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Dan Campanelli
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Seldom are artists able to remain so completely loyal to their original vision while achieving the remarkable popular success of Pauline and Dan Campanelli. Most of their paintings; Dan's landscapes in watercolor and Pauline's still-life in oils; are reproduced by the New York Graphic Publishing Group, the largest and oldest publisher of fine art reproductions.
Pauline Campanelli passed away on November 29, 2001. We have been honored by her grace and support and by the privilege of including her story among those that characterize Northwest New Jersey.
Perhaps it is because the Campanellis, in all facets of their everyday lives, subscribe completely to the traditional American aesthetic expressed in their paintings, that they are so able to convey and reaffirm the simple, luminous beauty of their subjects. For nearly a quarter century, from their little stone house near Finesville, a few miles south of Phillipsburg near the Musconetcong River, Dan and Pauline have produced a succession of work which has come to be admired across America and around the world. Much of the subject matter for their work lies literally within a stone's throw of their home; and all within an hour's drive. This is where they came to be near the subjects they love to paint. In their hands, plainness transforms to crystal clarity, and austerity becomes majesty, evoking a powerful response from an expansive audience.
Powerful indeed. The chord they've struck elevated their sales past one million sometime about three years ago. Growing at a rate of over 100,000 prints each year, the total now rests at somewhere around 1.2 million. A Campanelli image is something you're likely to recognize, though the name may be one you're learning for the first time.
Everywhere you look at Flying Witch Farm there is a work in progress, neatly stepping toward completion and admission to the Campanelli portfolio of life. The Campanelli paintings, and experience, are the consummate expression of the nobility and allure of the New Jersey Skylands. Dan's watercolor landscapes include well-known paintings of well-known sites including the Village of Waterloo (Daily Beggars), Clinton Red Mill, Jockey Hollow and Hope Village, along with scores of other homes, barns and mills from Bernardsville to the Delaware Valley. Their appeal is immediate, powerful and irresistibly comfortable.
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