For artist Joseph McGurl, one of the country’s premier landscape painters, each brushstroke is like a love letter to the planet he holds so dear. Whether he is painting a rocky shoreline, a sailboat in motion, a misty cranberry bog, or the presence of fog lifting over mountains, he captures the delicate balance of nature in every hue. 

McGurl’s talent and passion for painting are clearly rooted in his upbringing, as his father, James was a muralist whose work involved decorative painting, working with gold leafing and stenciling. Being surrounded by his father’s work, displayed in public buildings and churches, played a key role in shaping his artistic path from a young age. McGurl spent virtually every Saturday from middle school through high school taking art classes at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, then went on to further his formal studies at the Massachusetts College of Art, where he also traveled to England and Italy, finding inspiration in the breathtaking landscapes. A lifelong boater and sailor, McGurl had always felt a pull toward the ocean—likely drawn to the ocean’s mesmerizing beauty, endless horizon and ever-changing waves—and lead him to becoming a boat captain, which immersed him in the ocean’s captivating presence—but away from his artistry.

After a few years on the water, traveling everywhere from Florida, Maine, and the Caribbean, McGurl decided to rededicate himself to his art. “For two years I studied with Robert Cormier and that was really career, and life changing, because it helped to improve my painting so much. As my paintings got better, I was selling more, which meant I was able to paint more and spend less time on other jobs that I had,” the artist shares. 

McGurl’s paintings are so meticulously detailed that at first glance, it’s impossible to tell whether it’s a photograph or a work of art. Every shadow, every reflection, and every subtle nuance of light seems captured in a moment of reality, like a real-life photo, leaving the viewer awestruck by his precision. The textures and colors are so realistic and true to life that they seem at any moment something might shift or move on the canvas. But in fact, McGurl doesn’t use photography at all in his work, he relies on his sketches, memory and imagination to transport viewers into his work. “I’ve gotten more interested in light and the effects of it and trying to make paint look like light on canvas,” he says, “I think about how landscapes have three elements that are really prominent: light, space, and atmosphere. I’m fascinated in creating this sense of distance—it’s never ending. And you can never actually achieve that, but you can come close to it by trying different techniques and different methods,” he muses. His own surroundings where he lives on Amrita Island in Bourne and the Cape at large, provide him with endless opportunities to paint en plein air. McGurl, who often spends time painting outside, constantly races against the shifting elements of nature—chasing the changing light, the ebbing tide, and the unpredictable weather—relying on his imagination to help him capture the fleeting moments before they vanish.

The artist’s purpose is clear—while he wishes for his art to stir an emotion or a memory in us or transport us to the vista he has captured with his oil paints on blank canvas—ultimately his goal is to celebrate the pulchritude of the planet, in all of its fragile beauty. “It’s distressing when you see how we destroy parts of the world but it’s also encouraging, as you can see efforts to preserve what we have and wanting to protect the beauty of the natural world,” McGurl shares. 

As in poet Mary Oliver’s words from “The Messenger”, “My work is loving the world. Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.”  

Visit the artist’s website josephmcgurl.com to view a gallery of his work and locally at Collins Gallery in Orleans and Cavalier Ebanks Galleries on Nantucket.