Darell Koons Sold at Auction Prices

Darell Koons was a well-known South Carolina artist transplanted from the rural community of Albion, MI to Greenville. Known primarily for his paintings of barns, churches, mills, and country scenes, Koons had over 45 one-man exhibitions including ones at the University of South Carolina; Wake Forest University; the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA; and the Washington County Museum of Art, Hagerstown, MD. He participated in more than 100 group exhibitions and exhibited in regional and national competitions where he received numerous awards. Some of the group exhibitions included the Mead Paper Exhibition, Atlanta; the Hunter Annuals, Chattanooga; Southeastern Annuals, Atlanta; Society of Four Museums, Palm Beach; Cushing Gallery, Dallas; Isaac Delgado Museum, New Orleans; Springfield Museum, Springfield, MA; and the Kenilworth Galleries, Birmingham and Detroit. Koons painted more than 2,500 paintings and many are included in prestigious private and museum collections all over the world including Bob Jones University, Greenville, SC; The Butler Museum of Art, Youngstown, OH; The Gibbes Gallery, Charleston, SC; the Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC; The South Carolina State Art Collection; the Governor’s Mansion, Columbia, SC; The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; Eastern Michigan University; Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC; Central Wesleyan College, Central, SC; The W. Clement Stone Collection, Chicago; and the Indonesian Embassy. His art has also hung in offices of various politicians and in the White House.

Koons’ paintings have been published in Contemporary Artists of South Carolina, Artist/U.S.A., and three editions of Prizewinning Art. One of his works was also featured on the cover of Faith for the Family and in the Sandlapper magazine. He has been listed in Who’s Who in American Art, The International Directory of Art, Who’s Who of the South and Southwest, Outstanding Personalities of the South, Directory of International Biography, and Two Thousand Men of Achievement.

For eight years beginning in 1972, Darell created specific art to be etched on a limited number of pewter plates. These were sold through Hale’s Jewelers owned by Hayward Sullivan in Greenville. The series of plates titled The Southern Countryside included: A Rural Barn and Wagon, A Rural House and Well, A Rural Church, A Southern Country Water Mill, A Country School House: Bicentennial Commemorative, A Country Covered Bridge, A Country Store, and A Rural Train Depot.

It was also in the 70’s that Darell joined teaching associates Carl Blair and Emery Bopp along with Koons’ neighbor, Richard Rupp, to found Hampton III Gallery in Taylors, SC. This was one of the first commercial galleries in the Upstate. The name Hampton III was chosen to symbolize the friendship of the three artists: Blair, Bopp, and Koons.

“Art critics have called his distinctive style ‘magic realistic,’ because the viewer tends to read into the picture more than actually appears.” “In a 1972 interview, Koons noted that he enjoyed playing with space, especially in a building opening. He virtually never included figures in his paintings but he often teased the viewer with open doors that ‘give the impression of recent activity.’ Koons’ work has been compared to that of Andrew Wyeth, although Koons himself believed the greatest influences on his art were the shadows and simplicity of Edward Hopper and the straight lines of Mondrian.” Jack Morris in Contemporary Artists of SC, 1970, described Darell’s style as “representational, [since] his fundamental objective is to isolate the raw material of geometric forms in the rural American landscape and translate it into a controlled arrangement of formal design. With an absolutely clear vision, Koons continues to evolve the precise, sharp-edged barns and farm houses which have made him the most readily recognized artist within the state.”

In a statement by the artist, he explains, “I use a direct approach in my painting. Some artists make numerous sketches prior to the actual paint. I believe that is time-consuming and the freshness of the painting might be lost when using this approach. [To me] composition is important, including the arrangement of buildings, trees, clouds and other subject matter. These may be changed, moved or eliminated completely when compared with the actual scene. Many believe I try to duplicate nature. Actually, I try to simplify my subjects, sometimes to their purest shape or form.”

When viewing art by Darell Koons, one must linger to be sure they have captured every distinct detail. Did you notice the wagon or farming tools nearly hidden behind that barn door? What about the butter churn or rocking chair on the porch; the milk bucket, or apron hanging just inside an open kitchen door; or the clock hanging on the wall through that open window? The details are what draws the viewer into the scene and one never walks away without feeling a little nostalgic and perhaps wishing for a more simplified life.

~ Shery Koons Borenstein, artist’s daughter