LewAllen Galleries is proud to present an exhibition of works by Bernard Chaet (1924–2012) titled Idylls of the rock. Chaet, a singular figure in American modernism whose richly expressive paintings straddle the boundaries between representation and abstraction. Although Chaet is also well known for his still lifes, figurative works and landscapes which LewAllen also represents, this exhibit, opening Friday, June 13, focuses specifically on that part of Chaet’s widely acclaimed oeuvre that deals with the New England seacoast, and its seascapes.

A lifelong observer and innovator, Chaet developed a representational style deeply rooted in direct perception, while drawing powerfully from the expressive tools of modernist abstraction. His paintings—marked by vigorous brushwork, luminous color, and formal dynamism—capture the rhythm and vitality of lived experience. A master colorist and esteemed educator, Chaet led the Yale School of Art’s painting department for many years, where he mentored generations of artists, such as Chuck Close and Janet Fish, and helped shape a uniquely American synthesis of abstraction and realism.

At the heart of the exhibition are Chaet’s dramatic seascapes, forged from his long connection to the rugged Massachusetts coastline. Here, waves crash against rocky outcroppings and compositions alive with movement, tension, and release. For Chaet, rocks were not simply forms to be depicted, but metaphors for artistic struggle: unyielding, elemental, and worthy of aesthetic conquest. As he once put it, he painted not just to represent rocks, but to “defeat” them in an enduring but metaphorical aesthetic challenge of epic physic proportion.

Critics and colleagues have long praised the “visual jazz” of Chaet’s work. His compositions, often described as lyrical or musical, pulse with syncopated color, energy, and unexpected harmonies. Whether layering translucent veils over opaque strokes or letting brushstrokes dance across the canvas, Chaet revealed the poetic possibilities of paint itself.

Bernard Chaet’s work resides in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among many others.