Current Exhibit
Frances Rhea Basch, Scotch Broom, Toscana, 18x15 watercolor
Anne Crowley, Forest,, 30x20, oil on canvas
Summer 2026 Show at The Lodge
When: June 18 - September 15, 2026
Where: The Lodge at Woodloch
Artists: Frances Rhea Basch + Anne Crowley
Artists bio
The late FRANCES RHEA BASCH granddaughter of Nathan Handwerker, founder of “Nathan’s Famous” Hotdog empire, put aside familial and financial considerations early in life to pursue a career as a visual artist. After attending the University of Michigan, Basch moved to Woodstock to study with Arnold Blanch at the Art Student’s League’s summer school. While there, the artist developed an obsession with the description of form using line and color. Working large and fast, her figurative paintings caught the attention of artists and she became a favorite in the Arnold Blanch milieu. Eventually Basch became restless and boarded a sailboat and sailed to Key West, where she became the owner/operator of a beachside cafe. When the AIDS epidemic ravaged her close circle of friends, Basch returned “home” to Woodstock, where she resumed painting in earnest and established friendships with faculty and students. The last twelve years of her life were devoted to landscape and figure painting, mostly in watercolor, expressed in vibrant and sensuous hues. Her work reveals a ferocious line quality akin to that of Joan Mitchell and William deKooning.
As a painter and restless soul, Basch traveled to study the landscape of Tuscany, San Miguel de Allende, Margarita Island, Monhegan Island and Block Island. The locale of each place she painted are recognizable in Basch’s iconic calligraphic mark making and sumptuous use of color. The artist’s final foray into figure study (1999-2003, the year of her death) was executed in clay at the Woodstock School of Art. Nearly twenty of those studies still exist. Her figurines and her figure paintings are a statement of the artist’s love of form, her spark of genius and consummate understanding of making art. Frances Rhea Basch stands apart from the artists of her time because of the absolute originality and feverish approach she took with each composition.
We are thrilled to show Basch’s work at the Lodge Gallery for our 20th anniversary exhibit and are grateful to Frances’s dear friend and executor, the consummate artist and teacher Kate McGloughlin.
Anne Crowley received a Bachelor of Fine Art's degree from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin where she was born. After moving to New York City, she received an MFA at Hunter College and pursued a career as a painter. She moved from Manhattan to upstate New York in 1998 and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, in New Jersey, Woodstock and Kingston, NY. This year Crowley was selected to show at the First Street Gallery in Chelsea, NYC. We are thrilled to witness the evolution of Anne’s work and welcome her back to our gallery, where she has shown many times and is part of the Lodge’s art collection (see Chakra Lounge).
“I settled in a rural community in the Catskill Mountains. The Ashokan reservoir drew me in, reflecting light and the openness of the view. Driving over the reservoir, coming out of the dense tree canopy a completely open vista of water, sky and mountains appeared. Since then my work has evolved in a painterly language describing the trifecta of light, atmosphere and land. The mountains can be weightless as they hover between sky and water. In 2025 I followed my instincts and took the work in new directions. I discovered that my loved ones’ spirit and energy were woven into the landscape. The current phase of work led to a more internal interpretation of nature.
Coming to grips with the power of the mountains involved moving past the “scenery” and into the “spirit” of the place. My perception transformed my practice, leading me to explore concepts of duality and doubling in the Twinning Series. I lost my twin sister, Ellen, when we were nineteen. After years of walking along the reservoir I began to see her reflected in rhythms of the natural world. On a clear day this idea came to me that the reflected mountains and clouds were another way to see my twin, one immersed in the other. It was comforting to witness the twinning in nature. The Doppelgänger effect became more obvious, there were doubles in all the forms and shapes in front of me. It has taken me twenty years to see and feel these connections and this body of work explores these ideas, the presence of loved ones in the landscape.”
Past Exhibits
