obituaries

From the roiling waters of Lake Superior, to trickling streams wending their way through the rugged wilderness, to farmlands drenched in summertime warmth, Don Koestner captured the beauty of northern Minnesota and the rural Midwest through his landscape paintings.

He created more than 2,000 paintings and sketches during his 50-year career, in which he established himself as the state's premier impressionist landscape painter, those who knew him said.

"He was the best there ever was," said friend and Twin Cities artist Stephen Gjertson. "He was the epitome of landscape impressionism."

Koestner died Dec. 23 of old age at his daughter's house in Pine River, Minn. He was 86.

Not one to paint indoors, Koestner did most of his work on the scene, taking his paintbrush and canvas to points high and low to capture fleeting effects in nature, such as mist on water, and to reflect his fascination with light with such images as trees basking in moonlight. He began his career in the 1950s, when he built a one-room cabin overlooking the bluffs of the Mississippi River near Hastings and honed his skills by studying the work and technique of master landscape painters from the 1800s and incorporating them into his pieces. He also took yearly trips to major museums on the East Coast to look at paintings. The beauty and vivid colors that marked his work earned him the unofficial title of poet laureate of Minnesota impressionism, those who knew him said.

Although his work has graced the walls of the State Capitol, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Bloomington Art Center and the Master Framers Gallery in St. Paul, his work is mainly owned by private collectors who learned of his work through word of mouth and small community and home shows he held in Hastings.

"He was a masterful artist," said Hastings resident Susan Carmody, who owns three of his works and took painting classes from him in the 1980s.

Koestner, who served in the Army Air Force during World War II, used money from the GI Bill to attend the Minneapolis School of Art, where he was an honor student. His dream was to paint full time, so he taught classes at Atelier Lack on Hennepin Avenue and drove a cab in Richfield to help pay the bills, said Bill Hakala, who wrote the biography "A Way of Living: The Simple Life and Extraordinary Craft of Landscape Painter Don Koestner" and edited the book "Don Koestner, American Impressionist."

Koestner moved to Silver Bay, Minn., later in his career and continued to paint into his 80s. He was an opera devotee, occasionally taking in a live performance but listening weekly to the Texaco opera on National Public Radio, said his son, Fred, of St. Louis Park.

In addition to Fred, he is survived by a daughter, Lorna Koestner of Pine River, Minn., and two grandchildren.

A memorial show featuring his work will be held from 1-4 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Atelier, 1681 E. Hennepin Av., Minneapolis.