Remembering Paul Jordan

PINE PLAINS — The life of Paul Jordan was a journey. He welcomed different experiences and opportunities and in return was granted a good many chances to see life from different perspectives. But whatever his outlook, one thing remained the same: He always looked upon life with an artist’s eye.

"Paul didn’t care about fame or money, he wanted to share the beauty of this world," said his recently widowed wife, Christine Neubert.

Jordan died in November from complications after a fall. The nearly 90-year-old man was planning an exhibition of his work this month.

"You couldn’t stop him," Neubert said with a sad smile, adding how prolific and well-rounded an artist he was. "He had his writings and artwork: his paintings, drawings, computer art, photos. He really was a renaissance man because he had accomplished something on every level, political, global, philosophical, humanitarian and artistic."

Jordan, a native of Poland, lived in Lvov with his family until World War II broke out. In 1940 his parents sent him to the London School of Economics. He later worked as a journalist to help pay for tuition to attend St. Martin’s School of Art. He covered the war for both the AP and UPI from England. He also worked as a visual information specialist for the United Nations after moving to the United States. Throughout that time Jordan kept active with his artwork in the style of lyrical expressionism. He showed his work in well-known galleries as well as in smaller spaces.

Jordan once said of his style, "Many people love my work because what lyrical expressionism can communicate is important to them in their lives. It reaches them in a very different way than most of the accepted contemporary art."

"He wanted people to love this planet so they would not ever want to destroy it," Neubert said. "That was on the larger canvas that he thought, and to intimately reach people’s spirit in that special way.

"He had seen enough of violence and he had seen enough of cruelty. He wasn’t going to express it on his canvas. He was going to express hope in a very large way," she added. "He was a large and generous spirit."

And that generosity spilled over to a shared body of work that connected husband and wife to each other for many, many years.

"We created beauty, both of us, together and separately. The art of collaboration, that was a big part [of our relationship]," Neubert added.

For 35 years, Jordan painted the backdrops for Neubert’s ballet companies, for which she was the choreographer.

"They were original works, they certainly enhanced my ballets, enhanced them greatly," she said. "They weren’t little things, they were huge. We were very good collaborators. It was an amazing relationship."

Neubert said she’s trying to focus on finishing her husband’s memoirs and further promoting his paintings. It’s difficult, she said, as she’s still not used to the fact that he’s gone.

"He was larger than life, and too modest. He was a truly beautiful man, with a large spirit that seemed to want to encompass everything that was connected with the joy of living," Neubert said. "They don’t come that good anymore. He was very kind and generous. He loved me and I loved him. It was a great love story on all levels. It was a magnificent relationship and he was a very unique human being."