Maui Painting

The artwork of Richard Van Vliet defies categorization. Not one bound by the traditional, to say the least, some have (quite mistakenly) called Richard’s work “Southwestern”, while others have called it “Fantasy”, and some have even compared him to masters like Salvador Dali. Van Vliet (BFA University of Denver 1972) is one of the most unique artists of our time. Richard Van Vliet is influenced by several styles of the 20th and 21st centuries, from fantasy landscape to abstract expressionism to psychedelic. While his focus in school was ceramics, his specialty these days is acrylic, mixed media, and watercolor. Very prolific over the last 30 years, Richard studied under Maynard Tischler at the University of Denver in the early nineteen-seventies, a period which comes through in the spirit of his art. Living in Colorado for the past 45 years, Richard was born in Amarillo, TX., growing up during the Cold War with his three brothers. He was a drum major in high school, and a drummer in a band, The Page Boys (ask about rare vintage 45’s!), that toured with big acts such as The Yardbirds in the 1960’s. He transferred from the University of Texas to the University of Denver in 1970, where he studied fine arts under Maynard Tischler and earned his BFA. He painted sporadically until the mid 1980’s, when he began a long period of creativity which continues to this day.