Dreams come to everyone, day and night. Think of all the children who dream of what they want to be when they grow up. Lady Gaga? Batman? A paleontologist? As a young boy, Werner Carl Burger declared that he wanted to be an Abstract Expressionist. The German-born painter never wavered from achieving his dream, no matter what the waking world had in store.
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Forest Flame
18” x 20”, Oil on Canvas
When Werner Carl Burger first began making art, he thought it was just something fun to do. “It was when I started teaching that I really felt something,” the Stockton resident recalls. “I wanted to be a guide and emphasize the intellectual aspects of art for my students, the history and philosophy, knowledge in general.”
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In Memory of Peter Jones 24” x 30”, Watercolor
And teach he did…for 40 years at Kean University. It was an honor, he says, to be a professor of art. Though Burger garnered numerous awards during his career, he never let it go to his head: “I see other artists’ great work at art shows and always wonder if I’m good enough.” When informed that Leonardo wrote that one moment he’d ask God’s forgiveness for being a lazy lout—and the next moment he’d think he was the greatest artist in the world—Burger roars with laughter. His work graces museums and public spaces throughout the U.S.,
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Liquid Forest
16” x 20”, Oil on Canvas
including the Smithsonian Institution, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Newark and Montclair museums. At 94, he is a major figure in the art community and, particularly, a New Jersey master. —Tova Navarra
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Love Forest
16” x 20”, Oil on Canvas
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Turnpike #2 Jersey City 60” x 55”, Watercolor
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Tumble Town
8” x 10”, Watercolor
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City Light
8” x 10”, Watercolor
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Normandy France 11” x 14”, Watercolor
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Rafael’s Town
10” x 14”, Watercolor