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.
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-serve and availability is limited.
The 2021 Fine Art Connoisseur guide to art museums is now available. Review it for free here: 2021 Museum Guide 
A Shout-Out For Our Art Museums
BY PETER TRIPPI
Every winter, Fine Art Connoisseur dedicates part of an issue to highlighting America’s art museums and the important, wide-ranging roles they play in our lives. I am particularly fond of this initiative because I spent much of my career working in art museums and still love visiting them because they always expand my horizons through their exhibitions and other programs.
Of course, my visits became less frequent during 2020, the year most of us hope to forget. Throughout the pandemic turmoil, I have been impressed by the resilience of our museum colleagues, and by their unwavering dedication to sharing the joys of fine art even when it’s harder, or impossible, for us to enter their remarkable buildings.
One of their chief challenges is negotiating the difficult financial conditions triggered by the sudden collapse in earned income (ticket sales, space rentals, café and gift shop revenues, etc.) and by the shifting of much philanthropy toward social justice and human services. Much has been said and published about viable coping strategies, and among the most interesting platforms for such conversations has been the American Alliance of Museums, the field’s largest membership organization.
It’s a sad fact that most places in America — including New York City, where I live — will not see tourism rebound until late 2021 at the earliest. Tourists are a key constituency within many museums’ visitor-ship, and so, without them, the institutions are rightly refocusing their attention on attracting more visitors from their immediate surroundings. This is not to say museums previously ignored their neighbors, but now is the ideal time to deepen these friendships. Every large town in America has at least one great art museum, so make a point to visit it soon, especially now that the weather is cooler.
As awful as 2020 was, it is worth celebrating the fact that more museums invented terrific online programs to engage their current audiences, entice new ones, and — in some savvy cases — raise revenues, too. I have been simply amazed at the plethora of digital lectures, tours, workshops, and even benefit galas and summer camps devised in the past 10 months. These remind us of how creative museum staffers are, and also that the need for cultural enrichment is actually more urgent now that fewer of us can leave home.
There are two more ways readers of Fine Art Connoisseur can support their beloved museums. First, join as a member. In the past 10 months, I have been signing up at various institutions as a lower-level member even when I am not particularly passionate about the museums’ specialties — I simply want them to survive, and I know how much they enrich my community’s life. Many museums have (wisely) created a cheaper virtual membership that allows first-timers to dip their toes in, or alternative membership categories that prioritize contact with institutional staff for research or expertise.
Second, there’s the worthy impulse to shop. Many museums have terrific websites highlighting the same high-quality merchandise they sell in their on-site boutiques. Even though the holidays are behind us, why not click on the relevant webpage and buy art-related items to delight your loved ones while supporting your favorite museums?
2021 looks to be as challenging a year for museums as 2020, though in different ways. Let’s all do what we can to make their paths a little easier, and let’s thank them for all they do to lift our spirits, something more valuable than ever before.
Bookmark the 2021 Museum Guide today so you can plan an art-filled year.
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Sotheby’s is honored to present the collection of prominent New York collector, interior designer, and philanthropist Hester Diamond in a dedicated single-owner sale in New York in January 2021, as part of Sotheby’s annual Masters Week auctions. The selection of works on offer – spanning Old Master paintings and sculpture, contemporary art, 20th century furniture and design, exotic minerals, and more – is a reflection of Diamond’s vision as an innovative and inquisitive collector, curating her collection of Old Masters amidst vibrant and eclectic modern and contemporary pieces in a signature visual style that defined her independent spirit.
More from Sotheby’s:
George Wachter, Chairman of Sotheby’s America and Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Worldwide, commented: “Dynamic, independent, and incomparable, Hester Diamond was a fearless and visionary collector. Whether through the expressive qualities of the paintings and sculpture in her home, the electric colors of her furniture, or in the mesmerizing patterns of the textiles she chose, each piece in her collection personifies Hester’s distinct vision and the freedom that came with being true to herself. The ability to pursue her passions with such conviction and clarity not only propelled Hester to build an extraordinary career as a venerated interior designer, but, in a remarkable feat, to assemble important collections of both Modernist works and Old Master paintings and sculpture from the ground up. While others were intimidated by change, Hester embraced it with a fervor, never hesitating to start anew – she instinctively knew how to challenge the status quo with a fresh perspective, both in her art collection and in life.”
The Hester Diamond collection features an unparalleled selection of Old Master paintings and sculpture, highlighted by wonderful examples of early Italian Renaissance painting, early Netherlandish painting, and a remarkable array of terracotta, marble and wood European sculpture from masters such as Lorenzo Ghiberti, Benedetto da Maiano, Girolamo della Robbia and Leonhard Kern.
Spanning the early 14th century through the 18th century, the Old Master works in the collection are characterized by their eclecticism, which attests to Hester’s unique eye, seeking only the highest level of quality and a fearless pursuit of her interests. Drawn especially to bright, bold colors which can be rare in the Renaissance era, Hester acquired extraordinary works by important artists across a spectrum of genres, styles, and geographies. With Old Masters as the core of the collection, Diamond also collected significant pieces of contemporary art, as well as minerology. Displayed together, the collection was entirely unique to her personality, and represented her unwavering, singular spirit.
Leading the collection is an exceedingly rare sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and his father Pietro titled “Autumn” (below, estimate $8/12 million), one of only a handful of sculptures by Bernini and his father that remain in private hands. Few artists have changed art history as significantly as Gian Lorenzo, who is remembered as the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo, and whose artistic achievements gave life to the new figurative language of the Baroque, which dominated all of Europe for nearly two centuries.
Carved in 1616 when Gian Lorenzo was only 18, the exceptional and powerful Autumn, symbolizing abundance and rebirth in the guise of an unbridled man of the woods reaching for a piece of fruit, is an indisputable masterpiece by Bernini in which Gian Lorenzo’s involvement can be identified. The present work represents the young Bernini’s bravura and the moment when Gian Lorenzo began to eclipse his father in skill and conception. The young Bernini was still working in his father’s studio at the time Autumn was made for Prince Leone Strozzi, one of the Berninis’ first major patrons in Rome. Bernini’s work very rarely comes up for auction, with the last piece, a terracotta bozzetto or sketch, titled Il Moro, selling in 2002 at Sotheby’s London for $3.2 million, the current auction record for the artist.
In addition to the Bernini, the Diamond collection features a deeply curated selection of rare and important Old Master sculpture. Among them is Jörg Lederer’s polychrome limewood figure of St. Sebastian (estimate $600,000/1 million), a favorite subject in early wood sculpture. Depicting Saint Sebastian partially naked in a contorted pose, Lederer displays the brilliance and inventiveness of his craft in this exceptional and dynamic polychrome wood figure. Lederer’s design and skill with the chisel place him beside the great masters of German gothic wood sculpture. Many of his workshop’s altarpieces have been lost and the present sculpture appears to be the only surviving full figure of the saint attributable to the sculptor. It is a remarkable and rare discovery, with the artist’s work infrequently appearing at auction.
Girolamo Della Robbia’s “Madonna and Child” (estimate $300/500,000), circa 1510, is a quintessential work of the Florentine Renaissance. The glazed terracotta sculpture is a beautifully modeled variant of the traditional Marian theme which appeared in various media during the Florentine Renaissance. The copious garland of fruit, vegetables, and flowers is modeled with pronounced naturalism and spiritedness and it surrounds an image of domestic intimacy and great devotional power. The pure white glaze illuminates the figures’ innocence and purity further underscoring the potency of this image. Della Robbia’s works were popular among Florentine patrons as decorations for their homes, and were usually acquired to mark significant family events such as marriages and births.
The collection also features a significant group of paintings, including a pair of magnificent canvases by Dosso Dossi, one of the most innovative and idiosyncratic artists of the Italian High Renaissance. This pair of canvases, “The Sicilian Games and The Plague at Pergamea” (estimate $3/5 million), are sections of the artist’s ten-piece frieze of scenes from the Aeneid commissioned by Alfonso d’Este (1476 – 1534), the Duke of Ferrara, for the decoration of his private study.
Determined for the interior to reflect not only his personal passions, but his intellect and cultural imminence, the Duke acquired a superlative series of paintings from Italy’s most preeminent artists, including Giovanni Bellini’s Feast of the Gods (now in the National Gallery, Washington); Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne (National Gallery, London), the Bacchanal of the Andrians and the Worship of Venus (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid). Above these large canvases hung Dosso’s exquisite frieze, its subject inspired by Virgil’s epic poem, the Aeneid. The specificity and detail with which Dosso describes Virgil’s epic poem through these surviving canvases show that Dosso did not simply synopsize the journeys of Aeneas, but chose instead to select specific episodes from the text that reflected the aspirations and favored pursuits of his esteemed patron – scenes of games, hunting, and leisure.
The collection is further highlighted by an impressive triptych of “The Nativity, The Adoration of The Magi, The Presentation in The Temple” by Pieter Coecke van Aelst (below, estimate $2.5/3.5 million), one of the most important artists of the Northern Renaissance. This very early work, executed circa 1520-25, and fully intact in its original frame, is not only remarkable for its size, and excellent condition, but for the originality of Coecke’s iconography and use of color; the overall composition and fine details in the fabric patterns, still life elements, and landscape completely encapsulates painting in the Northern Renaissance. Following its re-attribution to the artist, the present work was the centerpiece of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition, “Grand Design: Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Renaissance Tapestry” in 2014.
Filippino Lippi’s “Penitent Mary Magdalene Adoring the True Cross in a Rocky Landscape” (estimate $2/3 million), is a hauntingly beautiful private devotional work datable to the late 1470s, a period in which the artist was adhering to the style of his second teacher, Sandro Botticelli. A cult devotional figure in 14th-century Florence, Lippi emphasizes the ascetic life of the penitent Mary Magdalene, by showing her emaciated figure as all bones and sallow skin, and her hair has grown so uncontrollably that it doubles as a garment. The extreme devotion of the saint evokes an emotional response in the viewer, much like Donatello’s sculpted version of the Magdalene for the Baptistery in Florence (circa 1453-55), which was indeed a source of inspiration for Lippi, as were Florentine sculptures throughout his career.
Several significant works of contemporary art showcase the diversity and range of the Diamond collection. Bill Viola’s “Ablutions” (estimate $70/100,000), a video diptych mounted on two plasma displays installed prominently in Hester’s dining room behind the head of the table, plays a loop of two people washing their hands. Barry X Ball’s “Envy” (estimate $80/120,000) is more closely associated with the Old Master sculpture in the Diamond collection, as the work is modeled after a 17th century sculpture by Giusto Le Court, a sculptor who is represented in the Diamond collection by a terracotta sketch model circa 1690 of St. James the Less, located in Ca’ Rezzonico in Venice. Large-scale three-dimensional works by Dustin Yellin and Xu Zhen further round out the contemporary offerings.
Further to her independent design sense, Hester Diamond was known for her wide-ranging and comprehensive collection of exotic minerals, metals, and gemstones, which were prominently displayed throughout her home and will be offered as part of the collection. The vibrant colorscape of the minerals perfectly complemented the modern furnishings of the home and her eclectic style. Displayed from the perspective of an art installation rather than a cabinet of specimens, the collection is an excellent cross section of mineral collecting over the last 30 years. Highlights from the group include an impressive Smoky Quartz and Amazonite (estimate $20/30,000), an extremely delicate Amethyst “Rose’ (estimate $1/2,000), and a massive Naturally Etched Aquamarine (estimate $20/30,000)
About Hester Diamond
Born in the Bronx, Hester appreciated art from a young age, visiting New York’s museums nearly every afternoon following her classes at Hunter College. After first working as a social worker in the early 1950s and wanting to pursue a career in the arts, Hester took a position at Stair and Company, a leading antiques gallery on 57th Street in New York. Through her work at Stair, she and her first husband, Harold Diamond, would become friends with Martha Jackson, the owner of an important gallery of cutting-edge contemporary art also on 57th Street, and would soon become immersed in the art world. Not long after, Hester and Harold approached British artist Barbara Hepworth, whose work she admired but whom she had never met, offering to represent her in the United States. To their surprise, Hepworth accepted, and from there on, friendships with artists and collectors ensued, and the Diamonds began their career as prominent art dealers.
As one of the preeminent tastemakers of her generation, Hester would go on to establish a thriving interior design business, recognizing a market for her refined and eclectic sense of style. But, it was after the death of Harold in 1982 that Hester began to seriously collect Old Master paintings and sculpture, selling much of her modern collection, including works by Picasso, Matisse, and Kandinsky, at Sotheby’s in 2004, in an effort to seek out new collecting opportunities and build a collection with a new identity.
Hester’s interest in Old Masters would blossom with her second husband, Ralph Kaminsky, and with this new aesthetic focus, Hester’s characteristic design sensibility would inform her approach to organizing and displaying her new collection. She replaced the 18th and 19th century furniture in her home with modern and contemporary pieces featuring vibrant colors, angular shapes, and hard edges, to create a dynamic contrast between in the home. She also acquired several significant pieces of contemporary art to further highlight the contrasting aesthetic.
Her deep passion for Old Masters and commitment to philanthropy led her to co-found The Medici Archive Project, an organization that supports archival research for scholars and students of Renaissance and Baroque art, and Vistas (Virtual Images of Sculpture in Time and Space), a non-for-profit publishing project focused on new scholarship for Old Master Sculpture.
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“The Sleep of Reason: Keith Kattner and Anthony Haden-Guest” is on view through January 13, 2021 at Paul Fisher Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida. The exhibition is curated by Debbie Dickinson, and proceeds support the disaster relief efforts of the American Red Cross.
Keith Kattner (b. 1961) retired from a successful neurosurgery practice at 49 to pursue his first love—art. A prolific researcher, residency program director, and co-founder of the Central Illinois Neuroscience Foundation, Dr. Kattner moved in 2010 to Manhattan for two years to immerse himself in the art scene and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Seven years and 600 paintings later, he leads a bohemian existence showing his work in New York galleries. He says, “It took me a considerable amount of effort to realize that the rules of art don’t always comply with the rules of science. I had to decide which set of rules would supersede the other.”
Now oil paintings from Kattner’s “Entropy, Classical,” and “Reflection” series are being exhibited alongside drawings by Anthony Haden-Guest (b. 1937), the British critic, writer, reporter, and longtime resident of New York, who is presenting his recent “Cartoonery, Apparitions Lucky Stiffs” and “Neons” series.
Together this pair of artists have demonstrated how art reflects and responds to times of fear and uncertainty, and they have reminded us that if we don’t appreciate history, it will repeat itself. Their exhibition title was inspired by Francisco Goya’s ”The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters”—one of eighty aquatints that comprise his famous series ”Los Caprichos” (1797–99). Kattner and Haden-Guest share Goya’s fascination with the conflict between reason and irrationality, satire, and protest.
In Kattner’s work, there is an unnerving foreboding of something bad just over the horizon, something about to happen to a rational society that has no idea of the looming crisis that the artist’s subconscious felt. His scenes range from serene [such as “Classical Study 2 (After Lorrain)”] to chaotic.
“Entropy” is especially timely now because, as we know, things fall apart and chaos is inevitable. Kattner juxtaposes rural settings with urban sprawl, the changing seasons, and the idea of disorder.
He explains: “Entropy wants randomness and decay. If we put a garden behind our house and don’t take care of it, it will end up as weeds. When we as human beings try to organize things, we’re really fighting the forces of entropy.”
Kattner credits great Surrealists as his inspiration (Salvador Dalí in particular): “First I imitated reality, then I worked myself into the process of painting from my subconscious. All images and elements are moved around until the perfect balance has been achieved. A total rational painting is achieved. There are no flaming giraffes in my world.”
Kattner also explores the notion of inevitable change and growth. For example, in the painting “Thor and the Little Red Rooster,” we see the idyllic home setting interrupted by man as well as nature. Not only are the construction workers a source of change and upheaval, but so is something as natural as the lightning bolt’s indication of an electrical storm.
These days the absolute devastation of climate change is all around us and Kattner’s painting serves as a sort of artistic warning. Nature erupts with bustling man-made change. The human beings are, in this painting, the villains, so to speak.
Learn more about “The Sleep of Reason” at http://paulfishergallery.com.
For more about Kattner, visit keithkattnerartist.com.
Additional articles on the artist:
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Desert Sentries Triptych
By Heidi Rosner
60 x 72 in.
Watercolor
$15,000
A self-taught artist, Heidi Rosner was an engineer in the aerospace industry before pursuing fine art. She paints in the studio as well as en plein air and is fulfilled by the spontaneous nature and flexibility of watercolor. “My love of the outdoors helps me to see and capture the vibrancy of native plants in the scenes that I paint.” With every painting, her goal is for people to feel as if they can walk into her landscapes and enjoy the experience, or to feel the sun that illuminates her florals. When Rosner’s viewers share in these experiences, she knows she has succeeded.
“My inspiration comes from scenes in and around the Southwest, the West Coast, as well as on location all over the world. Because I travel extensively, I have made my painting setup extremely portable to enable me to take it with me everywhere I go.”
Come watch Heidi and 100 other artists create at the Celebration of Fine Art, where art lovers and artists connect, in Scottsdale, Arizona, January 16 – March 28, 2021. Contact us at 480-443-7695 or [email protected].
You can see more of Rosner’s work at: www.celebrateart.com/store/heidi-rosner
View exceptional floral paintings that have won recognition in the PleinAir Salon.
Related articles by or about Kyle Ma >
• 6 Things That Keep Artists From Improving Their Work by Kyle Ma
• A Prodigious Prodigy (submitted by Wilcox Gallery)
The PleinAir Salon is now open and accepting entries. View the art competition rules and learn how to enter at PleinAirSalon.com.
Why should a representational artist enter the PleinAir Salon?
All types of paintings are eligible and do not need to have been completed in plein air, but should originate from a plein air study or plein air experience. As we know, many studio paintings start with plein air sketches. Our interest is in rewarding great paintings.
The PleinAir Salon awards $27,000 in CASH each year! Learn more at pleinairsalon.com, and enter your best work for your chance to win this art competition. Enter now – the next deadline is coming soon!
If you’ve never entered, it only takes a couple of minutes to create your own account. Once you do that, just upload the images of your best work and select the categories you wish to enter – very manageable to do!
All of our awards are CASH, with the grand prize winner getting called up on stage at the Convention & Expo to claim their check for $15,000. That grand prize winner will also have their winning painting featured on the cover of PleinAir magazine (can it get any better?).
There are smaller cash awards, too, and you can find out all about them here. Remember, even if a previous judge did not select your painting, our current judge just might find it to be a winner!
This article was originally published in 2018 in Fine Art Today
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Lilies Along the Edisto by Sara Jane Reynolds
Oil on canvas
24 x 24 x 2 in.
$1,600
Available through the artist
I am fortunate to live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina on Johns Island near the historic city of Charleston. This area is called lowcountry because there are no hills, just the flat coastal plain with infinite variety of swamps, marshes, tidal creeks, and freshwater and saltwater ponds. Great swaths of South Carolina are under conservation with the ACE Basin as the crown jewel. The ACE Basin is comprised of the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto Rivers and combines to form 250,000 acres of prime forest and wetlands. This is the rich habitat that inspires me and in which I explore with my heart and mind.
Lilies Along the Edisto is a painting that evolved from a stop on the roadside. I was driving through the rural backroads and came across this beautiful and wild space of rambling river cutting a path though the fields and creating a large lily pond, the last of fall colors just tipping the leaves.
I collect thoughts and ideas for paintings through observation and by working en plein air. I strap a knapsack on my shoulders lightly packed with oil paints, easel, water, bug spray and hat and hike into the woods, marsh or fields. My goal is to catch morning light and three to four hours of painting. I observe the colors and shapes around me and emotionally try to plug into this particular moment. Sometimes I get lost in the process and hours can slip by. It is crucial to work this way. I need to authentically experience the landscape and sensually drink it in. By submitting to this process, I can sometimes super charge my instincts and emotions. It’s never a sure thing, but I put myself in a condition to receive.
I use the oil sketches from life to inform larger works that I complete in the studio. I also use photographs for reference, but the field work is the most valuable resource for me.
My goal is to share my experience of the landscape and the beauty of the natural world as in a prayer or song.
I have life long been influenced by a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, God’s World:
“Oh World, I cannot hold thee close enough. . .”
Professional organizations:
Oil Painters of America
American Impressionists Society
California Art Club
Portrait Painters of America
To see more work by Sara Jane Reynolds, please visit sarajanereynolds.com
Contact her directly at [email protected] or 843.442.6929
The Deer Blind
15 x 22 in.
Watercolour on paper, 2020
Plein air
Available from the artist; contact [email protected] or 902-247-1910
Poppy Balser tells her story of painting this scene on location.
“This field is at the top of the hill on land that has been in my husband’s family for years. Walking through it on a winter afternoon, I noticed how the rows of grass poking through the snow made an appealing arc back into the distance, taking our eyes to the deer blind nestled under trees. The contrast of the warm grass against the cool, shadowed snow grabbed my eye. The straight lines of the building made a good counterpoint to the softer natural textures of the trees. This looked like a good scene to paint.
“It was too cold to paint that day, so I went out the very next day when we had fresh snow and temperatures that allowed watercolour painting outdoors. I spent the morning sketching, getting a feel for the colours and light. I was working up to be ready when it was again late afternoon and the sunlight fell across the field at just the right angle.”
Watch how the day went in a short video by clicking here.
Sign up and read Poppy’s weekly art updates telling the “behind the easel” stories of her latest paintings.
About Poppy Balser
Poppy Balser is a Canadian painter who relishes painting outside in all seasons. Her work reflects that strong inclination to painting directly from life: bold brushwork, convincingly natural colours and a sense of life breathed into each piece. The most common comment from viewers is that her work transports them into that place at that time.
She has won multiple awards for her work in both watercolors and oil. More detailed information about Poppy’s career can be found on her website.
Gallery Representation
Amicus Gallery, Chester, NS, Canada
Camden Falls Gallery, Camden, Maine, USA
Harvest Gallery, Wolfville, NS, Canada
The Flight of Fancy, Bear River, NS, Canada
For more behind the scenes about Poppy, follow her on Instagram: @poppybalser.
Autumn Leaves
36 x 72 in.
Oil on canvas
$8,750 unframed
Available through the artist
As a scholarship student at the Art Center College of Design at Pasadena, California, I was trained in fine arts, design, painting, and photography. As a photographer, when I take photos, I want them to stand alone as art, but also, I have in mind the colors and composition should I choose to use the image as a reference for a photo. Autumn Leaves taken in Orange County, California where I live, is a stellar example. I love the colors of the leaves turning, and the light dancing through the leaves. When I create a painting like this, I think of Jackson Pollack and his drip paintings. With Autumn Leaves, I poured washes to tinted gamsol mixed with a little medium. Continuing to work the darks and lights, and the overall rhythm of the scene. Then drip the stems with various values of color. And finally, adding marks/motion of light and color. The piece shown is a 3ft x 6ft commission for a collector.
Most of my work is through commissions. I typically include both a photography session along with the production of the paintings. However, there is a portfolio of work for sale.
Please visit my website at griffsfineart.com. Or contact me at [email protected].
Spannochia Gate
24 x 36 in.
Pastel on pastel board
$2,700 unframed
Available from the artist
“Spannochia Gate was inspired a 2-week painting trip to an old feudal farm in Tuscany. I loved every minute there, immersed in the golden light of Italy, the home of my ancestors. The buildings were built in the 900s and all the wonderful food we ate was raised and cooked on site. This adventure was a dream come true and will be forever etched in my mind!
“Whether painting landscapes, interiors or figures, my primary focus is always the light and how it affects the subject I’m trying to capture. Working in pastel and oil I approach my paintings as a sculptor would, carving out nuances of highlight and shadow.
“An avid plein air artist, I’m inspired by the American landscape and that of my beloved Italy. I find my greatest joy painting on location, taking in the atmosphere, temperature, sounds and smells, as well as the view. I participate in national plein air festivals, traveling throughout the country to capture the uniqueness of each venue. During the cold Michigan winters, I work in my studio creating larger pieces…but always, always chasing the light.”
Jill Stefani Wagner’s artwork has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the country and is included in many corporate and private collections. Her paintings have been juried into prestigious national and international oil and pastel exhibits, and have been honored with multiple awards.
One of Jill’s paintings graced the cover of PleinAir Magazine, and her work is often featured in their pages. Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine has frequently highlighted her paintings as has Pastel Journal and the French magazine, Practique des Arts. Wagner has been invited Pastel Faculty at PleinAir Magazine’s Plein Air Convention for four years and enjoys teaching workshops and mentoring other artists.
Wagner is a designated Master Pastelist in the Pastel Society of America and Master Circle in the International Association of Pastel Societies, and belongs to American Impressionist Society, Oil Painters of America, Great Lakes Pastel Society and Degas Pastel Society.
Jill Stefani Wagner graduated with a B.F.A. in painting from University of Michigan School of Art. She owned an award-winning advertising firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, before “seeing the light” and becoming a full-time artist.
Jill’s paintings are represented in the Midwest by:
Tvedten Fine Art in Harbor Springs, Michigan
J. Petter Galleries in Saugatuck Michigan
Castle Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fuller Art House in Sylvania, Ohio
View more paintings at www.jillwagnerart.com
Contact Jill at [email protected]
