Painter Philip Koch speaks with Director of Somerville Manning Gallery, Rebecca Moore.
Philip Koch is well known for his colorful, panoramic landscapes. Less known is that he was originally an abstract artist. A pivotal event for him was seeing the work of Edward Hopper. It inspired him early in his career to change to painting in a realist direction. Koch has been given unprecedented access to Hopper’s studio on Cape Cod, enjoying 17 residencies there since 1983, an honor granted to no other living American artist. Sixteen American art museums hold Koch’s work in their permanent collections. From 2015-2018 Koch served as the Artist in Residence at the Burchfield Penny Art Center in Buffalo, NY. He was an emeritus professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Koch is the great grandson of the Scottish landscape painter John Wallace.
