Tom Liesegang is an American artist who has lived and worked in Boston, New York and Los Angeles, as well as Amsterdam, Netherlands. His art is held in many public and private collections throughout the world.
Career and Development
Inspired by Michelangelo's Pietà at the 1964 New York World's Fair, Liesegang knew at nine years of age that he wanted to become an artist. Upon graduation from high school, Liesegang supported himself with his composition skills as a window decorator for a chain of woman's fashion stores throughout New England. After a brief sojourn to Los Angeles in 1977-1978, Liesegang returned to Boston to begin his art career. With no formal training beyond private painting lessons at age 12, exhibition of his work began in 1980 and continued into the 1990s. In 1992, Liesegang relocated to New York City, switched from acrylic to oil painting and explored the diptych narrative format. In the aftermath of 9/11, Liesegang moved to Amsterdam where he began his foray into printmaking. Tombstone rubbings, often taken from the floors of some of Europe's oldest cathedrals and transferred into the screen printing process, inspired the artist to also incorporate the visual structure of illuminated manuscripts into his print work. While in Amsterdam, Liesegang and film-maker Catharina Ooijens created Orka Fine Arts in 2004. The two created a documentary film concerning the Nazi confiscation of the Dutch International Archive for Woman. The film, titled, Private Possession, is in the permanent archives at the Hague. Liesegang's subsequent works involve commemorative printmaking for marine vessels. The first being a limited, ten-print, commission from the United States Navy for the USS Virginia submarine. The print includes an image of the USS Virginias sea-trials, incorporated with design drawings of the first ironclad fighting ship, the CSS Virginia, obtained from the archives at the Maritime Museum at Newport, Virginia. Prints were awarded to key contractors and sponsors, including Senator John Warner, Admiral Edmund Giambastiani and Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, the daughter of President Lyndon Johnson. In addition to printmaking on paper, Liesegang developed a method to use aluminum as his canvas; this allowed the ship's commemorative art to be made from the shipbuilder's materials and then framed with the identical woodwork that was used on the ship's interior. Printmaking is a tradition in the Netherlands, with Rembrandt being a notable contributor to the medium. Since 2013, Liesegang is back in the United States and now divides his time between his painting studio in central Massachusetts and his involvement with the Amsterdam Grafisch Altelier art studio in Amsterdam.
Themes and Series
Liesegang's painting is considered diverse and thematic, characterized by textured surfaces and bold graphic imagery often structured as diptychs. Much of Liesegang's work of the 1980s and 90's referenced history in order to confront contemporary issues such as geopolitics, sexuality, death, and religion. Direct observation of nature characterizes his most recent work.
''Death Series'' (1982-1983)
''Red Light Series'' (1984-1987)
''Martyr Series'' (1990-1992 )
''Conflict Series'' (1986-2001)
''Mystical Series'' (2007-2010)
Present Efforts (2011-Present)
Select List of Collections Holding Tom Liesegang's Work
Liesegang's work is held in the public collections of:
