“Large Seated Nude,” Henri Matisse, 1923-25. Bronze.

Works by Alexander Creswell at Hirschl & Adler

NEW YORK CITY – Hirschl & Adler Galleries will feature “Alexander Creswell: ,” the first time ever exhibition of Creswell’s work in the United States, from March 1 through April 14. The exhibit brings together about 50 works depicting some of the most interesting public spaces and private interiors of New York City at the turn of the century millennium.

Creswell (born 1957) is one of Britain’s most successful artists. He has grown within the great tradition of architectural watercolorists, and has doggedly pursued the time-honored values of integrity, craftsmanship, and painterly quality often abandoned by the modern British art establishment.

Despite his reverence to tradition, and having attended Winchester College, Byam Shaw School of Drawing & Painting, and the West Surrey College of Art & Design, Creswell is largely self-taught, his fluency wrung from the works of the old masters, learnt by copying and intense personal study. The result, however, is entirely modern. Creswell’s work relies on a skeleton of traditional values, but is fleshed out with his own brisk and revelatory vision, illuminated by a strong reverence for light.

Perhaps best known for his watercolors of Windsor Castle, depicting both the result of the devastating fire of 1992 and the subsequent restoration, a series commissioned by The Royal Collection, Alexander Creswell has long been associated with HRH The Prince of Wales and has traveled, on several occasions, as the Prince’s official artist on tours overseas.

Much of his work has continued in the milieu of ‘artist-travelor,’ the role explored by watercolorists for 250 years, which includes the great names of John Singer Sargent, Edward Lear, David Roberts, and J.M.W. Turner – all of whom have exerted their influence over Creswell in some capacity. Creswell’s oeuvre has embraced projects all over the globe, from Europe and the United Kingdom to the Middle East, Egypt, China, and Russia.

According to the show’s organizer, Dr Gregory Hedberg, “A royal reception is due to Alexander Creswell, who has, at last, turned his seasoned eye to New York City.”

In “Alexander Creswell: Reflections of New York 200,” a collection of 50 watercolors of distinctly New York subjects-interiors, exteriors, and details, drawn from both public and private spheres, are shown. A celebratory look at the innate connection between a civilization and its architecture at a given moment, the exhibition explores areas of the city both familiar and unfamiliar to the general public.

Through skilled draftsmanship, subtle coloring, and gradations of light, Creswell invites us to participate in his own unique view of New York City, introducing us to private treasures including “The Office of a Magazine Proprietor” and “The House of a Collector,” as well as reacquainting us with public spaces such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collection, the New York Public Library, and the Bethesda Foundation in Central Park.

The gallery is located in a landmark townhouse at 21 East 70th Street, and is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm and Saturday from 9:30 am to 4:45 pm. for information, 212/535-8810.