Fine Art Connoisseur
Cover art: Kathleen Speranza (b. 1962), “Heavy Rose” (detail), 2018, oil on panel, 14 x 11 in.

Fine Art Connoisseur March/April 2019, Editor’s Note:

Celebrating Collectors
By Peter Trippi

What an inspiring experience! For the past few months, our editorial team has been engrossed in learning about real-life individuals who are collecting superb contemporary realist art. Our conversations with these enthusiastic patrons — conducted via telephone, e-mail, and in person — have confirmed our belief that much energy, and considerable cash, are being expended in support of the ever-growing number of talented realist artists working among us. We are particularly delighted that these visionaries live all over the country, and that each fell in love with this field in a different way.

In preparing the profiles here, we learned that many of these collectors — sophisticated and well-connected as they are — are not accustomed to being in the spotlight. Knowing how much they value their privacy, we appreciate even more their willingness to speak with us, and we are looking forward to doing the same with a growing list of additional collectors who have kindly begun to engage in conversation with us already.

For now, we hope you will enjoy reading the eight profiles in this issue, and that you will anticipate — as much as we do — those still to come in Fine Art Connoisseur. We salute those who acquire such outstanding artworks, and we extend our applause to the artists who created them and to the dealers who sold them. Congratulations, thank you, and keep up the good work.

Finally, for those of you seeking a good art read, please allow me to recommend the first three books in the intriguing Diptych series being published by New York City’s Frick Collection and Giles (London). Each 68-page volume offers fresh insights on one of the Frick’s renowned masterworks by pairing an art historian’s essay with one from an unexpected voice. The first volume focuses on Hans Holbein’s famous portrait of Sir Thomas More, matching up the award-winning author Hilary Mantel (Bring Up the Bodies) with the museum’s chief curator Xavier Salomon.

The next book zooms in on Vermeer’s beloved “Mistress and Maid” by connecting the legendary filmmaker James Ivory (who most recently wrote and produced Call Me by Your Name) with Frick curator Margaret Iacono. This spring I am looking forward to reading the newest volume, which will highlight — if you can imagine — a pair of candlesticks by the 18th-century French master Pierre Gouthière by uniting the brilliant author-artist Edmund de Waal (The Hare with Amber Eyes) with Frick curator Charlotte Vignon.

It’s an imaginative concept, and it really works. These books are readily available via the Frick Collection or Amazon, so get ordering, and happy reading.

Download the March/April 2019 issue here, or subscribe to Fine Art Connoisseur today so you never miss an issue.


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