Tom Schultz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1939. Basically a self-taught artist, he studied privately with Charles Bunnell in Colorado in the 1950s. He arrived in New York in 1959, at the height of the Abstract Expressionist movement, and met artists connected with the New York School of painting. That experience inspired him and expanded his outlook on painting.

After a solo show at the Studio Gallery, Schultz exhibited in the 10th Street Co-op Galleries and other group shows in New York. He made his living by construction jobs and working for other artists.

Schultz moved to California in 1980, where he has produced a large body of work with a stronger use of color, gesture, and structure.

Schultz’s paintings have been shown and sold in the U.S. and in Germany, where he has had successful solo shows in Stüttgart and Köln. His work is represented in Villa Haiss Museum für Zeitgenössiche Kunst in Zell, Germany, and in private collections in the United States and Europe.

IN HIS WORDS:

What excites me about painting is the unexpected or unknown. I don’t know what will come out or what I’ll end up with.

I hit the canvas straight on without a preconceived idea. The revelation comes in the process itself. It goes forth and grows into an image which can live or die. Once the basic idea is out, I can add or subtract certain elements.

Lately I’ve been placing hard-edge shapes in juxtaposition with a more gestural image. The result can be a dynamic tension and rhythm that is sensual and exciting.

I believe the final impact of a work of art should be a felt experience; that is to say, an emotional one, without which it is nothing more than an intellectual exercise.