Well-known York County artist William Falkler dies at age 88

Aug. 13--The images William Falkler captured in his paintings can be see throughout York County.

The local artist was well-known for his knack for painting scenes depicting everyday life in the county, from shoppers going into Central Market in York City to rural barns.

"He did detail without painting detail," said John Walker, a New Freedom resident and president of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society. "There's enough detail for you to know what it is" without overdoing it.

He called Falkler's painting style "abstract realism."

Falkler, a past member of the watercolor society, died Monday at the Dallastown Nursing Center & Victorian Villa Personal Care Home. He was 88.

During his life, Falkler also taught the art when he owned the York Academy of Arts, which is now the Art Institute of York in Springettsbury Township.

"We certainly have lost a grand master that's for sure," Walker said.

Early life: Falkler, a Navy veteran of World War II, got his formal start in painting while attending the Maryland Institute of Art on the GI Bill after the war.

But a career in art wasn't immediately waiting for him after graduation. Rather, he sold insurance for Baltimore Life for a time, said his daughter, Kay Cochran of Bel Air, Md.

Soon after, he joined the ranks teaching at the York Academy of Arts, which he wound up owning for nearly 30 years. He was joined there by Cochran, who worked as an administrator.

In that time, Cochran said her father taught and influenced numerous budding artists from the area and beyond.

Outside of his artist's life, Falkler was married to his wife, Kathryn Falkler, for 65 years until her death at age 82 in 2008. The couple was known to travel to various parts of the world where Falkler would set up temporary shop to paint.

The couple had two children, Cochran and a son, William Falkler Jr., five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, according to his obituary.

Artist life: Many of Falkler's works can be seen hanging in buildings and private homes throughout the country.

According to his obituary, he painted more than 3,000 original pieces.

Falkler sold many of his prints from a stand at Central Market and at the yearly Olde York Street Fair. He also sold his works from his home, but never sold paintings through a gallery, Cochran said.

Some people would commission Falkler to paint their homes, much to her amusement, Cochran said.

"I once teased him that I don't know why people hang pictures of their houses in their houses," Cochran said.

She said her father found beauty in the scenes in York County and strived to preserve its history in color.

Art show: About 10 years ago, Falkler and his wife donated some of his work to the Mason Dixon Library in Stewartstown that depicted life in his hometown.

Those paintings, which are still hanging, were up when Walker displayed some of his own work during an art show.

"I was quite enthralled for my work to be hanging in the same vicinity of his," Walker said.

- Reach Greg Gross at ggross@yorkdispatch.com.

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