Contemporary Spiritual Artist

"As I get around to speaking about philosophical problems that defy time and space, I usually avoid any clues pointing to a specific civilization. Painting is an art inherently capable of speaking about history or philosophy and the eternal problems of life and death".

Alexander Gassel chose ancient egg yolk tempera technique. He makes his own color pigments by grinding natural stones and minerals, such as malachite, cinnabar and lapis into powder, and then he mixes pigment with egg yolk. Gassel mastered traditional methods of icon painting. He glues fabric on a carefully prepared wooden panel and covers it with gesso then paints with color pigments. Color areas are often enhanced by the gold leaves.

Paintings in museums and public collections

Vatican Collection Vatican City, Vatican
Simon Wiesenthal Center Los Angeles, CA
Ryazan Art Museum Ryazan, Russia
Krillov Art Museum Krillov, Russia
Jewish Federation Marblehead, MA
Episcopal Divinity School Cambridge, MA
St. Leo Parish Stamford, CT
St. Andrew Church Marblehead, MA

Awards

1990 Modern Liturgy Visual Arts Award
1990 Massachusetts Artists Fellowship program. Painting Award Recipient. Finalist
1991 Curator's Award. National Competition "In Search of the American Experience" of the Museum of National Arts Foundation, New York, NY

Major Exhibitions

1998 Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA
1998 Museum Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
1996 Gallery at the AXXESS TV, Salem, MA
1995 Starr Gallery, Newton, MA
1994 Art Connection Gallery, Clearwater Beach, FL
1993 Gallery at the Russian-American Cultural Center, Boston, MA
1992 Solo Exhibition at Central House of the Arts, Moscow, Russia
1991 Solo Exhibition at Clark University, Worchester, MA
1990 Russian Icons from Museum Collection and Alexander Gassel Spiritual Paintings Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
1990 Exhibition of Award Recipients of the Massachusetts Fellowship Program. MA
1990 Solo Exhibition, Harvard Boston Community, Starr Gallery, Newton, MA
1990 National Competition in Divinity School, Cambridge, MA
1989 "Russian Artists in the Search of the American Experience", Museum of National Arts Foundation. New York, NY. Winner of Curator's Award.
1988 Solo Exhibition. The Walker, Ursiti & McGinnis Gallery, Washington, DC
1988 Eight National Open Juried Art Exhibit "Contemporary Spiritual Art" Paul VI Institute for the Arts, Washington, D.C.
1987 Exhibition of Artists dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of the Berlin Wall
City Hall, West Berlin, Germany
1987 "Die Gruppe Terpentin", Gallery Interartex, Mettmann, Germany
1987 "Twelve Russian Ambitions", Gallery Hittite, Toronto, Canada
1986 "Four Russian Artists", Multicultural Art Center, Cambridge, MA
1985 Two Personal Exhibition, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA

Alexander Gassel was born in Moscow in 1947. Atheism in Russia was one of the underlying forces in promotion of equality and happiness for all people on the Earth. Gassel followed the path of idealism. Having planned to work in Mali, Gassel focused his undergraduate study on French and Art History. Gassel's graduate study at Moscow's Institute of Art and Graphics was directed toward a doctorate in art history. Gassel had decided to turn from academic career and studied Fine Arts during the training at the Grabar Restoration and Conservation Center--one of the oldest and most respectable restoration centers. That work lead to Gassel's application and admission to the Stroganoff Art Graduate School.

After graduation in 1970, Gassel devoted 10 years to the Grabar Restoration Center. He participated in restoring and preserving Russian icons that dated from the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries. Gassel also donated time to small rural churches. A large number of paintings, prints and drawings are in private collections in the USA, Germany, France, Netherlands, Russia, Israel and other countries.

Publications and media coverage materials for the artist are available upon request.