By Vanessa Françoise Rothe
Now in its seventh year, the innovative Palm Springs art fair, known as ”Art Palm Springs” has been growing, and boasted 70 galleries at the Palm Springs Convention Center this last week. With events and tours led by scholars, curators, and critics, the well-rounded event has become quite a hotspot indeed.
Supported by the Palm Springs Museum, and with new awards recognizing patrons, artists, and curators for their contributions and support of the arts, the fair attracts a large crowd, with attendance higher than ever this year.
With an eclectic mix of styles and genres, the fair hits a great range of collectors and now proves to be of note for collectors of realism and representational works. From a few California impressionist works, to contemporary realist works by leading artists today, the exhibit highlights historical international works as well. Gaining more galleries each year in these genres, the fair includes top realist or partially representational galleries such as Arcadia Contemporary, Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Gerald Peters Projects, George Billis Gallery, David Klein Gallery, and more.
Of particular note were strong new works by Daniel Sprick, Joseph Todorovitch, Jeremy Lipking, and beautifully rendered Western works by Mark Maggiori. Contrasting with these finished works are the thick brush strokes of Eric Bowman and Malcolm Liepke, for example.
Another interesting addition was a historical piece created by German artist Max Pechstein (1881-1955), an expressionist with figures rooted in representational style. The work available is a portrait of Charlotte Churt, standing nearly 70 inches tall and 34 inches wide in a vaulted frame. Pechstein was born the son of a craftsman, and had early contact with the art of Vincent Van Gogh, which stimulated his development toward the mix of realism and expressionism. This work is available through Hohman Art.
Surprising new finds include bold works by Kelly Reemtsen and Denis Sarazhin. The fair would not be complete without the Iconic Palm Springs pools. One such tightly rendered artwork, considered hearty American Realism, was by Danny Heller titled “Twin Palms Evening,” depicting a typical mid-century modern Palm Springs home and pool with palms.
All in all the fair was quite impressive. It was small enough to see in a few hours with a very pleasing venue, and the art, along with the warm desert air and iconic landscapes, was definitely worth the journey west.
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