Based in Iowa, the widely admired figurative artist Timothy Rees is launching his first show at Scottsdale’s Bonner David Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona (December 4-31, 2025). Best known for keenly observed, richly colored paintings of women and children, Rees is opening a new chapter in his 15-year career with recent works that blend realism with abstraction.
His show is titled “Gilded Souls” not only because many of the pieces feature 18-karat gold leaf, but also because the figures depicted — many of them dissolving partially into expressively brushed backgrounds — are charmed, ethereal beings, whether they are holding up the world like Atlas or lost in reading a book.
“Gold leaf represents the enhanced beauty and value of experiences that push us further,” Rees explains. “It’s about the journey — the hardships that refine and define us, much like Japanese kintsugi pottery, in which broken pieces are mended with gold to become more beautiful than before.”
In this regard, Rees has drawn inspiration from forerunners like Gustav Klimt and Alphonse Mucha, who integrated their figures into golden settings, shifting between thick and thin paint layers to keep the eye moving.
Rees is already a star in Arizona, having developed and taught a classical training program for the Scottsdale Artists’ School before founding his own atelier. His overall objective is to, in his words, “add to the inherent beauty of the world while exploring what it means to be human through the visual experience of paint.” Mission accomplished.
