Alan Goldstein

"I seek the core of things, of the universe, of myself. Art is, 'an activity of the mind and spirit as well as (of) the hand.' A painting unfolds, evolves before me and I am creator, spectator, instigator, medium (uncomfortably so) all in one."
-Alan Goldstein

Alan Goldstein is an abstract painter who works predominantly with paint, ink and mixed media. After initially studying architecture, Goldstein became interested in stage design, and subsequently in sculpture and painting. He has experimented with diverse media, including tar, rope, steel, and fabric. Goldstein describes his work as "relating to the human figure and the human psyche, and the landscape as the larger self." Goldstein is inspired by nature and its underlying processes. His subject is "the nature of nature." His work is represented in over 70 private collections in the United States and abroad, and he has exhibited in many prestigious venues. An educator, Goldstein was the head of drawing and painting at Bucks County Community College, and has often served as guest curator and lecturer at the Michener Art Museum. He has been a Professor Emeritus at Bucks County Community College since 2003. Additionally, he exhibited at the Michener Art Museum in 2009 as part of the Shifting Ground: Contemporary Landscape exhibit and in 2012 in the Parting Gifts: Artists Honor Bruce Katsiff, Director/CEO, 1989-2012 exhibit, as well as in the exhibition Creative Hand, Discerning Heart: Form, Rythm, Song in 2013. His exhibition, Elemental, opened in April, 2023, at the Michener Art Museum.

Education and Training
Philadelphia College of Art, now University of the Arts, BFA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1963
Pratt Institute, MFA, Brooklyn, New York, 1970

Teachers and Influences
Paul Keane and Louis Finkelstein were instructors at the Philadelphia College of Art. Picasso and Michelangelo were influences on Goldstein as a child. Later influences include Willem de Kooning, Francis Bacon and Richard Diebenkorn.

Connection to Bucks County
Alan Goldstein has been a resident of Bucks County since 1970, when he started teaching drawing and painting at the Bucks County Community College. Although he describes himself as "basically reclusive," he participates in the local art community and has been a frequent guest curator (Fern I. Coppedge: A Forgotten Woman) and lecturer at the Michener Art Museum.

Colleagues and Affiliations
Photographers Bruce Katsiff and Emmet Gowin, painter and sculptor Robert Dodge, and painter Pat Martin are friends and colleagues among many.

Major Solo Exhibitions
Roland de Aenlle Gallery, New York, New York, 1962, 1964
Argus Gallery, Madison, New Jersey, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968
Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, New Jersey, 1966, 1974
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, 1970
Highgate Gallery, Chatham, New Jersey, 1972
Summit Art Center, Summit, New Jersey, 1975, 1982
Hicks Art Gallery, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1978, 1986
Arch Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1980
Kent Place School, New Jersey, 1985
4 Corners Gallery, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1990
Alan Goldstein: Elemental, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2023

Major Group Exhibitions
Artists for P.S. 619, Roland de Aenlle Gallery, New York, New York, 1963
Selected Drawings, Newark Museum of Fine Art, Newark, New Jersey, 1968
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1972
Civic Center Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1973
Appalachian National Drawing, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, 1975
Drawings USA, Minneapolis Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1975
Elaine de Kooning, Her Inadvertant Collection, Elaine Benson Gallery, Montauk, New York, 1981
Hicks Art Gallery, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991
Abstract Expressionism - Roots and Heirs, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1991
In Our Circle, Juried Show, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1992
Bucks County Invitational III, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1999
Objects of Desire: Treasures from Private Collections, Michener Art Museum, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2005-2006
Shifting Ground: Contemporary Landscapes by Paula Chamlee, Alan Goldstein and Paul Matthews, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA, 2008-2009
Parting Gifts: Artists Honor Bruce Katsiff, Director/CEO, 1989-2012, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA, 2012
Creative Hand, Discerning Heart: Form, Rythm, Song, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA, 2013

DVD Productions
Alan Goldstein, A Forest of Glass, 2010 - 2011, running time c. 12 min., videography Alan Powell

Teaching and Professional Appointments
Professor, Head of Painting and Drawing, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, Pennsylvania, from 1971-2003
Professor Emeritus, Bucks County Community College, 2003
Instructor, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1971-1973
Guest Curator, Spring Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1989
Guest Curator, Fern Coppedge: A Retrospective, Michener Art Museum, 1990
Guest Curator, American Hooked Rugs-Art Under Foot, Michener Art Museum, 1990
Guest Curator, Selections from the James A. Michener Collection in Austin, Texas, Michener Art Museum, 1992
Guest Lecturer, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1994

Major Awards
Annual Achievement Award for Excellence in Drawing, Philadelphia College of Art, 1960
Annual Achievement Award for Excellence in Printmaking, Philadelphia College of Art, 1961
Annual Achievement Award for Excellence in Painting, Philadelphia College of Art, 1962
Fulbright Fellowship to Spain (declined), 1964
Graduate Fellowship, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, 1968-1970
Louis C. Tiffany Foundation Grant, 1981

Major Collections
Michener Art Museum