Tom Yost

I. Biography

Entranced by the visual power of the Hudson River Valley, Tom Yost has dedicated the last several years to capturing the beauty of this majestic region. As a conservator of fine art, Yost has had the opportunity to closely study and restore paintings by nineteenth- and twentieth-century American masters—an opportunity which has undoubtedly had a tremendous influence on his original work. In choosing to focus on the Hudson River, Yost joins a three-hundred-year legacy of artists who have sought to capture these stunning landscapes, while imbuing the subject with his own unique style.

Yost writes, “My objective as a landscape painter is to create realistic images of nature that go beyond the mere description of a scene. It is my intent to capture the atmospheric quality of a particular location and to impart that sense of a special place and time.”¹ That “special place and time” is indeed evident in Yost’s depictions of the Hudson River Valley. Focusing on the area of upstate New York that spans from the Palisades to Olana State Historic Site, Yost often hikes along the dramatic elevations of the east and west banks of the Hudson onto the high ridges of the Catskills in search of the most beautiful and evocative viewpoints. His plein-air paintings possess an intense energy and freshness, while his studio work demonstrates a concentrated and careful study of the region. Initially inspired by the great American masters he studied, Yost’s paintings are nevertheless uniquely modern, evocative of a sense of stillness and contemplation.

Yost has received honors from the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust in Woodbury, Connecticut, and was invited by the Connecticut Arts Council to exhibit his paintings in the Chambers of the State Majority Leader, Connecticut State Capitol Building in Hartford. His work may be found in the collections of The Florence Griswold Museum and the New Britain Museum of American Art, as well as in numerous private collections. Yost showed his work at the New Britain Museum of American Art in the solo exhibition Tom Yost: A Modern Realist, May 15 through September 27, 2015.

II. Collections

Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, Connecticut
Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, Connecticut
Minor Memorial Library, Roxbury, Connecticut
New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut
Private collections
Town of Roxbury, Connecticut

III. Exhibitions

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 1996 Carole Peck’s Good News Cafe Gallery, Woodbury, Connecticut, Atmosphere and Light, May–June
• 2002 Minor Memorial Library, Roxbury, Connecticut, Diverse Landscapes: Winter in Roxbury, Summer in Abiquiu, October 5–November 14
• 2004 Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, Connecticut, Recent Work, March 6–28
• Chambers of the State Senate Majority Leader, Connecticut State Capitol Building, Hartford, Connecticut, organized by Connecticut Arts Council, April
• 2006 P. H. Miller Studio & Gallery, Woodbury, Connecticut, Local Horizons: New Works by Tom Yost, April 1–May 16
• 2008 P. H. Miller Studio & Gallery, Woodbury, Connecticut, Autumn 2008 Solo Exhibition, Featuring Original Paintings by Tom Yost, September 5–October 22
• 2010 Behnke-Doherty Gallery, Washington Depot, Connecticut, Light’s Subtle Touch: The Changing Seasons of the Litchfield Hills, Landscape Paintings by Tom Yost, November 5–December 19
• 2012 Behnke-Doherty Gallery, Washington Depot, Connecticut, Captured Moments: Landscape Paintings by Tom Yost, September 2–November 11
• 2015 New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, Tom Yost: A Modern Realist, May 15–September 27
• Questroyal Fine Art, LLC, New York, New York, At the Threshold of a Dream, The Hudson River: Tom Yost, A Modern Realist, October 30–November 21
• 2018 Questroyal Fine Art, LLC, New York, New York, Tom Yost: At the Edge of Truth, May 11–June 2

JURIED EXHIBITIONS

• 2004 Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, Connecticut, The Connecticut Vision 2004, September–November
• 2007 New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 38th Annual Juried Members Exhibition, November, first prize
• 2008 New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 39th Annual Juried Members Exhibition, November
• 2009 New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 40th Annual Juried Members Exhibition, December 20, 2009– January 3, 2010, first prize; oil/acrylic award
• 2013 Kent Art Association, Connecticut, President’s Show, July 21–September 2
• 2014 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, Connecticut, New England Landscape Invitational, September 26–November 7
• 2019 Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, Connecticut, Juried Members Show, January 26–March 1
• New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, The Nor’easter 49th Annual Juried Exhibition, June 22–July 14
• 2020 Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, Connecticut, Juried Members Show, January 11–February 20, second prize in painting

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• 1997 Holland and Wilson Fine Art, Bedford, New York, May–June
• Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York, Landscapes, August
• 2002 Potter & Slack Fine Arts, New Preston, Connecticut, Winter in August, August–September
• 2003 Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, Connecticut, Members Show, April
• Potter & Slack Fine Arts, New Preston, Connecticut, Winter in August, August–September
• Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, Woodbury, Connecticut, Flanders Benefit Auction, October
• 2004 P. H. Miller Studio & Gallery, Woodbury, Connecticut, The Modern Landscape, May–June
• Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, Woodbury, Connecticut, Flanders Benefit Auction, October
• P. H. Miller Studio & Gallery, Woodbury, Connecticut, Black Tie, November 2004–January 2005
• 2005 Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, Woodbury, Connecticut, Four Seasons of Flanders Benefit Gala, October, featured artist
• P. H. Miller Studio & Gallery, Woodbury, Connecticut, Black Tie, November 2005–January 2006
• 2006 Booth Free School, Roxbury, Connecticut, Fall 2006 Auction, September
• P. H. Miller Studio & Gallery, Woodbury, Connecticut, Black Tie, November 2006–January 2007
• The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, 18th Annual Holiday Exhibition, November 2006–January 2007
• 2007 Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, Woodbury, Connecticut, Flanders Benefit Auction, October
• The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, 19th Annual Holiday Exhibition, November 2007–January 2008
• 2008 Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, Woodbury, Connecticut, Flanders Benefit Auction, October
• 2009 Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, Greenwich, Connecticut, Exhibition and Sale of Fine American and European Paintings, Drawings, Prints, and Sculpture, October
• New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 9th Annual ART Party of the Year Spring Gala, May
• The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, Holiday Exhibition, December
• 2010 Owen Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show, February 13–26
• Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, Milford, Connecticut, Exhibition and Sale of Fine American and European Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture, April 12–29
• New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 10th Annual ART Party of the Year Spring Gala, May
• Minor Memorial Library, Roxbury, Connecticut, Images of the Roxbury Land Trust, June–July
• Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, Connecticut, Lake Waramaug Observed, August–September
• 2011 New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 11th Annual ART Party of the Year Spring Gala, May
• Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, Milford, Connecticut, Exhibition and Sale of Fine American and European Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture and Prints, October 17–27
• 2012 New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 12th Annual ART Party of the Year Spring Gala, May
• The Cooley Gallery, Norwalk, Connecticut, Fairfield Antique Show, December 1–2
• 2013 The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, At Our Best: An Exhibition and Sale of Paintings by Connecticut Artists, 1830–2013, February–March 30
• Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, Milford, Connecticut, Exhibition and Sale of Fine American and European Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture, April 15–25
• New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 13th Annual ART Party of the Year Spring Gala, May
• 2014 New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, 14th Annual ART Party of the Year Spring Gala, May
• 2017 Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, Connecticut, First Look/New to the Collection, March 26–May 1
• Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, Splendor Gala, October 21
• 2018 Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, Milford, Connecticut, Exhibition and Sale of Fine American and European Paintings, Drawings, Prints, and Sculpture, April 16–26
• 2019 Argazzi Art, Lakeville, Connecticut, Holiday Exhibition, December 1, 2018–January 20
• Bonhams, New York, New York, American Art, November 19

IV. Notes

1. Tom Yost, Artist’s Statement, http://www.tomyostpaintings.com/AboutTomYost.html

V. Suggested Resources

• Tom Yost: At the Edge of Truth (New York: Questroyal Fine Art, LLC, 2018).
• “Litchfield’s Most Influential 2016: The most influential, giving, talented, interesting people in Litchfield,” Litchfield Magazine (July/August 2016).
• At the Threshold of a Dream, The Hudson River: Tom Yost, A Modern Realist (New York: Questroyal Fine Art, LLC, 2015).
• Tom Yost: A Modern Realist, Paintings of the Litchfield Hills, 2000–2014, intr. by Douglas K. S. Hyland (New Britain, CT: New Britain Museum of American Art, 2015).
• “Tom Yost’s ‘Captured Moments’ at Behnke-Doherty Gallery, Washington, CT,” The Country and Abroad (September/October 2012).
• Tracey O’Shaughnessy, “Yost Offers Wintry Balm with Summery Paintings,” Republican-American, September 28, 2011.
• “Tom Yost’s Landscape Paintings at Behnke-Doherty Gallery in Washington Depot, CT,” The Country and Abroad (winter 2010–2011).
• Jaime Ferris, “New Show: Landscapes by Tom Yost,” Litchfield County Times, November 12, 2010.
• “Tom Yost: On the Edge,” American Art Collector (November 2010): 158.
• Jack Coraggio, “Yost’s Neighborly Visions,” Litchfield County Times Magazine (September 2008).
• Tracey O’Shaughnessy, “Tom Yost,” Connecticut Magazine (April 2008).
• Tracey O’Shaughnessy, “Get Real: Roxbury’s Tom Yost Has Mastered a Higher Level of Truth in His Most Recent Works,” Republican-American, April 9, 2006.
• “Destination Woodbury: Tom Yost’s Work as a Conservator of Famous American Art Brings a Classic Feel and Longevity to His Paintings,” American Art Collector (April 2006).
• Jaime Ferris, “Local Horizons: Roxbury Painter, Tom Yost to Open Show of New Works in Woodbury,” Litchfield County Times, March 24, 2006.
• Tracey O’Shaughnessy, “Study in Contrast,” Antiques and The Arts Weekly, September 16, 2004.
• Tracey O’Shaughnessy, “Broken, Now Whole,” Republican-American, May 20, 2004.
• David Lombino, “Apprentice No Longer: Lessons from Restorations Fuel Roxbury Artist’s Work,” Litchfield County Times, October 4, 2002.