Joan Lindley

“If you try to define art you’re in trouble... If you pinit down, then that’s all it is.”
-Joan Lindley

Joan Lindley was a painter whose style has been described as expressionistic, impressionistic, and coloristic, but was loathe to label her own work. She attended the Bennett Junior College in Millbrook, New York in 1950, the Instituto Allende art school in San Miguel Allende, Mexico in 1955, and then studied at the Art Students League in New York City, New York for three years. Following her training, Lindley moved to Bucks County where she often exhibited, at times together with her now-former husband, abstract expressionist painter Denver Lindley. After an almost 10-year hiatus, she returned to paint and exhibit again in the early 1970s, depicting the world immediately around her. Subjects from this period in Lindley’s career include family, pets, and the landscape surrounding the artist’s homes in Bucks County and Cape Cod. Her work following the 1970s is typified by abstract paintings that express the energy and force of opposing forms and colors. While most of her paintings are oil on linen, Lindley also works in monotypes on paper and constructions with string and acetate in Plexiglas. She has exhibited locally at Stover Mill in Erwinna, 4 Corners Gallery in Lambertville, and the Rodman House in Doylestown.

Lindley has also exhibited in A Legacy Preserved: The First Decade of Collection at the James A. Michener Art Museum (1998), The Spirit of Abstraction: Contemporary Paintings from the Collection (2001), An Evolving Legacy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the James A. Michener Art Museum (2009-2010), Parting Gifts: Artists Honor Bruce Katsiff, Director/CEO, 1989-2012 (2012) at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown. Her painting, Derby, is in the Michener's permanent collection.

Education and Training
Bennett Jr. College, 1950
Instituto Allende, San Miguel Allende, Mexico, 1955
Art Students League, New York, New York, 1956-1958

Teachers and Influences
Edwin Dickinson of the Art Students League, as well as Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning, Francis Bacon, and Goya

Connection to Bucks County
Joan W. Lindley lives in Bucks County. She was married to abstract painter Denver Lindley and the couple raised a family in Bucks County.

Major Solo Exhibitions
Stover Mill, Erwinna, Pennsylvania, 1973
4 Corners Gallery, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1990, 1989, 1987

Major Group Exhibitions
Metropolitan Young Artists Show, New York, New York, 1960
Padawer Gallery, New York, New York, 1960
C.J. Watters and Denver Lindley, Swains Art Gallery, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 1961
Stover Mill, Erwinna, Pennsylvania, 1959, 1973, 1978
New Paintings and Drawings, Joan Lindley and Denver Lindley Jr., Richard Stuart Gallery, Pipersville, Pennsylvania, 1979
Paintings and Sculpture by Bucks County Artists, Gentle Winds Gallery, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1980
Richard Stuart Gallery, Pipersville, Pennsylvania, 1981
The Human Figure, Rodman House, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1981
41st Annual Award Exhibition, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1982
Delaware Valley Art Gallery, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1985, 1984
Regional Artists, 4 Corners Gallery, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1986
Bucks County Artists: A Cross Section, Hicks Art Center, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1987
Joy Kreves Gallery, Frenchtown, New Jersey, 1987, 1988, 1990
Abstract Expressionist from the Michener Collection and Works by Local Abstract Expressionists, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1991
Site Specific: An Installation, Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey, 1992
The League at the Cape, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1993
A Legacy Preserved: The First Decade of Collecting at the James A. Michener Art Museum, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1998-1999
Spirit of Abstraction: Contemporary Paintings from the Collection, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2001
Twentieth Century American Paintings from the Collection, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2003
An Evolving Legacy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the James A. Michener Art Museum, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2009-2010
Parting Gifts: Artists Honor Bruce Katsiff, Director/CEO, 1989-2012, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2012

Collections
Bucks County Fine Arts Collection, Bucks County Council of the Arts
Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Major Awards
Annual Padawer Price for Drawing, 1960