JOHN WHORF (1903–1959), "Abandoned Farm, No. 2," c. 1940, watercolor on paper, 14 x 22 in., collection of Bob Frishman, Massachusetts
Horological Society of New York New York City hs-ny.org/exhibitions
through April 30, 2022
Artists have enthusiastically depicted clocks and watches ever since mechanical timepieces were invented seven centuries ago. Often these objects appear in artworks as reminders of human mortality or as symbols of affluence, discipline, occupation, or technological sophistication.
Now the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is presenting a rare exhibition of more than 60 examples, Horology in Art, nearly all on loan from its member Bob Frishman. Based in Massachusetts, he has been a clock restorer and writer-lecturer on horology for more than 30 years. This is the second exhibition Frishman has mounted at HSNY; the first, presented in 2019, featured 50 unusual watches, clocks, instruments, and related ephemera — also from his own rich collection.
On view now — just for example — are a folk portrait of a mother and child holding a pocket watch; Anatol Kovarsky’s preparatory watercolor for a New Yorker magazine cover showing a watchmaker; a portrait miniature on ivory in which a young woman’s watch and chain are visible; and the watercolor by Provincetown artist John Whorf illustrated here.
Among the canonical artists represented in the show’s prints section are Jan Steen, Giovanni Piranesi, Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and Salvador Dalí. The vintage photographs include daguerreotypes, cabinet cards, cartes de visites, glass lantern slides, and several of Mathew Brady’s Civil War-era portraits. Frishman has also gathered digital images of more than 2,000 other examples, now projected in a continuous slideshow inside the exhibition.
To mark this occasion, Frishman has prepared a 16-page illustrated catalogue that opens with some recollections from his two-decade-long search for these items. The publication also includes a treasure-hunt list of a dozen horology-in-art paintings on regular view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with thumbnail images and gallery numbers to help readers locate them easily. Among the artists represented in that group are Rubens, Ingres, and Eakins.
To schedule a visit to the Society’s midtown Manhattan space, e-mail [email protected] or register via its website.
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Alan Fetterman: Art is a powerful and faithful force. It is the mirror of our existence. It opens communications, understandings, awareness, vibrancy, insight and passion for a better way of life. It is in great part what unites us. Being an artist is simply showing your neighbors what you think and feel. But as a whole, art becomes a reflection of us all and inspiration to create abounds in all aspects of life…from the sentience of nature to the well- being of humanity. Letting the inspiration in and allowing it to develop via observation is step one. Step two is applying great effort and commitment time and time again.
Bucks County Pennsylvania has been my home for over 60 years. Much of my direct inspirations come from my homeland. Bucks County is, in great part, a Mecca for the arts. It’s a painter’s paradise tried and true, and the action of painting outdoors is a large part of my growth. I have painted hundreds of pieces outdoors achieving my own fervent expression within the surrounding waterways and by ways. Being Bucks County’s first artist-in-residence is telltale of the inspirational commitment to this wonderful region I get to call home.
Rain Over the Mesa
By Martin Blundell
9 x 12 in.
Oil on Canvas
$800
Martin Blundell began to pursue art after an elementary school teacher singled out his landscape watercolor painting as excellent. He was encouraged by a high school instructor to push forward with art studies and was recognized as a Utah High School Sterling Scholar in art. Martin completed a fine art degree at the University of Utah where he excelled in the honors art program, graduating with honors, and a BFA in printmaking and drawing.
His landscape paintings are characterized by vibrant color, a focus on composition and design, executed with impasto brushwork and pallet knife application of oil paint. Discover more of Martin’s work at www.celebrateart.com and visit him, along with 100 other artists, at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale, AZ through January 15 -March 27, 2022.
As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery or the artist.
Enchantee by Alice Williams, Oil, 46 x 35 in.; Anderson Fine Art Gallery
Mieux vaut faire envie que pitie by Francois Brunery (1849-1926), oil on canvas, 36 x 28 in, signed; Rehs Galleries, Inc.
Swan Song Sunset -Sunset Over the Palisades by Ken Salaz, oil on panel, 22 x 28 in., signed; Rehs Contemporary
Greeny Creek by Andy Thomas, Oil, 20 x 16 in.; ArtzLine.com
Want to see your gallery or artwork featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
Jenny’s studio with “Reflections,” 36 x 60 in., oil, 2021
What is the best thing about being an artist?
Jenny Buckner: The best thing about being an artist is waking up every day and being excited about my job. It encompasses all my passions: photography, working with my hands, nature, the outdoors, color, design, and light. I can use all these, to tell you about my world, in a painting.
The artist Jon deMartin (b. 1955) has spent much time in Venice drawing, painting, and studying the methods of the many historical Venetian masters who have long inspired him.
Over the years, his annual visits have prompted a subtle “sea change” in his artistry, a move from a naturalistic approach to one that is — in his words — “more felt,” more reliant on his own drawings and his own memory. This evolution has been somewhat surprising even to deMartin, who is hardly a newcomer to art. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he graduated from Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute with a B.F.A. in filmmaking, then studied fine art in Manhattan at the Art Students League, School of Visual Arts, and New York Academy of Art, as well as privately with Michael Aviano.
Throughout his Venetian initiative, deMartin has “sought to work out a reliable method that supports what I want to express, because how I approach the painting, on the technical side, profoundly influences the outcome. This has been a fascinating, difficult, and passionate adventure, during which I have developed a certain degree of confidence in my process so I that can focus on the idea.”
Ever the educator, deMartin has lectured about this aesthetic journey at such institutions as Studio Incamminati (Philadelphia) and Grand Central Atelier (New York City). His talks are peppered with relevant quotations by the greats of art history, from Leonardo to Hopper, and illustrated by examples of his own work at every stage of the process.
Illustrated here are a few of his paintings of Venetian subjects, and also an architectural study he drew there. Note the recurrence of smart phones in these scenes: deMartin is not seeking to turn back time, but rather to show the city and its people as they are today.
Jon deMartin, “Text Message,” 2019, oil on wood, 15 x 13 1/2 in., collection of the artistJon deMartin, “Program Seller,” 2019, oil on wood, 18 x 12 in., collection of the artistJon deMartin, “Closing Time,” 2019, oil on wood, 16 x 11 in., collection of the artist
SELECTING THE ESSENTIALS
At the heart of deMartin’s self-discovery is his decision to no longer paint from life, but instead from drawings he has made from life, and also from his own memory. He stresses that the act of drawing forces the artist to “select the essentials,” eliminating the clutter of what does not matter. On occasion, he concedes, his photographs of a model or setting become useful in double checking backgrounds or colors, but never can a photograph select the essentials as a drawing does.
Logically, deMartin begins with the idea, allowing nothing to impede his imagination — especially reality. He always has paper and pen handy in case inspiration strikes unexpectedly, and he sees his compositional drawing as the initial “gesture” of the painting that will ultimately emerge. During its preparation, important questions may arise, such as, “Is this painting going to be about the figures or the setting?”
Having drawn a composition, no matter how tentatively, deMartin begins to draw figure poses from his imagination. Like past masters, he also feels free to borrow poses from historical sources, which is why having a good art library is helpful. He urges his students to conceive and draw the main figure, the background figures, the props, and the setting before they hire a single model or go outdoors: “I have wasted precious modeling time and money by not being prepared,” deMartin admits.
Once the models arrive, the artist makes drawings that purify their forms down to the essentials, always depicting them nude before drawing them clothed. DeMartin also draws the entire pose even if part of the body will be cropped out later. He notes that experienced models can provide unanticipated insights, but, like actors in rehearsal, they need a clear-headed director who already has a compositional drawing (or script) well underway. Having continuously sought to strengthen the image’s overall graphic power, deMartin “squares up” the final compositional drawing in order to transfer it to the canvas that he will paint.
Jon deMartin, “Grand Canal at Dusk,” 2018, oil on wood, 14 x 20 in., collection of the artist
After finalizing his color palette so that he can concentrate on the act of painting, deMartin begins to integrate his drawings of the models or architecture. Knowing that he may have to adjust the composition as the painting process unfolds, his goal now is to create “expressive, three-dimensional lines with spontaneous and flowing figures.” This approach means deMartin has abandoned the use of cartoon transfers (which, he says, “force me to color between the lines”) and of oil sketches (“which use up all of my expressive energy before I even get to the final canvas”).
Jon deMartin, “Chiesa San Zulian,” 2019, graphite on paper, 7 x 7 in., collection of the artist
Reasonable as this approach may seem to laymen, it is still not fully understood in the world of American classical ateliers. Fortunately, this is a free country, without a nationalized system of art instruction, so deMartin can do as he wishes, and we all can enjoy the results illustrated here. We at Fine Art Connoisseur look forward to seeing what comes next from his lively brushes and pens.
At Pennsylvania State University, the Palmer Museum of Art is rapidly approaching its 50th anniversary. Its leaders are busy constructing an impressive new building, but that won’t prevent them from using the current one to host a year-long series of celebratory projects.
They will kick it off with the exhibition “An American Place,” which presents highlights from the superb collection of American art bequeathed by the museum’s lead philanthropist, Barbara Palmer (1926–2019).
Assembled over three decades with her husband, James, this trove contains paintings, works on paper, and sculpture dating from the 1870s through the 1970s.
Among the artists represented are Milton Avery, Romare Bearden, Thomas Hart Benton, Charles Burchfield, Paul Cadmus, Mary Cassatt, Frederic Edwin Church, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, and George Tooker.
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter
As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery.
Twilight Harmony by Paula Holtzclaw, Oil, 37 x 47 in.; Anderson Fine Art Gallery
Grazing Daze by Lucia Heffernan, Oil on panel, 36 x 36 in., Signed; Rehs Contemporary
Coming Through the Rye by Daniel Ridgway Knight (1839 – 1924), Oil on canvas, 32.5 x 26 in., Signed and inscribed Paris; Rehs Galleries, Inc.
“Rain Over Cheops Temple” Grand Canyon by John Cox, Oil, 20 x 20 in.; ArtzLine.com
Want to see your gallery featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
Beth Clary Schwier, pictured here in her barn studio in Indiana.
How did you get started and then develop your career?
Beth Clary Schwier is an award-winning Indiana artist. Originally from Peru, Indiana. A former actress and model, Beth began painting while raising her six children and then began studying with renowned Indiana impressionist artist C.W. Mundy. She loves experimenting with abstract impressionism and abstract realism.
Although she is known for her amazing floral pieces, Beth likes to paint unusual subjects from everyday life that evoke nostalgia and fond memories. Beth and her art are featured on Seasons 2 thru 6 of HGTV’s National Hit Show Good Bones, filmed in Indianapolis. She was also a featured artist at the 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the mall in Washington DC, depicting the American Circus. Beth will also soon be a featured artist at the home of the Indiana Pacers, Gainbridge Fieldhouse telling one of the great Indiana Basketball stories on canvas.
She now has her own gallery near downtown Indianapolis. Beth Clary Fine Art is located at 5636 East Washington St, Indianapolis, IN 46219.
Anatomy of a Lime
By Jenny Stewart
44 x 61 in.
Oil on canvas
$7,000
Jenny Stewart was inspired and impressed early on by the work of Georgia O’Keeffe. ‘I find that like her, I am excited by the beauty I see in ordinary everyday objects. Although some of my work is composed like a traditional still life, many are enlarged beyond a normal scale. I have always been interested in photography and I usually shoot my own reference photographs. With camera in hand, I like to zoom in and explore the subtle textures and curves of an object until I start to lose the object itself,” says Stewart. “I use this same dramatic canvas filling perspective in my paintings. I look for areas where the shadows form interesting shapes, or the light glows thru the flower petals, or the distorted reflection appears on the metal bowl.” Color plays an important role in Stewart’s work, but even more important, is the effect of light on the subject. “I set up my subject, usually in the afternoon sun when shadows are long and I photograph it from several angles.”
Jenny’s stunning works can be found at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale, Arizona, now through March 27, 2022. Contact 480-443-7695 or [email protected]; www.celebrateart.com.
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