Passion, Power, and Politics: London Art Week 2018

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June 15, 2018

London Art Week - Henry Hoppner Meyer — Henry Hoppner Meyer (1780-1847), “The Young Catechist,” oil on canvas, 36 x 28 in.

London Art Week
June 29 through July 6, 2018

Recently Announced:
London Art Week (LAW) illustrates the extraordinary range and quality of art dating from antiquity to the twentieth century available on the market, and strongly underlines the unrivalled connoisseurship and expertise to be found in the city. Each summer, LAW provides a platform for more than 40 international art dealers to present exciting selling exhibitions, events, and art talks at private galleries in Mayfair and St. James’s.

London Art Week - Frans Vervloet — Frans Vervloet (Mechelen 1795-1872 Venice), “Venice: The Doge’s Palace and the Riva degli Schiavoni, looking East,” Signed, inscribed and dated “F vervloet venedig / 18.9” (lower center), oil on paper laid on canvas, 11 ⅞ x 16 ½ in.

The exhibitions coincide with the Old Master paintings and drawings sales at the major auction houses, and attract countless collectors, connoisseurs, and museum curators to the capital. Discover passion, power, and politics through the lens of historic works of art.

London Art Week paintings — Jan II Brueghel (Antwerp 1601-1678) & Frans II Francken (1581-1642), “An Allegory of Air and Fire,” oil on oak panel, 53 x 74 cm.

The range of art to be featured during LAW is broad and includes Classical antiquities, Medieval and Renaissance textiles, master paintings and drawings from the Elizabethan and Baroque to Neoclassical and Post-Impressionist eras, watercolors from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, master sculptures in bronze, marble and terracotta, and modern art works up to the turn of the twentieth century. Special subjects span portraiture, fashion, Symbolism and Futurism, as well as several centuries of British, French, Flemish, and Italian art.

For more information: londonartweek.co.uk

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100 Years of Art in Laguna Beach, California

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Fine Art Today

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June 14, 2018

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Fine art oil paintings - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Donna Schuster, “O’er Waiting Harp Strings,” oil on canvas, 1922, 30 x 30 in., Laguna Art Museum Collection, Gift of Catherine Jackson

Laguna Art Museum hosts the exhibition “Art Colony: The Laguna Beach Art Association, 1918–1935.”

From the museum:

In the summer of 1918, a group of artists led by Anna Hills and Edgar Payne opened their first exhibition in a temporary pavilion and formed the Laguna Beach Art Association (LBAA). Ten years later, they led a successful effort to build a custom-designed and permanent gallery, which opened in 1929 and survives within the present museum building. The founding of the LBAA is the beginning of the story of Laguna Art Museum, and the story of Laguna Beach, the art colony.

Art associations were a phenomenon of the late nineteenth century, but no two were alike. The Laguna Beach Art Association was a pioneering organization whose inception helped determine the fortunes of the Laguna Beach art colony and its artists. It grew from a relatively small organization to one that included hundreds of members in and beyond Laguna Beach. It was devoted to promoting art in Southern California, and it also traveled exhibitions to cities outside California and championed arts education in schools.

The LBAA charted its own course, and its development and struggles reflected artistic and economic issues that confronted other art colonies in the early twentieth century. Its members included Laguna Beach luminaries — those artists who exhibited nationally and internationally — as well as many whose reputations never extended far beyond the city. “Art Colony: The Laguna Beach Art Association, 1918–1935” will be the first large-scale critical study to focus exclusively on the art association’s growth and development, honoring the early artists who influenced the fabric of the developing community and surveying its evolution through the 1930s.

“Art Colony: The Laguna Beach Art Association, 1918–1935” comprises more than 100 paintings by 66 artists, including a number of works by major artists that were seen in the original exhibitions of the Laguna Beach Art Association. The exhibition will be on view through January 13, 2019. For more information, please visit lagunaartmuseum.org.

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Featured Artwork: Patrick Lee

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Fine Art Today

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June 11, 2018

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A Knock at the Door
30 x 24 in.
$3900

Patrick Lee is someone to watch, frequently appearing in the art magazines and competition award announcements. Pittsburgh, PA, based Lee has exhibited work at The Butler Institute of American Art, the State Museum of Pennsylvania, The Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. An internationally collected artist, he has been involved in numerous group and solo exhibitions.

Lee takes a unique creative approach to making paintings. Often he will start a painting with only a loose idea or a simple subject and lets the painting come to life using its own momentum. A painting may begin as a sketch of something from life or from memory. As the image begins to take form, the shapes or colors on the canvas inspire him to incorporate elements of memory, imagination, and connected ideas. The thoughts and feelings that arise from these elements and the creative process itself set the tone for the piece and are conveyed to the viewer in the final artwork.

Lee likes to present the viewer with an image beyond an everyday, documentary rendering of a subject by incorporating an evocative, dream-like mood into each piece, whether done in the studio or en plein air. He draws heavily on intuition and imagination to develop an image, often altering the drawing, color, and spatial relationships to create a mood and express a feeling about the subject. This often leads to strong elements of abstraction and suggestion in his work, rather than explicit detail. This gives the viewer an opportunity to connect with each piece in their own way, inviting them to let their own imaginations make personal associations and connections.

To view Patrick’s recent work, visit his web site patrickleefineart.com or follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

Fine Art Oil Paintings: Distilled Memoirs

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Fine Art Today

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June 10, 2018

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Fine art oil paintings by Aaron Westerberg - FineArtConnoisseur.com — “Resonance,” oil on panel, 40 x 20 in.

New fine art oil paintings by Aaron Westerberg:

Aaron Westerberg is a classically trained oil painter who explores visual poetry with subtlety and nuance. Westerberg, born in San Diego, CA, in 1974, has developed a style of painting informed by the works of American and European masters like Edmund Tarbell, John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, and others.

His solo exhibition “Distilled Memoirs” explores ideas of connection in an attempt to string together the fabric unsewn by the complexities of life. The show includes self-portraits, figurative works inspired by the theme of “Japonisme” that spread through France in the late 1800s, and Westerberg’s color studies. These studies are his efforts to explore and learn the visual complexities of color.

Additional Fine Art Oil Paintings:

“Distilled Memoirs” is on view June 16–30, 2018. For more information, please visit http://www.nohwave.co or aaronwesterberg.com.

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Art Advisor vs. Art Collections Manager

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Fine Art Today

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June 10, 2018

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Maura Kehoe Collins, art collections advisor - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Maura Kehoe Collins, Independent Art Collections Advisor, Artiphile, New York

By Maura Kehoe Collins, Independent Art Collections Advisor, Artiphile, New York, who will speak at the Art Business Summit in Ireland. Maura’s topic at the event is “Protecting Your Investment Into the Future: Succession Planning — The Modern Family and Inheritance.”

Common Misconception: The distinction between art advising and art collection management
An art advisor helps build and shape collections, often providing clients access to artworks on the primary and secondary markets, and is usually paid a commission for transactions on the buy or sell side (it should never be both). An art collections manager, on the other hand, is a disinterested party to transactions, paid by the hour, project, or retainer only by the client and beholden only to the best interest of that client; we advocate for works of art which cannot speak for themselves, and keep strict professional codes of confidentiality. We can assist in pre-purchase due diligence of condition reports and valuation for independent information before entering into a purchase agreement, and then ensure its care through its disposition to the next caretaker.

Especially disheartening is when prominent art executives promote faulty ideas about collection management. One fine art insurance executive was quoted as saying, “a personal assistant or a member of the family office can oversee a small collection, but one with over 10,000 pieces would need a registrar or an administrative assistant to keep track of the paperwork.” This is very misleading. Never use your personal assistant to manage an art collection! Even a collection of 100 objects can benefit from professional care, and one would need more than a registrar and/or collections manager well before the 10,000 object mark. No two collections are alike, and a one-size management model does not fit all. Consider how many collection specialists are employed to care for museum collections — there is a small army of registrars, technicians, conservators, photographers, and administrators at every level supporting collection preservation.

The percentage allocation formula also doesn’t work. I’ve seen articles suggesting a collector can expect to pay on average between 1% and 5% of their total collection value on managing their art collections, and up to 15% annually, depending on activity. If that allocation includes your insurance premiums and other transaction fees, taxes, and packing and shipping, it does not leave much for the role of the collections manager or registrar who will keep track of all objects at all locations and attend to all physical needs. It also does not account for objects of lesser market value but great historical or sentimental importance. These may not be fun expenditures, and some may have a hard time seeing the ROI, but I assure you, the investment is sound and will save you and your heirs some unhappy surprises down the road.

Succession

Securing the unique expertise and independent guidance of a professional art collections manager is the first step in ensuring your collection is under proper care and prudent stewardship. A solid collections management program is also the foundation for optimal succession planning and should not be put off. You and your manager can work together with your attorney and accountant to handle the increasingly complex and global nature of the art trade. Thankfully the world is coming to understand the value that collections managers can bring to the successful stewardship and disposition of art collections. It is time to wrestle with the unintended consequences of “art as investment” — we must recognize that art is unlike other investments and work together across professions toward even better “best practice” for the benefit of our clients and the works of art entrusted to us.

For more information about the Art Business Summit, please visit www.artbusinesseurope.com.

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Consign Today: Women in American Art Auction

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Fine Art Today

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June 9, 2018

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Art auctions - Edith White paintings - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Edith White (1855 – 1946; Berkeley, CA), “Still Life With Pink Roses in a Pink Vase,” $600/900

Art auction announcement: John Moran Auctioneers is now accepting consignments for their inaugural “Women in American Art” auction: “We invite you to join us in celebrating women in American art and their crucial role in modern art history.”

The auction catalog will feature paintings, works on paper, prints and multiples, photography, sculpture, art pottery, and jewelry from female makers and artists
across all eras, genres, and price points.

Art auctions - Dorothy Sklar - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Dorothy Sklar (1906 – 1996; Los Angeles, CA), “Barry Alley, Chavez Ravine,” $1,000/1,500

Art auctions - Mary Bradish - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Mary Bradish Titcomb (1858 – 1927; Marblehead, MA), “Monterey Cypress Coastal,” $4,000/6,000

Art auctions - Florence Sackett paintings - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Florence Sackett (b. 1927; Philomath, OR), “Redwood Forest,” $200/400

Art auctions - Julia Thecia - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Julia Thecla (1896 – 1973; Chicago, IL), “I Looked Into a Dream,” $1,000/2,000

The consignment deadline is July 30, 2018. For more information, please visit www.johnmoran.com.

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Capturing the Spirit of Kentucky

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Fine Art Today

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June 8, 2018

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Kentucky artist Lynn Dunbar - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Lynn Dunbar, “Blue Bend in Ohio River”

From Craft(s) Gallery & Mercantile, on Kentucky artist Lynn Dunbar:

Lynn Dunbar’s love of the rivers, cities, and rolling hills of Kentucky shine through her imaginative and impressionist artwork. With luscious oils and vibrant colors, she captures the Ohio River sunsets, the streets of Louisville, and the flowers from her garden. She paints both studio and plein air, interpreting the light, location, and time of day into a visual delight.

“Beauty abounds in the hills, rivers, and fields of Kentucky and Indiana,” Dunbar says. “Plein air oil painting allows me to be amidst all this natural beauty, breathing the fresh air, hearing the birds sing, and feeling the sun and breeze (and sometimes rain) against my skin while attempting to paint a ‘masterpiece.’ Painting is my divine connection with nature. These plein air studies are taken back to my studio, where I apply the sense of light and color to my larger landscape and aerial work. My light-filled studio, at Hope Mills building is inspiring. I am grateful for all these gifts.

“Adventurous and a tad off kilter, sort of like my aerial oil paintings, is one way to describe me. Color and composition fill my paintings, as exemplified by the artists I admire; William Wendt, Edgar Payne, and Sergei Bongart. I started my art career as an advertising art director and found my way to oil painting through workshops with Wolf Kahn, John Michael Carter, Jill Carver, Bill Fletcher, and Skip Whitcomb.”

“Lynn Dunbar | Capturing the Spirit of Kentucky” is on view through June 30, 2018. For more information, please visit www.craftslouisville.com.

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An Unexpected Journey in Art Collecting

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Fine Art Today

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June 7, 2018

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Art Collectors - FineArtConnoisseur.com — David and Kim Dougherty, standing with “Encampment, Three Men and a Dog” (oil on canvas, 22 x 39 in.) by Robert S. Duncanson (1821–1872)

by David and Kimberly Dougherty

Our art collecting journey began quite unexpectedly. Kim joined me on what was supposed to be a short business trip to Paris, France, in December of 1995. Things changed, however, when a French Transportation Workers strike shut down all the airports and our stay was extended by several days. Not a bad place to be stranded! We headed for the Louvre. It too was closed (turns out the French Museum Workers sympathized with Transportation Workers).

We spent our time walking the city and eventually found our way to the Left Bank. Upon entering one of the many galleries, we fell in love with two paintings (a landscape and still life) by contemporary French artists. We couldn’t decide, so we purchased both to commemorate a very memorable unplanned vacation. A few days later the airports reopened and we flew back to the States, but we had been “bitten” by the art collecting bug.

Robert S Duncanson oil painting - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Robert S. Duncanson (1821–1872), “Encampment, Three Men and a Dog,” oil on canvas, 22 x 39 in.

Back in Cincinnati, a mutual friend introduced us to Pat and Chuck Weiner, who ran an art gallery in town. We became very close friends with Pat and Chuck. Over many a dinner and plenty of wine, we talked about our desire to build an art collection around our love of the outdoors and of Cincinnati. We especially wanted to feature Cincinnati artists, recognizing their prominence and their significant contributions to painting around the world. We wanted to invest, ideally, in paintings that were examples of an artist’s best work and that brought beauty, joy, and fascination to our home.

Frank Duveneck oil paintings - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Frank Duveneck (1848–1919), “Portrait of a Man,” oil on canvas, 24 x 20 in.

Over the course of 25 years, we built a collection (with assistance from Pat and Chuck) that features some of the best work by famous Cincinnati artists like Duncanson, Potthast, Whittredge, Sharp, Mosler, Sonntag, Nourse, and, of course, Duveneck. And we have added many beautiful landscapes by famous 19th and 20th century American artists, like Lawson, Lewis, Gruppe, and Thieme. The collection has brought joy not only to our family but to many others as well, as groups from the Cincinnati Art Museum and Cincinnati Art Club have toured the collection over the years.

We hope the next generation of collectors can enjoy these works as much as our family and friends have enjoyed them!

Edward Henry Potthast oil paintings - FineArtConnoisseur.com — Edward Henry Potthast (1857–1927), “Inlet Scene,” oil on canvas, 8 x 10 in.

Upcoming exhibition:
The David and Kim Dougherty Collection
Eisele Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
June 22 through August 11, 2018
“The exhibition is composed of paintings from the collection of David and Kim Dougherty, a collection of historically significant American painters of the 19th and early 20th century. All of the work in the exhibition is available for purchase.”

For more information, please visit eiselefineart.com.

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How Painting a Cover for Jethro Tull Haunted This Artist

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Cherie Dawn Haas

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June 7, 2018

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Burton Silverman paintings - FineArtConnoisseur.com — The cover of Jethro Tull’s *Aqualung*. EMI. Image courtesy theoutline.com

Burton Silverman has exhibited in galleries and museums since 1956. His paintings are represented in 32 public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum, NY, the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery. He has won nine major awards from the National Academy Museum, and gold medals from the Portrait Society of America and the American Watercolor Society. He is also a featured instructor at the upcoming Figurative Art Convention & Expo in Miami, Florida.

“Very early on, I fell in love with the landscape of the human face,” Burton says, “where all the emotional states of life are to be found, and that love affair has not altered.”

His son, Robert Silverman, reports at theoutline.com that of all his dad’s accomplishments, the one that defined his career for a time may be more bitter than sweet — painting the cover for Jethro Tull’s Aqualung. “Seven million copies of Aqualung have been sold over the last five-odd decades, and the cover has become one of the most recognizable in rock and roll history, migrating from vinyl albums to cassettes, CDs, and iTunes art, plus an unending supply of Aqualung-embossed merchandise,” Robert reports. “But dad’s earnings had a hard cap. In 1971, Terry Ellis, the co-founder of Chrysalis Records, paid him a flat $1,500 fee for the three paintings that would comprise the album’s artwork, consummating the deal with nothing more than a handshake. No written contractual agreement was drawn up, and, much to his eventual dismay, nor was any determination made about future use.”

“Given the haggard figure he created, we mused that he might eventually embody his own artistic creation — a destitute, howling figure draped in rags and huddled in a darkened street corner,” Robert says. “Buried within this bit of gallows humor lies a nagging truth: There’s a palpable sense of unease and frustration at seeing something he created become immensely popular — define his career, even — only to see his ownership of the work taken away, thanks in no small part to the persistent myths and outright falsehoods that have been told about the artistic inspiration for the cover.” [Continue reading the article by Robert Silverman here]

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Featured Artwork: Jill Banks

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Fine Art Today

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June 4, 2018

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Mountain Station
24 x 18 in., oil on linen-lined panel
$2950
Available through the artist here

Capturing Life in Oils

Each time exploring a new place to paint brings fresh inspiration…but often the return trips offer even greater insights and observations. Mountain Station was almost complete when oil painter Jill Banks finished up the 2017 Telluride Plein Air, an event Jill will return to for the third time in the week surrounding the 4th of July. On her first visit there, a memorable request from young visitors to her easel was when or if she had painted the gondola yet. Eventually on that first year, Jill did paint a view of the gondola descending the slope (Riding High). Mountain Station followed year two as the “source” of that ride, full of that alpine air and sense of place. Who knows what awaits in year three at the event?

A huge part of the fun of painting plein air, whether in a competition or other excursion is the way the world around the easel weaves its way into and around the painting on canvas. In Mountain Station, Jill’s husband Randy catches the early evening glow on the bench (he’s in the hat on the right), sharing a seat with an unsuspecting but still helpful subject. Jill’s canvases are filled with life, combinations of strangers, acquaintances and sometimes friends and family. Each painting becomes a joyous coming together of artist, place, and an array of a neat cast of characters.

Jill paints a variety of subjects including portraits (she completed her 100 Faces in 100 Days Project in 2011, painting an alla prima portrait of anyone volunteering to sit for her), still lifes, animals and streetscapes. It was actually after her 100 Faces project that Jill started seriously pursuing plein air painting. If interesting subjects were no longer coming to her studio daily, she would go out into the world to find someone or something compelling to paint.

The artist says, “painting plein air and figuring out what I’m truly working to convey naturally led to details and extra stuff falling to the wayside. Stylistically, I continue to evolve from realism with feeling to impressionism with even more emotion and simplification.” The viewer has room to fill in the rest, to be transported into the scene.

When Jill is not out in the field painting or traveling, there are two studios ready and waiting to put all that gathered inspiration to good use. One’s in her home in Fairfax, VA. Another is a studio shared with ten other artists at the Artists’ Atelier at 756 Walker Road in Great Falls, Virginia. Visitors are welcome during open hours, First Friday Art Walks (April to December), special events and any time by appointment.

To view more of Jill’s work, please visit www.JillBanks.com.
Contact Jill at [email protected].

Join the adventure with her. Sign up for her monthly newsletter for her latest paintings, news, tales and fun.

You can also follow Jill on Facebook, her blog Life as an Artist and Instagram.

Events and Exhibits
Bucks County Plein Air – PA (June 4-9)
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Members Exhibition – Salmagundi Club, NYC (June 4-15)
Telluride Plein Air – CO (June 28 – July 5)
Oil Painters of America Salon Show – Traverse City, MI (June 22- September 1)
Wickford Fine Art Festival – RI (July 7 & 8)

Recent Awards and Recognition
Artist to Watch, Southwest Art Magazine July 2017
Best in Show, BoldBrush Painting Competition September 2016 (out of 1400+ entries)
Best in Show – Board of Directors Award, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Member Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, NYC
Top 9 Painting and Drawing Teachers in Metro DC area
Monthly Finalist, January 2017 Sedona Art Prize Competition

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