Biography
Jerry Malzahn, a talented landscape artist, was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas on September 30, 1946, and moved to Texas as a young adult. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Texas and founded the Malzahn Landscape Company where he currently serves as president. Jerry and his wife, Lyla, have made Texas their home.
In 1994, at the age of forty-eight, Jerry began to devote himself to landscape painting. He garnered enthusiastic and immediate response by earning a first place prize for landscape paintings and landscape paintings with architecture and third place prize for landscape painting with figures at the 1996 Texas State Fair. Jerry also displayed his art in two successful shows at the Wild Gallery (1996) and David Dike Fine Art (2003) in Dallas. In 2003, he was selected for membership into the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York. Jerry's landscapes are displayed in important private, corporate, and public collections in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, New York, and Annapolis, Maryland at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum.
Malzahn's brilliant landscapes pay homage to a wide range of nineteenth-century landscape masters. His heroic western landscapes echo the grand panoramas of Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt in their scope and articulated perspectives. His meadow scenes carry the delicate and poetic subtlety of the French Barbizon School, particularly the dream-like atmosphere of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Charles-François Daubigny, and Henri Harpignies. While noticing the influence of these artists, one ultimately sees the marks of a highly talented individual, sensitive to the nuances of how light and dark affect the mood of nature yet impassioned to capture the great breadth of America's most exalted scenery.
In 2005, the city of Richardson, Texas held An Artist’s Collection exhibition in the Eisemann Center. Jerry’s personal works inspired by their collection were the centerpiece of the show. The national publication American Art Review wrote a celebratory article of the exhibit in its August 2005 issue. The Verizon Headquarters in Irving, Texas, featured Jerry’s work the next year. Jerry’s paintings have also been on exhibit for a number of years during the Saratoga summer show previously hosted by Questroyal Fine Art. In 2007, Jerry had a successful show in Bronxville, New York at Object & Images.
In 2008, Jerry was invited to paint a Christmas tree ornament for the White House. President and Mrs. Bush hosted a reception for the participating artists, which Jerry and his wife, Lyla, attended. Jerry also received Honorable Mention from the Salmagundi Club in 2008 for his painting titled Quiet Stream, and in 2009, was invited to participate in the Maui Plein Air event. Jerry exhibits regularly in Dallas, Fort Worth, Texas and New York.
