When Denise Ecenroad opened the door to her brother’s house after his death two years ago, it was the first time she set foot inside in 15 years.
What the nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon discovered astonished her.
Hundreds of paintings — some measuring 5 feet across — were crammed into multiple rooms.
All were done by her brother, Lewis Lanza Rudolph, a once-promising abstract artist who had work shown at prestigious New York galleries in the 1980s, before he became reclusive.
“I cried,” said Ecenroad, who lives in Schaefferstown.
“His surroundings looked like he was living in a state of denying himself.”
Since that time, Ecenroad and her husband, Bruce, have been re-discovering Rudolph’s artwork.
Where she initially planned to simply sell off the paintings, Ecenroad now is looking to reintroduce Lewis Lanza Rudolph to the art world.
And Lancaster will be first to meet him.
“A Brother’s Legacy; Four Decades of Art,” featuring Rudolph’s work from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s, is scheduled from 5-9 p.m., Aug. 1 and 15, at Mulberry Art Studios, 19-21 N. Mulberry St.
“He walked away at the height of his career and just painted,” Ecenroad said.
“Why he quit showing is a mystery to me.”
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Rudolph was born in Red Bank, N.J., in 1949.
According to Ecenroad, her older brother grew up painting.
“Early on, he did a lot of scenery,” Ecenroad said. “We lived near the shore, so he did quite a few seascapes.”
Rudolph graduated from high school in 1968, and then spent two years at the independent Art Students League of New York school, before being drafted into the U.S. Army.
He served as a military policeman in Germany from 1970-72, Ecenroad said, during which time, he toured many German art galleries.
“When he came back from the service, that’s when he went to abstracts,” Ecenroad said.
Rudolph spent two more years at Art Students League of New York, before taking a job as a janitor at a synagogue in order to pay his bills while he painted.
“He lived at home with our parents, and he painted,” Ecenroad said. “It was a good arrangement.”
During this time, Rudolph landed scholarships from various art organizations, “which basically meant he got money to paint,” Ecenroad said.
Eventually, Rudolph started showing his work in galleries in New Jersey and New York, including the prestigious Beitzel Gallery in New York City.
Ecenroad found newspaper clippings in her brother’s house about his work.
At one time, his art was favorably reviewed by The New York Times.
But Ecenroad really doesn’t know much about this period of her brother’s life.
He didn’t talk about it much.
“That’s just the way he was — quiet,” she said.
The last record of a showing of Rudolph’s art that Ecenroad could find was from 1987.
“Apparently, he just stopped showing,” she said.
But he didn’t stop painting.
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Fast-forward to 2011.
Rudolph called Ecenroad and told her he had a key to his house to give her for when he died.
Ecenroad had kept in touch with her brother over the years by visiting him at the house the family grew up in Red Bank.
Whenever she visited, Rudolph always met her on the front porch.
She never went inside, and their visits always included trips away from the house.
Rudolph had a phone, but he mostly kept it unplugged.
“If I wanted to talk to him, I’d have to send him a letter asking him to talk at a certain time and date,” Ecenroad said.
Rudolph didn’t talk about art and Ecenroad didn’t ask.
Rudolph died unexpectedly of natural causes on Oct. 4, 2012, and Ecenroad finally stepped inside her childhood home.
That’s when she discovered some 500 paintings her brother had done and stowed in the garage, basement, attic and an upstairs room.
“Apparently, he kept painting for himself after he stopped showing,” Ecenroad said. “My first thought was, ‘What am I going to do with all these?'”
Ecenroad and her husband sold off everything but the paintings from her brother’s estate.
“We figured we’d sell them too, but we didn’t know the first thing about selling artwork,” Ecenroad said.
So she took a trip to Lancaster in April 2013 to visit various galleries here and ask a lot of questions.
Multiple gallery owners suggested she look into a regular art auction held at Mulberry Art Studios.
Ecenroad ventured over there and met the gallery’s owner, April Koppenhaver.
“She offered to come to my house and look at the paintings,” Ecenroad said. “And sure enough, she drove out one Sunday and spent two hours with us.”
Koppenhaver saw something special in Rudolph’s work, according to Ecenroad.
“She said if he was in The New York Times, he must be somebody,” Ecenroad said.
Koppenhaver could not be reached for comment.
And it was Koppenhaver who recommended Ecenroad organize some showings of her brother’s work, as opposed to just putting it up for sale.
“She told us this isn’t about selling art,” Ecenroad said. “It’s about recognizing the artist.”
Koppenhaver also offered her expert opinion of Rudolph’s work, Ecenroad said.
“She said my brother is very talented, and then said, ‘Who’s to say who is the next Picasso?'” she said.
With Koppenhaver’s help, the Ecenroad’s have selected and framed 153 of Rudolph’s paintings.
They are working through cataloging all of Rudolph’s pieces, as well as having them copyrighted.
What are Rudolph’s paintings worth?
Ecenroad said she was given a value by an appraiser, but she declined to disclose that amount, saying the actual value could climb higher as she exhibits his work.
She did say she found records indicating Rudolph sold paintings in the 1980s for $2,800-$4,800.
Ecenroad has been trying to get in touch with artists who knew her brother during that time.
Using bits and pieces of information she found in Rudolph’s house, she has found a few, and is hoping to make contact so she can learn more about his work.
Such information, Ecenroad said, hopefully will help her tell his story as she exhibits his work.
Already, she has started a website, telling what she knows of her brother’s story, and displaying some of his
artwork.
Her goal ultimately is to sell his paintings, and to take the proceeds and offer scholarships and grants to budding artists.
“That’s how he got to stay home and paint,” Ecenroad said. “I’m sure he’d appreciate that he helped give someone else the same opportunity he had.”
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