Alex Klas
Alex Klas works primarily in easel painting, extending a lifelong practice rooted in mosaic art, fine art, and music. Raised by architect parents who drew well and kept a home steeped in literature and art, Klas has painted, written poetry, and played piano since childhood. A member of the State Art Union from a young age—and later a juror and chair for multiple art and literary awards—Klas has also realized monumental works in mosaics, stained glass, glass engraving, ceramic painting, wood carving, and volumetric engraving on silver.
Klas paints in sustained series—often developing themes across diptychs, triptychs, and cycles in which figures reappear and narratives deepen. Religious–historical works move characters from one canvas to another, while landscape cycles such as “Rainy Season in San Francisco” revisit weather and mood at shifting intensities. Other long-running series include “My Dunhill Collection” (lighters), “Vintage” (tobaccos and drinks), and “The Aroma of Still Life,” which features roses and—most recognizably—sunflowers.
These bodies of work have been shown widely: Venice, Miami, the Hamptons Fine Art Fairs, the Fine Art Biennale Basel, World Art Dubai, San Diego, Budapest, and Reno–Tahoe, with ongoing museum and gallery presentations. Sunflower paintings have appeared in two London Underground exhibitions; the Triton Museum of Art (California) holds a sunflower work in its collection; the Attleboro Arts Museum (Massachusetts) is auctioning one this year; and watercolor still lifes are currently on view at the Riverside Art Museum. Upcoming presentations include the Salon d’Art Contemporain — Carrousel du Louvre (Paris). Recent solo features have also appeared with Artsy, Art Week, and Biafarin. An abstract-expressionist canvas was sold this year at the Crocker Art Museum auction.
Klas’s language of expression is Expressionism—with abstract expressionism employed when the idea demands it—grounded in a conviction that content outweighs fashion. Spiritual works are sometimes left unsigned on the front, reflecting a sense that they are “dictated from Above.” The artist’s process is rigorous and continuous: painting for long stretches, returning to dried canvases to refine glazes, and sustaining a state of creation whether at the easel or away from it.
Across series, Klas aims to convey enduring values—eternity, harmony, and the subtle notes of the soul—through color, rhythm, and the “sound” of a painting. Success, for Klas, arrives when viewers understand and agree with the work’s expressive language—whether immediately or years later—responding not to trends but to “the poured-out music of the soul.”
Current & Ongoing
Continuing the Sunflowers cycle, expanding its depth and tonal range.
Developing a new large-scale series on individual worldview within a global consciousness.
Artist’s credo: talent must be strengthened by knowledge and experience; study until intuition is earned—and then create always.
