Adra Brown, "Between the Light and the Dark," oil on linen, 20 x 18 in.
Mary Woerner Fine Arts (West Palm Beach, Florida) has announced a new exhibition feature Adra Brown and Trish Beckham in “Found: Places, Plants, and People.” Both artists are contemporary realists working in oil on canvas, linen, and panel.
Adra will show exquisitely rendered still lifes of her often peculiar tableaux and a selection of her portraits and figures.
Trish has been painting the city scenes of New York, California, and Florida alongside her vast land and seascapes all done in the quick work of the palette knife.
Trish Beckham, “Weekend at the Royal Palm,” oil on panel, 12 x 12 in.
The show runs through March 12, 2022. For more details, please visit MaryWoernerFineArts.com.
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The Louise and Bernard Palitz Gallery at Syracuse University’s Lubin House is hosting the exhibition “Morton Kaish: A Print Retrospective.”
Organized by director and chief curator Vanja Malloy alongside Kaish himself (who graduated from Syracuse in 1949), it surveys this artist’s longstanding love of printmaking over seven decades.
On view are 31 prints in various media, starting with a drawing made in 1945, through his experimental years in Italy, and culminating in the dramatic color of his current “Butterflies” series.
Morton Kaish (b. 1927), “Spring Morning,” 2017, monotype on paper, 16 x 12 in.
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Joseph Wright of Derby, "An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump," 1768.
Oil on canvas, 72 x 96 1/16 in. National Gallery, London.
One of the great masterpieces from the Age of Enlightenment, Joseph Wright of Derby’s “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump” (1768) will be shown at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens through May 23, 2022, in an installation titled “Science and the Sublime: A Masterpiece by Joseph Wright of Derby.” The monumental 6-by-8-foot work will be lent by the National Gallery in London, where it is one of that institution’s most popular paintings.
From the organizers:
The powerful scene depicts a small group of people gathered around a candlelit table on which a lecturer in natural history is performing a scientific experiment, namely the creation of a vacuum, as described by chemist Robert Boyle in the 17th century. As air is slowly removed from a glass jar, the fate of a cockatiel inside the jar hangs in the balance.
The observers’ reactions range from fascination to dismay. In Wright’s hands, the tableau is an exercise in the sublime, a moment of extreme tension recast as a dramatic meditation on the fragility of life. At the same time, the experiment being performed relates to advances in the fields of science and medicine, making the scene a celebration of human achievement.
The loan of “Bird in the Air Pump” is part of a reciprocal exchange with the National Gallery, where The Huntington’s most famous work, Thomas Gainsborough’s iconic portrait of “The Blue Boy” (ca. 1770), will be on display for London museumgoers for the first time in a century (through May 15, 2022).
“We’re very excited to be partnering with the National Gallery for the first time in these reciprocal loans, which give audiences on both sides of the Atlantic a rare opportunity to view important works that have strong connections to each museum’s respective collections,” said Christina Nielsen, the Hannah and Russel Kully Director of the Art Museum at The Huntington. “It’s also a wonderful opportunity to collaborate within The Huntington’s own collecting areas to forge deeper connections between the holdings of the Art Museum and the Library.”
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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.
Sudden Glow by Roger Dale Brown, Oil, 30 x 40 in.; Anderson Fine Art Gallery
Dawn (Featured in The Small Works Show) by Vanessa Lemen, Oil on panel, 8 x 8 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.
Chasing Fortune by Chauncey Homer, Oil on linen, 30 x 36 in.
West Side Albuquerque by Lorenzo Chavez, Oil, 12 x 16 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.
Lot 140: Daniel Celentano, "Pelham Bay," oil on canvas. Sold for $55,000, a record for the artist.
Swann Galleries opened 2022 with The Artists of the WPA on Thursday, January 27. The follow-up to an inaugural 2021 sale proved the staying power of this special offering with the auction bringing $647,891, compared to last year’s total of $478,990.
Of the auction, Harold Porcher, specialist for the sale, noted, “Six of our departments contributed to make this an informative, diverse, and curatorial assessment of an important part of American art history. The New Deal was groundbreaking in its scale and vision, giving employment to many who in turn gave us lasting riches in art, architecture, and engineering that has endured.”
With themes showcasing both urban and rural Americans, paintings of the era saw rapid-fire bidding drive prices past their high estimates with eager collectors vying for the works. Leading the sale was Daniel Celentano’s scene of a crowded subway car—”Pelham Bay,” oil on canvas, which brought $55,000, a record for the artist.
Additional highlights included commissions from the American Tobacco Company: Aaron Bohrod’s “Getting Ready for Auction,” oil on Masonite, 1942, at $21,250; and Arnold Blanch’s “A Stick of Tobacco After Curing,” oil on canvas, 1942, at $12,500. Also of note was Isaac Soyer, “The Refugee,” oil on canvas, which realized $7,250.
Blanche Lazzell’s 1936 double-sided carved woodblock “Cape Cod Cottage” and “The Coffee Pot” brought $23,750—Lazzell only created two impressions of “Cape Cod Cottage” and three of “Coffee Pot,” which have not been seen at auction in the past 30 years.
Lot 148: Blanche Lazzell, “Cape Cod Cottage” & “The Coffee Pot” (below), double-sided woodblock, painted in color inks, 1946. Sold for $23,750.
Among the print offerings American stalwarts shined: “Stacking Hay,” an early Jackson Pollock lithograph, circa 1935, sold for $16,250; a run of works by Martin Lewis found buyers, most notably R.F.D., a 1933 drypoint of a view in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, at $12,500; and Louis Lozowick’s “57th Street,” a 1929 lithograph of New York City at night, at $11,250. Also of note were prints by Peggy Bacon, Thomas Hart Benton, and Grant Wood.
Documentary photography from FSA favorites was on offer with a portfolio of 10 iconic images printed under the supervision of Arthur Rothstein, including those by Rothstein, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Ben Shahn, earned $8,125; Carl Mydans’ “Manhattan From Brooklyn Heights,” silver print, 1937, brought $9,375, a record for the artist; and Marion Post Wolcott’s 1939 silver prints “Barn and Silos, York County, Pennsylvania,” and “City Jail, Mississippi Delta,” sold together for $6,000. Works by Peter Sekaer, Jack Delano, Berenice Abbott, and Russell Lee rounded out the offering.
Mural studies, vintage posters and flyers, and political cartoons were among sought-after items, including those by James Daugherty, Joseph Binder, and Leslie Ragan.
Swann is currently accepting quality consignments for the winter/spring 2022 season. For more details and the house’s auction schedule please visit swanngalleries.com.
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
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Karen Ann Hitt, An Original Hitt at her Hughes Easel and the work in progress, “Alleluia” that will debut at her solo exhibit 28 March 2022 Hughes Gallery Inc. Boca Grande Florida.
How do you describe success?
Karen Ann Hitt: Being enabled the opportunity to fully utilize aesthetic abilities in an environment allowing for growth and the continual development of its potential. Two beloved quotes: “I am still learning” spoken at 87 and “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – Michelangelo
I am honored that the Hughes Gallery, beginning its 22nd season, is hosting my solo exhibit that opens 28 March 2022. They are located at 333 Park Ave. Boca Grande, Florida (across from The Temp) 941.964.4273
What is the most interesting thing you have painted and why?
A sundog! Had never heard of them, or even seen one before. When one appeared along the horizon coming out of an enormous cloudscape at dusk along the shore, it caused me to pause in awe and examine it. Then, sought to learn what it was, since it had just inspired me to attempt to paint it. One more Michelangelo quote: “The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection”
Therefore, the works of these hands are continually inspired to wrestle with ‘a shadow’…
Karen Ann Hitt, “Comes Into The Light” 2020-21, Oil on Linen, 30 x 36 in. — painted when the world was reacting to a pandemic, this scene reflects an actual view and the spirit of its effects on the current events too. It is that ‘sundog’ and most interesting subject painted to date.Karen Ann Hitt, “Winter’s Rise” 2021, Oil on Linen, 16 x 12 in. — A reflection of the fascination of the colors of the first frost that blanketed the land as backdropped by those cooler temperatures enhancing the colors of the sunrise while remnants of fall foliage held on tight.
Laura Pollak, “Open to the Universe,” 3-Dimensional Pastel Painting on Archival Pastel Board, 16 x 20 in., $3200, available through the artist
Laura Pollak: “I’m always trying to push the boundaries of the medium and explore deeper meanings. I love to allow the viewer to finish the story.”
“Open to the Universe” was the top winner in the Pastel Society of the West Coast International Show in 2021 in the Modern and Experimental Category. Laura is a Juried Signature member of the Pastel Society of America and a Master Circle Artist with the International Association of Pastel Societies.
Laura Pollak, “Aquamarine,” Pastel on Archival Pastel Paper, 24 x 18 in., available through the artistLaura Pollak, “Behind the Curve,” Pastel on Archival Pastel Paper, 20 x 16 in., available through the artist
Johanne Mangi, “Mello,” oil on linen, 10 x 8 in., private collection
Johanne Mangi: “Mello” is a rescued Greyhound possessing a gentle nature but not without concern. I saw an intense, worried look which I had hoped to capture. I think I succeeded. Commissions are difficult because your interpretation may not be what the owner wants. Always a challenge to artist license.
“Portrait work interests me because I enjoy the challenge of intuitively interpreting my subject. In pursuit of developing this skill further, I am devoting more time to painting for myself.”
Gary Alsum, “Joy Ride” Bronze, 7”H 15”W 10”D, Edition of 75, $2,700 Available through the artist at garyalsum.com
Gary Alsum: I am best known for creating custom commissioned bronzes of the human figure through the National Sculptors’ Guild or the Knox Galleries. Most often they are serious in nature, but occasionally I take a fun detour and combine an appreciation for classic automobiles and furry friends. It’s not so serious, serious art. Everyone laughs when they first view the frivolity. Of course dogs would drive if they could and no doubt recklessly. Enjoy!
Gary Alsum, “Cat n’ Dogs” Bronze, 9.25”H 19”W 10.5”D, Edition of 75, $3,600 Available through the artist at garyalsum.comGary Alsum, “Party Animals” Bronze, 7.75”H 11.5”W 7.5”D, Edition of 75, $2,700 Available through the artist at garyalsum.com
The 2nd Annual Watercolor Live virtual art conference came to a close with the amazing seminars we’ve come to cherish. Cindy Baron, David Poxon, Laurie Goldstein-Warren, Carrie Waller, and Thomas Schaller headlined the day, with bonus sessions from our wonderful sponsors: Savoir-Faire, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, Royal Talens, Blick Art Materials, and Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff.
We had a fun pop-up visit from Eric Rhoads with some motivating words about prioritizing ourselves as artists, and had exciting announcements about Watercolor Live 2023 (don’t miss it)!
Cindy painted a 12 x 12-inch landscape for demo as she explained the techniques she uses to create watercolors in an “unusual” style.
The most important part of Cindy Baron’s painting process is putting down three layers of paint and glazes overtopping each other to create the luminosity she achieves in her watercolor paintings. To first saturate her 300-lb cold pressed Arches paper, she said, “It takes a lot of water, a lot of paint, and a lot of abuse.”
David Poxon’s watercolor setup
Coming to us from England, David Poxon explored texture, multi-layering, and glazing for tonal depth for an up-close scene of a photo reference he took while in Rome.
In a portrait demo with a twist, Laurie Goldstein-Warren showed us how she uses a watercolor pouring technique and also works from dark to light, which is unusual for this media.
Carrie Waller’s watercolor still life in progress
Carrie Waller is known for her highly detailed watercolor paintings. In her demo, she explained how to paint glass in watercolor.
The first step in her process? Setting up her still life outside, which gives her the brightest possibilities for color.
Thomas shared the importance of his sketchbook; he carries it with him everywhere to record visual notes for his paintings
Coming to us live from his Los Angeles studio, Thomas Schaller gave the final demonstration of Watercolor Live this year. He assured us that there is no right or wrong way to paint in watercolor – rather, the potential is infinite. He added that a good painter should be able to paint wherever you are, and that you can draw from your personal vault of memories for inspiration.
For his demo, he explained that he was looking inward as much as looking outward, exploring inner landscapes as well as outer landscapes.
Our evening ended with the final Happy Hour / Paint Along, where even more connections were made.
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Among the print offerings American stalwarts shined: “Stacking Hay,” an early Jackson Pollock lithograph, circa 1935, sold for $16,250; a run of works by Martin Lewis found buyers, most notably R.F.D., a 1933 drypoint of a view in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, at $12,500; and Louis Lozowick’s “57th Street,” a 1929 lithograph of New York City at night, at $11,250. Also of note were prints by Peggy Bacon, Thomas Hart Benton, and Grant Wood.
