It’s arguably the most prestigious, competitive, and exciting art competition for contemporary realism in the world. Now in it’s 12th year, the Art Renewal Center recently announced its newest Salon winners. Who took home the hardware?
The Art Renewal Center (ARC) – one of the most respected realist art institutions – was overjoyed to recently announce the latest winners of it’s incredibly popular and competitive Salon. The 12th Annual International ARC Salon features over 1,000 finalist works representing 640 artists from 63 countries. As part of the competition, the ARC has also acquired 14 works for their own collection.
Awards are categorized by various different sections – most often surrounding subject, including best nude, best social commentary, best trompe l’oeil, best figure, best portrait, best still life, best imaginative realism, best landscape, and many more. Of course, all artists covet earning best in show honors, museum purchase awards, and others sponsored by magazines such as Fine Art Connoisseur and PleinAir Magazine.
Tenaya Sims’ outstanding work “Semillas” (seeds) earned top distinction as Best in Show in 2016. Runner up honors, titled The Bouguereau Award, was taken home by Nick Alm for his painting “The Performance. The winner of The Da Vinci Initiative Award for the Young Aspiring Artist was awarded to 15-year-old Ray Wanda Totanes for her marvelous painting “Perception of Self”. The Oil Painters of America (OPA) also sponsors an award of $1000, which was given to Michele Del Camp for his painting “The Argument.”
Many other honors were given to well-deserving artists, and we encourage you to view the full list of recipients by visiting the ARC International Salon webpage.
As has been the custom since its inception, the ARC will be working with galleries such as Rehs Contemporary, Arcadia Contemporary, and The Salmagundi Club to mount several exhibitions of finalist works, which will be held early in 2017; exact dates to be announced. Currently on the slate is a showing of approximately 75 works for the live version of the ARC Salon that will travel from the Salmagundi Club to the MEAM Museum in Barcelona, Spain, where it will be on view from September 23 through November 27, 2017. The showing at the Salmagundi Club will open May 12 and continue through June 1, 2017.
The 13th Annual International Salon will feature a new category: plein air! Sponsored by the California Plein Air Painters and Masters of Plein Air Academy, organizers expect a robust number of entries in this category, especially given the meteoric rise of plein air’s popularity.
To learn more, visit The Art Renewal Center.
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