Who We Are
Our business was created more than 15 years ago to accomplish several goals:
• Heighten awareness and appreciation of Emerson Burkhart, one of ‘Columbus’ most beloved and celebrated artists of the mid-20th century who painted in the Realist tradition.
• Create a digital destination for all things Burkhart and provide a sole source of information on Burkhart through our own curated materials and links to other websites.
• Provide a secure and confidential marketplace for collectors who wish to buy and sell works by Burkhart. Our digital platform allows us to operate at a lower cost than traditional galleries, so we pass along the savings to both buyers and sellers.
Our President and Founder, Geoff Hetrick, is the recognized Burkhart expert who has spent two decades researching and interviewing the artist’s friends, acquaintances, and others who knew him personally. As a teenager, Hetrick witnessed the artist at work painting a colorful landscape of sailboats at Hoover Reservoir in Delaware County, OH. This was one year prior to the untimely passing of Burkhart in 1969.
Much of Burkhart’s story was well-documented in the Columbus, Ohio media for decades while the artist was living. Hetrick has amassed boxes of the artist’s press clippings, personal papers, and journals given to him by Burkhart’s friends over many years. The story of Burkhart, his family, friends, and his personal struggle to achieve recognition and fame is as complicated as he was as a person.
Hetrick has seen or inspected more of Burkhart’s paintings than anyone other than Burkhart himself. Burkhart stated in a mid-1960s television interview that he had painted more than 4,000 paintings by that point in his life. He was even more prolific in the last three years of his life, painting an additional 600–800 canvases and watercolors.
Emersonburkhart.com President – Geoff Hetrick
Today, Hetrick devotes much of his time to inspecting works by Burkhart for authentication as well as providing access to best-in-class restoration and conservation services for important paintings created by Burkhart and others.
Additionally, he has handled sales of Burkhart works and other important artists for many estates, including that of Karl Jaeger, Burkhart’s best friend, primary patron, and sole heir to the Burkhart estate. He has also assisted noted Midwest art institutions and important collectors in the acquisition of key Burkhart paintings.
In 2009, Hetrick recognized the need and demand for a value-oriented web-based sales platform that would conveniently bring buyers and sellers together and allow for discreet transactions managed by the Burkhart.com team.
