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 served, and availability is limited.
LANDSCAPE AND LABOR: DUTCH WORKS ON PAPER IN VAN GOGH’S TIME
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
mfa.org
through June 22, 2025
Although Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) is among the most famous Dutch artists of all time, in his own era he was relatively little known, especially compared to artists of the Hague School. This group, named for the city where many of its members trained and worked, comprised those who had different styles but shared a devotion to depicting everyday life, looking to the Dutch countryside for subject matter.
Hague School members made a profound impact on artists of their time, and this is especially true of Anton Mauve, whom Van Gogh much admired. The artists went on to achieve international fame, and in the early 1900s U.S. collectors and museums — including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) — eagerly sought their works. Over time, however, the group’s fame faded.
Now the MFA is exhibiting important watercolors, prints, and drawings not only by Mauve and Van Gogh, but also by such forgotten artists as Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch (1824–1903) and Anton van Rappard (1858–1892). In this show, it becomes clear that Hague School artists favored farmers, fisherfolk, laborers, mills, canals, and dunes as their subjects, in part to convey a patriotic love of the countryside. In the densely populated and rapidly industrializing Netherlands, rural subjects recalled a simpler time and a simpler way of life — both of which were quickly disappearing.
View more art museum announcements here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.
Fine Art Collection Profile >
After several years of effort, Anne W. Brown and Rusty Munn completed the design and construction of their “forever home” in the scenic Four Corners region of southeastern Utah, where the state touches upon Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. It was writing and music that brought this couple together in their 60s, but especially art of the American West, which both have collected for decades.
As a small child on South Carolina’s coast, Rusty dreamed of heading west to see the snow-capped mountains depicted in a painting his grandfather owned. During his adolescence in Oklahoma, a field trip to the Woolaroc Museum introduced him to some of the great cowboy painters and sculptors, particularly Charles M. Russell and Joseph H. Sharp. From then on, Rusty became a voracious reader of art history.
As a toddler in her Michigan bedroom, Anne looked up at the walls and wondered at the framed prints made by E.I. Couse; though usually associated with the Taos Society of Artists, Couse was originally from Saginaw, Michigan. After her family moved to the Cleveland area, Anne encountered the broader world of art, ranging from high school classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art to exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where her aunt volunteered as a docent, to family trips to Taos and Santa Fe. Having taken graduate courses in art history, Anne attended an auction in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1973 and spent far too much of her income on her first artwork. Created by her favorite historical artist, Amedeo Modigliani, the signed and numbered lithograph marked the start of her collection of figurative art.
Also in 1973 — but 2,200 miles away, in Cody, Wyoming — Rusty purchased his first artwork from what is now the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. At first he kept the reproduction of Charlie Russell’s “Free Trappers” rolled up, but later he had it expertly framed and still cites it as the first of his many cowboy scenes depicting America’s 19th-century fur-trapping boom. Soon Rusty started visiting exhibitions at Utah State University, where he bought paintings from instructor Glen Edwards and (then) student James Morgan, both still among his favorite artists.
Today Anne and Rusty own a broad range of paintings in oils, acrylics, and watercolors, as well as sculpture, prints, drawings in pastels and charcoals, ceramics, photographs, and batik works. The artists represented in their collection include Mark Edward Adams, Vanya Allison, Terri Axness, Mark Bangerter, Arlene Braithwaite, Tim Cox, Vadim Dolgov, Mark Eberhard, Glen Edwards, Tammy Garcia, Frank Hagel, Dale Harding, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Brad Holt, Charlie Hunter, Lance Johnson, Donal Jolley, Jim Jones, Janet Lever-Wood, Lucy M. Lewis, Noel Logan, Robert Martinez, William Matthews, Curt Mattson, Fitz Maurice, James Morgan, Dan Namingha, Maggie Neal, Peter Nisbet, Michael Ome Untiedt, Dustin Payne, John Potter, Kevin Red Star, LaQuincey Reed, Stephanie Revennaugh, Dave Santillanes, Bill Sawczuk, Gil Scott, Hannah Barron Spencer, Kate Starling, Gregory Stocks, Kathleen Strukoff, Matt Suess, Ed Tewanema, Carolyn Thome, Kathryn Turner, Echo Ukrainetz, Ron Ukrainetz, Michele Usibelli, Michael Weinberg, and Jean Reece Wilkey.
Over the years, Anne has intersected with a wide array of individual artists, museum benefit auctions, and gallery exhibitions through service as a trustee or committee chair at various organizations including Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center, the Laguna Art Museum, Scottsdale Artists’ School, Zion National Park Foundation, Salmagundi Club of New York, and National Sculpture Society, and also through her longtime role as associate publisher of Fine Art Connoisseur and PleinAir magazines.
Almost all of the living artists Anne and Rusty “own” have become acquaintances, and so the couple are always eager to visit studios around the country to reconnect, especially since their recent retirement allows them to travel more. Rusty has advised artists such as Michele Usibelli on the tack appearing in her horse paintings, and Anne offers tips to many artists on their career moves.
As they planned their new house in Utah, Rusty and Anne prioritized the artworks by including glassed built-ins and pale gray walls to accommodate not only paintings and sculpture, but also a large collection of Navajo rugs. Throughout the process, they consulted more experienced collector friends such as Mary Linda and Jay Strotkamp, Marlene Whitlock, and Tim and Cathi Newton, who showed them that creating a home gallery environment with occasional rotations means they’ll never have to stop acquiring.
Anne and Rusty note that, in the field of painting, representation “seems to have taken a back seat to abstraction, even at the Western auctions we enjoy attending.” That’s one reason they have started buying more sculpture, which looks great alongside their Hopi kachinas, Acoma ceramics, and Navajo rugs — and doesn’t require them to remove any paintings from their already crowded walls.
When asked to select just two artworks to illustrate this profile, Anne and Rusty struggled, admitting it was a bit like picking a favorite child. In the end, they chose “Soulmates” (at top), which Mark Edward Adams sculpted after volunteering at a therapeutic equestrian center. There he observed the strong bonds forged between horses and riders, a theme that resonated with both Anne and Rusty. It is now the focal point of their dining room table.
“Sioux Single Tail,” Ron Ukrainetz’s large polychromatic engraving of a Plains Native American headdress, was commissioned for the new house by Rusty, who had already picked out a spot where Utah’s abundant sunlight would not blanch the black clayboard surface. Like the artist, Anne and Rusty are intrigued by the idea that the feathers and furs a Native warrior wears signify key attributes of his soul — a nod to the unity of humankind and nature the collectors have attained with their beloved new home.
View more artist and fine art collection profiles here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.
2025 Scottsdale Art Auction
Scottsdale, Arizona
scottsdaleartauction.com
April 11–12
Returning this spring is the Scottsdale Art Auction, one of America’s leading sales of Western art. This is SAA’s largest edition ever, offering nearly 500 lots ranging from landscape and wildlife to figures and still life. One highlight is the group of more than 60 works by Maynard Dixon (1875–1946) from the collection of Abram Packer (“Abe”) Hays, Jr., who founded Scottsdale’s Arizona West Galleries in 1976. It includes oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, and studies, with a welcome emphasis on Arizona scenes.
Among other historic masters on offer are I.E. Couse, Thomas Moran, C.M. Russell, and J.H. Sharp, as well as recently deceased legends G. Harvey and Ed Mell. Among the living artists represented are William Acheff, Thomas Blackshear, John Coleman, Logan Hagege, and Mark Maggiori. The auction includes modern Indigenous art by such talents as Allan Houser, John Nieto, Kevin Redstar, and Fritz Scholder.
Attention Art Collectors!
May 20-22, 2025: Visit the Plein Air Convention & Expo’s robust pop-up art gallery at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada, where hundreds of artists, including our master faculty, will have studio and plein air works on display and ready to purchase. Register for the full event at PleinAirConvention.com now.
Contemporary Fine Art on View
Expression & Enchantment: The Artwork of Yana Movchan
Lily Pad | West
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
www.lilypadgallery.com
Through June 1, 2025
From the Gallery:
“Expression & Enchantment: The Artwork of Yana Movchan” explores the captivating interplay between memory, nature, and imagination. In contrast, Yana transports us to a realm where hyper-realistic figures intertwine with nature, creating powerful symbolic narratives. Her meticulously crafted works combine classical techniques with surrealistic elements, inviting reflection on themes of innocence and transformation.
A graduate of the Ukrainian Art Academy, Yana has exhibited her award-winning art across Europe and Canada, now residing in Halifax. Yana will be present for Gallery Night (April 11) and Gallery Day (April 12).
Yana presents a striking mix of expressionism and magical realism. “Expression & Enchantment: The Artwork Yana Movchan,” showcases her unique artistic vision, offering an inspiring journey through nature and imagination.
Michelangelo drawings on view > Located on the campus of the College of William & Mary, the Muscarelle Museum of Art is the only U.S. venue for “Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine,” an exhibition marking 550 years since the Italian Renaissance master was born. On view will be 38 objects offering a glimpse into the thoughts, ideas, struggles, and breakthroughs that shaped one of history’s greatest masterpieces — the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel ceiling inside the Pope’s Vatican palace in Rome.
At a Glance:
MICHELANGELO: THE GENESIS OF THE SISTINE
Muscarelle Museum of Art
Williamsburg, Virginia
muscarelle.wm.edu
Through May 28, 2025
Of the hundreds of drawings Michelangelo created for that ceiling, less than 50 survive, and nearly half will be on view at the Muscarelle. This show marks the global debut of a long-overlooked drawing hypothesized to be the artist’s first sketch in preparation for the ceiling, plus the U.S. debut of seven drawings. After 15 years of research, organizing curator Adriano Marinazzo has gathered these key loans, as well as engravings, lithographs, and other unique items. The latter include a portrait of Michelangelo by Giuliano Bugiardini, two self-portraits Michelangelo sketched while he was painting the ceiling, and a letter to Michelangelo from his friend Francesco Granacci.
The exhibition’s design and installation will be innovative, with low lighting and life-size reproductions of such iconic frescoes as “The Creation of Adam” to help visitors appreciate the ceiling’s huge scale. Marinazzo has created an immersive video, “This Is Not My Art,” which brings Michelangelo’s illusionistic painted architecture to life, transforming his two-dimensional designs into a three-dimensional digital experience.
The Muscarelle’s original building, opened in 1983, was recently expanded by more than 42,000 square feet, designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners as part of the college’s new Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts. “Michelangelo” is the first major exhibition gracing this space, and it makes special sense because the Muscarelle has an impressive track record of Renaissance exhibitions, including Michelangelo in 2013, Leonardo in 2015, and Botticelli in 2017. Lending once again are several leading Italian museums, including the Uffizi, Casa Buonarroti, and the Musei Reali Torino.
Adriano Marinazzo will deliver public lectures on April 28.
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 served, and availability is limited.
Please help us congratulate Seth Tummins for winning Overall First Place in the February 2025 PleinAir Salon, judged by Jill Carver.
“Artists have the power to make us see the world differently, to pay attention,” Jill said. “I would never have imagined that an irrigator could provide such a poetic motif. Sometimes it is the idea that elevates a winner from a portfolio of very accomplished and pleasing paintings.
“This beautifully nuanced and harmonious piece stopped me in my tracks – the idea and the execution. There is so much to see here: the sunset colors depicted not just once, but again in refracted form in the spray of water; the ghosts of receding water sprays creating vertical rhythms as they drift left to right. It does what a great painting should do, which is to conjure up real emotions – I held my breath, exhaled, and then stayed for a very long time.”
Learn about Seth Tummins and see more of his work at www.sethtummins.com.
In the spirit of the French Salon created by the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, this annual online art competition, with 11 monthly cycles, leading to the annual Salon Grand Prize winners, is designed to stimulate artistic growth through competition. The PleinAir® Salon rewards artists with $50,000 in cash prizes and exposure of their work, with the winning painting featured on the cover of PleinAir® Magazine.
Winners in each monthly competition may receive recognition and exposure through PleinAir Magazine’s print magazine, e-newsletters, websites, and social media. Winners of each competition will also be entered into the annual competition. The Annual Awards will be presented live at the next Plein Air Convention & Expo.
The next round of the PleinAir Salon has begun so hurry, as this competition ends on the last day of the month. Enter your best art in the PleinAir Salon here.
JuliAnne Jonker: JuliAnne Jonker’s encaustic and cold wax oil paintings combine a semi-abstract textural atmosphere with realism. Her portraits have an ethereal quality, where the play of light and delicate brushwork creates a dreamlike atmosphere, drawing the viewer into a world of subtle beauty. JuliAnne’s timeless work is available through Chelsie Nicole Contemporary.
To see more of JuliAnne’s work, visit:
website
Ellis Island Art > A Collection Spotlight
By David Masello
Peter Boyer has struck actual notes that resonate not only with American immigrants, but also with his own ancestors. He has composed 35 concert works that have earned him a Grammy nomination and many other accolades. Among his compositions is “Ellis Island: The Dream of America” (2002), which brings together a full orchestra with actors and projected images to acknowledge the millions of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island between 1910 and 1940. The piece includes verbatim remembrances that Boyer obtained through the Ellis Island Oral History Project — words written long ago by seven immigrants hailing from Russia, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Poland, and Belgium.
After visiting the island numerous times and reading immigrants’ letters recounting their impressions of sailing into New York Harbor, Boyer delved into his own family’s past and learned something new. “Although my grandfather had told me about his father having come to America from Naples, little else about that trip was known,” recalls the composer from his home and studio in Altadena, California.
“So many who started life anew in America didn’t dwell on the journey itself; my great-grandfather Francesco, who died when I was 12, never mentioned anything to me. He sailed from Europe in May 1912, and I’m struck by the fact that this was the month after the Titanic had sunk. I wonder how his knowing this might have affected his impressions of the voyage.”
Complementing Boyer’s personal experience of Ellis Island were historical images of it he carried in his head. One was an engraving published in the July 2, 1887 edition of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, the original of which is owned by New York’s South Street Seaport Museum. Its caption reads New York—Welcome to the Land of Freedom—An Ocean Steamer Passing the Statue of Liberty: Scene on the Steerage Deck. This colorful and detailed scene shows a group of immigrants reacting to the vista into which they are sailing. As the exact ethnicities of the figures are not immediately discernible, the group can be thought of as representing the whole of the European continent from which most immigrants in that era came.
Boyer’s epic composition, which has been performed 286 times by 125 different orchestras, directly echoes much of what we see in this image, which was drawn by one of the newspaper’s unnamed staff artists. He notes, “I look at this and feel an actual chill down my back seeing their different expressions and thinking about what they all had to go through on this voyage.”
“The Statue of Liberty is clearly a symbol here,” Boyer continues, emphasizing that it was dedicated in 1886, the year before the illustration. “This image is both reportage and commentary that captures the emotions of these people. It pulls you in.” Indeed, the figures, after enduring many days in cramped quarters, collectively demonstrate excitement at seeing the looming statue, the harbor full of ships, and, though it is not visible, the city skyline, at which some appear to be gazing in awe.
“The illustration conveys the communal sense of arrival,” Boyer observes. “Everyone depicted is about to begin their new chapter.” His composition is an audible articulation of the emotions such people likely felt, and their voices live on through it.
Browse art video workshops available now at PaintTube.tv, including how to paint landscapes, sunsets, waterfalls, and much more!
View more artist and collector profiles here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.
