Color Long Branch an Artist’s Delight

Millwood artist Pam Klein.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

Color Long Branch an Artist’s Delight

By Leonard Shapiro

The majestic Long Branch House & Farm in Millwood is currently showcasing two modern artists who don’t exactly employ the typical horse, hound and hunt motifs in their colorful works prevalent in so many grand old Virginia homes.

One of those artists, Pam Klein, lives close by and said she can almost walk over to the imposing Long Branch house that dates to the 1700s. The other painter, Irma Ostroff, is a Philadelphia native who lives in Woodstock, N.Y. Walking there is not an option.

Headed by Director Matt Hannan, Long Branch’s 400-acre estate is home to gorgeous Photo by Leonard Shapiro gardens, lush paddocks, and even a horse rescue facility. It’s open to the public, has Millwood artist Pam Klein. a popular guest speaker program, stages frequently changing art exhibitions and is available for private events—weddings, parties, meetings and community gatherings.

According to its mission statement, “our purpose is to preserve and utilize the assets of the Long Branch estate for the benefit of our local and regional communities. The historic house, active equine farm and scenic open space allow us to promote education, environmental preservation and host community events.”

Klein is a New Jersey native who lived, studied and worked in New York for many years. Exhibiting her distinctive work is a shining example of what Long Branch is trying to achieve.

Klein has undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine art from Pratt Institute in New York, and later taught and was an administrator at the equally prestigious Parsons School of Design. Her first interaction with Long Branch came when journalist and author Howard Means, also a Millwood resident, asked her to speak there about her work.

She’s been painting all her life and admitted “I never thought of doing anything else.” Early on, abstract expressionism would have described her work. These days, it’s all about vibrant colors.

“Color can evoke an experience, a history, a feeling, a moment in time,” she wrote on her website. “For 40 years I’ve been exploring the interactions between color as a means of expression. At the moment, I’m working in oil and occasionally in gouache. My process involves a visual conversation between colors on the picture plane. As a dancer uses the physical space of the stage, I use the physical/visual space of the canvas to tell the story.”

Her paintings literally pirouette off the walls in the room where they’re on display through December. And the story of how she and her husband, renowned photographer Matthew Klein, decided to move south to tiny Millwood is fascinating as well.

It began with a chance meeting at a New York dog show. Pam saw her husband a short distance away and called out “Matt.” A different Matt was nearby, and hearing his name, also turned around.

That was Matthew McKay-Smith, who’s wife, Winkie, was a well-known breeder of English bull terriers. They lived in White Post. The couples began chitchatting, exchanged phone numbers, and thus began a 40-year friendship. When Matt Klein started taking riding lessons near their home in Harding Township New Jersey, the McKay-Smiths invited the Kleins down to visit, and Matthew to go tally ho with the Blue Ridge Hunt.

Over the years, the Kleins often spent weekends in the area, moving to Millwood in 2010.

“My husband was born in New York, but couldn’t have cared less about leaving,” Pam Klein said. “I guess you could say I came to Virginia kicking and screaming. But I’ve grown to love it.” Long Branch very much included.