In Conversation with Daniel Hauben
Photo by Adi Talwar
Daniel Hauben (born Bronx, NY) is an American painter who grew up in the Bronx. Hauben studied at the Museum School in Boston, MA, and received a B.A. from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Hauben works in such mediums as oils, textural oil relief, chalk pastel, etchings, bronze, cast paper, plaster, and glass.
Hauben's work is in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, the White House, the Museum of the City of New York, the New York Historical Society, the New York Public Library, the Villa-Haiss Museum, Pfizer Corporation, Harvard University, and in numerous other public and private collections.
Hauben has had solo exhibitions at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Michael Ingbar Gallery, Ache 700 Gallery in Austria, Amerika Haus in Berlin, and the Deutsches-Amerikanisches Zentrum in Stuttgart, among others. He has been included in group exhibitions at galleries worldwide, including Lehman College Art Gallery, The Painting Center, John Szoke Gallery, Allan Stone Gallery, and the Kunst und Gewerbeverein in Regensburg, Germany.
I had the pleasure of asking Daniel about his current exhibition, what he hopes people will take away from it, and much more.
UZOMAH: How do you use your signature style to bring your artistic statement to life?
DANIEL: Whether or not I have a “signature style” is not for me to say, nor whether my art has ever come to life. All I can claim is to have pursued that goal for more than 50 years, to have produced a substantial body of work, and to remain dedicated and inspired.
U: What makes art stand out for you? Why do you think people still visit galleries, museums, or look up artists online?
D: Creativity in all its forms is the pinnacle of human existence. Creativity is our link to all life forms, and it is what has sustained us in the face of humankind’s tragic tendency towards recklessness, annihilation, and self-destruction.
Daniel Hauben, Emergence, 2026, Oil on canvas and wood, 54 x 108 inches, Photo by Adi Talwar
U: What first inspired you to become an artist, and what keeps you going?
D: I was very fortunate as a young child to have parents and family who supported my tendency to make art, collect seashells, build little towns, catch frogs, etc. I was not so much interested in the more typical things that other kids my age were into, like sports and competition, nor was I interested in memorizing the facts and figures that public school had to offer.
Additionally, I had an older brother, Eddie, who went to Music and Art high school and then on to Cooper Union, whom I watched drawing and painting, and who introduced me to his artist and musician friends.
Making art has always come naturally to me, and at a fairly young age, I realized it was something that was limitless and that I could pursue for the rest of my life.
So here I am, nearly 70 years old, and still equally as challenged and inspired and motivated in my art making as ever. If not more so.
U: When using oil and pastel for Bronx landscapes, how do these materials highlight the borough’s rich details and uniqueness?
D: Oil paint is a particularly appropriate material for the creation of cityscape paintings.
My paintings are built up in layers, much the way the city itself is. I build up my paintings with multiple layers of paint and glaze, often scraping and scratching and repainting and changing the surface, in order to give it that aged, used, abused, and reused feeling. I aim for the final look of the painting to reveal glimpses of its varied history and age showing through, just like this city.
Daniel Hauben, No Place Like Home, 1995, Oil on canvas, 2 panels, 72 x 120 inches, Photo by Adi Talwar
U: Can you share the story behind this exhibition’s creation, and what aspects of its opening and duration excite you most?
D: About two years ago, Tom Carey, the president of the Kingsbridge Historical Society, invited me to give a presentation at the Edgehill Church in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.
I thought it would be unique to present only the drawings and paintings I have done in Kingsbridge, where I have lived since I was nine years old, and Riverdale, where I have had my studio and taught for more than 30 years. When combing through my files, I found more than 200 images of works I had done of these neighborhoods. The presentation was a big success (there were more than 90 people, and they had to bring chairs up from the basement to accommodate everyone who came. Afterward, Tom and Nick Dembowski asked if I would consider exhibiting my artwork at Edgehill. I considered this, but the (almost 140-year-old) church needed a lot of work, it didn’t have a lot of wall space, and I really couldn’t envision an exhibit there. However, in the ensuing years, they have secured funding to upgrade their plumbing and electricity, basement, and lighting, etc., so when the idea came up again this past year, I decided to go for it.
I am excited about this exhibit for several reasons:
1- I’m excited to present ‘Emergence’, for the first time, along with several other large new pieces. ‘Emergence’ is a 9-foot painting, entirely created from my imagination, that I’ve been working on for 6 1/2 years.
2- I’m excited to debut the time-lapse video of ‘Emergence’, in which the viewer can watch 6 1/2 years of painting fly by in 15 minutes. (We will be screening this video at Edgehill, on Sunday, May 24, 11 am- 4 pm)
3- I am switching decades on May 23, so I am excited to celebrate my birthday on the 24th with friends and neighbors.
4- The Bronx has been my home base for the vast majority of my life. It has been the subject of my paintings, in large part, and the place where I painted them. A couple of years ago, my wife, Judy, and I bought a weekend country place in the Hudson Valley, and I’ve been setting up a second studio up there for the last four years. So, in a way, this exhibit marks a transition for me, into a time when I am no longer an entirely Bronx-centric artist.
We will also have a fundraising event on Sunday, June 21. I will be selling prints and posters of my work, and the organization From The Bronx will be selling Bronx-based merchandise. A percentage of all proceeds will go to benefit the Kingsbridge Historical Society.
The exhibit will be up for two months, and we will have the three public events during its run.
Daniel Hauben, Reflecting on the Familiar, 2019, Oil on canvas, 10 panels 84 x 252 inches, Photo by Adi Talwar
U: With resources like YouTube available, do you see value in formal art school? What role did your education play?
D: I went for one year to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and for three years to the School of Visual Arts in New York. Whereas I didn’t experience the classical training of an Art Academy, my college years did afford me an opportunity to spend invaluable time with some wonderful artists, both teachers and students.
Being in an art environment, set up for the creation of art, with other talented artists, is an experience I would wish for every aspiring artist to have.
In my teaching, I try to cultivate an environment infused with rapport, camaraderie, humor, and the spirit of mutual curiosity and openness to learning new things.
In such a setting, I have witnessed astonishing growth and creativity in my students.
U: Reflecting on your impactful career, can you recall a defining standout moment?
D: If this upcoming ‘Emergence’ exhibition connects me in some significant way with people in the art world, and/or produces a significant sale or two, perhaps this will be the defining moment in my career…
Daniel Hauben, Bronx Vortex, 2009, Oil on canvas, 5 panels, 30 x 192 inches, Credit: Photo by Adi Talwar
U: Do you feel you pursued art, or did it naturally become your path?
D: Both.
U: What do you want viewers to experience or feel after seeing your paintings?
D: I hope people feel the joy of the creativity I have put into my life‘s work. I hope in some small way that my work counterbalances what is increasingly the left-brain world we have come to occupy.
And lastly, I hope people experience a strong urge to purchase some of my work.
For more information about Daniel’s artwork and current and past exhibitions, please visit his site here; he can also be found on Facebook and Instagram. The magazine also featured his current exhibition, which can be found here.
