About

OUT EAST

Out East is a celebration of a place that exists somewhere between memory and mythology.

Drawing inspiration from the great American travel posters of the 1930s and ’40s, Robert Thomas reimagines the East End of Long Island through a contemporary lens. Across the series, sweeping beaches, sailboats, surfers, polo fields, horses, golf courses, farms and seaside towns become symbols of an enduring idea of summer—one built around escape, freedom and life lived outdoors.

The phrase “Out East” carries its own mythology. It is both a destination and a state of mind: leaving the city behind, following the road toward the Atlantic, and watching the landscape gradually open into farmland, dunes and sea.

Robert Thomas approaches these scenes through the visual language of vintage commercial art—bold typography, simplified forms, dramatic compositions and sun-faded color. The paintings recall an era when travel was sold through illustrated posters that transformed real places into promises of adventure. Rather than recreating those posters, Thomas uses their optimism and graphic power to explore how places become romanticized through memory.

Raised along the Atlantic in Long Branch, New Jersey, Robert Thomas brings his own connection to East Coast beach culture to the work. The landscapes of Long Island are specific, yet the experiences they represent are universal: the first glimpse of the ocean beyond the dunes, an afternoon on the water, a long summer evening, or the feeling that somewhere just beyond the horizon life might move a little slower.

In Out East, the Hamptons and the communities beyond become more than locations on a map. They represent an American mythology of summer—part real, part remembered and part imagined.

Presented by Casterline | Goodman Gallery