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and South America. In addition to painting, he has been an instructor, juror and author. Over the years he has earned numerous awards including the prestigious
Best of Show at the 20th Annual National Exhibition by the Pastel Society of America (PSA) in NYC. In addition, he was co-founder and instructor at the PSA School for Pastels in NYC, the only one of its kind in the U.S. Furthermore, he was honored for his achievements by “Who’s Who in American Art” (2005-2006).
For years Al also enjoyed working with wood and made mostly tables and chairs. “It wore out my hands,” he said, and has since given it up. On display in his gallery is a unique desk and chair he created from one piece of African padauk wood.
His Lahaska, PA gallery is managed by Al and his wife Arlene. Married 33 years, he refers to her as his soulmate and relies on her whenever he’s unsure of a painting.
This year he turned 80 and shrugged it off as just another day. Immersed in his work, he often loses track of what day it is. “I paint every day and I still love it, just as much as I did as a young child,” he said.
Whenever he meets young people, he urges them to find something they love to do. “We all have talents,” he said. “Get good at it and you can earn a living.” He also believes that persistence and drive are even more important than talent.
Continually striving to keep his work original, he experiments with different materials, surfaces and techniques. “I can’t duplicate any work,” he said. “Each one is original. I am always searching because I’m far more interested in what I can learn today than what I accomplished yesterday.”
His philosophy is that “Everyone should do something that contributes to the quality of life for others. For me, when I create a work of art that someone else is enriched by, then I am fulfilled and my purpose in life is complete. Then I paint another and the process starts all over again.”
You can visit the Lachman Gallery at 44 Peddler’s Village, Street Road, Lahaska, PA or on line at www.lachmanstudios.com.
Michele Malinchak is a freelance writer and avid gardener from Quakertown, PA.