Fine Art Today brings you high-level content while providing you with timely developments, late-breaking stories, and recently announced events from the art-collecting world. Use the following links to find currently featured art exhibitions at galleries and museums.
Art Events, Auctions, Exhibitions, and More:
Click the month below to find out what’s happening this year. We’re always adding new events, so bookmark this page and visit regularly.
Lin Boucher, "Rio Rancho Roper," pastel, 16 x 20 in.
The Pastel Society of New Mexico’s 2025 “Enchanted Colors Exhibition” will be held at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico. There will be a display of 66 pastel paintings exhibited by fine artists from across the USA, with the majority of them being from New Mexico and immediately surrounding States.
Paul Murray, “Consequences,” pastel, 18 x 20 in.
More from the organizers:
Taos, a wonderful art community, has been host to our exhibition for now, going on its fifth year and we enjoy our relationship with the organizers and administrators of this great museum. The show will display works in two spacious gallery rooms.
Sarah Blumenschein, “If a Still Life Had a Party,” pastel, 18 x 24 in.
The jurors of acceptance are Bruce A. Gomez, William Schneider, and Marie Tippets. The jurors “sculpt” the exhibition while the judge grants awards to several of the finest works. The Judge of Awards will be Lisa Gleim. Numerous Cash and Sponsor Awards are expected to total more than $10,000 in value.
Marilyn Drake, “Best Man,” pastel, 14 x 11 in.
The exhibition will run from March 22 – June 1, 2025 with the Gala Opening Celebration and Awards Ceremony held on Saturday, March 22. Additionally, there will be a Virtual Interactive Online Exhibition with 56 additional painting images by the artists who requested to have their works displayed “Digitally Only” showing all of the paintings in their relative sizes.
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.
John Frederick Lewis (1804–1876), "A Reception in the Harem," 1873, watercolor and bodycolor on paper, 29 x 41 in.
Upcoming Art Auction > Only rarely does an extraordinary Orientalist watercolor appear on the market, and now that time has come. Painted in 1873 by the Englishman John Frederick Lewis, “A Reception in the Harem” has been in a private U.S. collection since 1961, when the current owner bought it from a London dealer. It has never been seen publicly since, and can now be visited by appointment at Bonhams London, which will offer it at auction on March 26, 2025.
JOHN FREDERICK LEWIS’S “A RECEPTION IN THE HAREM”
Bonhams, London bonhams.com
In her catalogue essay, scholar Emily Weeks says this is a larger version of Lewis’s oil painting now at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut. Lewis was a master in both oil and watercolor, renowned then and now for jewel-like color and intricate detail. Weeks adds that Lewis “perfected an idiosyncratic approach to watercolor that could rival oil painting in the intensity of its hues (achieved through mixing watercolor pigments with Chinese white)” and in its precise brushstrokes, making it appear as “finished” and laboriously executed as an oil. Blessed with such talents, Lewis “systematically produced two nearly identical versions” of every major scene, one in each medium.
Britons’ fascination with the daily lives of fashionable women in Middle Eastern harems grew from the 18th century onward. The reclining figure on the blue divan at the scene’s center is Lewis’s wife, Marian, and her ornate surroundings were inspired by the reception room of their Cairo home. The Lewises lived in the Egyptian capital for 10 years, and in 1846, no less a tourist than the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray envied Lewis’s “dreamy, hazy, lazy, tobaccofied life” there.
Before it came to America in 1961, this watercolor was owned by a series of well-known connoisseurs and ogled at well-attended exhibitions in 1878, 1887, 1891, and 1898. Because it may go right back into a private collection on March 26, art lovers visiting London this winter are strongly encouraged to go see it at Bonhams.
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.
RICHARD SCHMID (1934–2021), "Nancy," 1991, oil on linen, 20 x 16 in.
Hendricks Live!, a new performing and fine arts center in Plainfield, is hosting the exhibition “The Influence of Artist Richard Schmid.” Original works by Schmid loaned by private collectors are on view with paintings created by the Indiana artist Libby Whipple, who counts Schmid as her greatest mentor. During his six-decade-long career, Schmid inspired thousands of artists and won acclaim for the more than 3,000 landscapes, still lifes, and figurative works he painted.
In 2000, Richard Ormond, grand-nephew of John Singer Sargent and the premier authority on his ancestor’s art, presented Schmid with the American Society of Portrait Artists’ John Singer Sargent Medal. Ormond has written, “The principles of painting from life have been well mastered by Richard. He can translate what he sees into pictorial form with great panache. His fluent and incisive brushwork brings to life his chosen subjects with veracity and immediacy. You feel you are there in the picture, so convincingly alive is the space, so tactile the surfaces. Wizardry with the brush can sometimes rebound on the head of the painter. Success is attributed to technical facility, not to deeper artistic impulses…. Richard knows better than anyone that mastery of the medium is not the end of the story, though without it an artist is lost. Perception, feeling, imagination, these are the things that stamp a work of art and open the mind and soul of the spectator.”
Details at a Glance:
“The Influence of Artist Richard Schmid”
Plainfield, Indiana hendrickslive.org
through April 9, 2025
How do you find inspiration? Barbara Hack: As an artist, I have always held a deep passion for the figure, which is central to my work. My paintings serve as an ongoing exploration of people and their emotions, allowing me to connect with the essence of each individual I portray. I seek out a diverse array of figures, each representing a unique mood and context that resonates with my own experiences.
In every painting or drawing, I strive to capture an ephemeral moment—those fleeting expressions and gestures that tell a story. This relationship between myself and the figure is vital; it’s a dialogue that transcends the canvas, revealing the complexities of human connection. Through my art, I aim to make these moments last in time, inviting viewers to pause and reflect on the shared human experience.
What is the best thing about being an artist? Barbara Hack: The best part of being an artist is the constant presence of inspiration all around you. It’s in the smallest details—the way light filters through trees or the the expressions on people’s faces. . Inspiration doesn’t have to be sought; it’s always there, waiting to be noticed. It’s in the quiet moments, in the unexpected, and in the mundane. As an artist, you’re always open to the world around you, finding beauty in the everyday, and turning it into something unique.
Barbara Hack, Renewal, oil on linen, 12 x 12in., 2023; Renewal shows the woman emerging from uncertainty With eyes full of determination and clarityBarbara Hack, Jerome-A Life’s Collage, 24 x 30 in., 2020; capturing a man’s life depicted through painted images of his past in collage form
(Detail) Richard Tweedy, Charcoal and Pencil on Paper, Collection of the Art Students League of New York Artist Unknown, Charcoal on Paper, Private Collection
The Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is presenting “True To Form: Academic Figure Studies from the Late 19th to Early 20th Centuries,” an exhibition that celebrates the significance of the human figure in academic art training. The exhibition is on view through April 27, 2025 and will feature a curated selection of 26 works.
More from the organizers:
The human body has been a central motif in art for centuries, serving a variety of symbolic, philosophical, and aesthetic roles. From the classical and Renaissance periods to the 19th century, the nude in particular became a key focus for developing technical proficiency and expressing universal human experiences. Within the academic tradition, institutions like the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris believed the ability to depict the human body was the benchmark of an accomplished artist, and that mastery of anatomy, proportion, and movement was essential to the visual language of art.
Artist Unknown, Charcoal on Paper, Private Collection
Curated by Lyme Academy Co-Artistic Directors Amaya Gurpide and Jordan Sokol, this exhibition explores a period in art history when technological, scientific, and societal changes inspired a transition from idealized representations of the body to more direct, observational studies. The works featured here – generously loaned by the Art Students League of New York and several private collectors – reveal this shift away from classical idealization toward a more naturalistic understanding of the human form. So too, they offer a glimpse into the academic training and philosophies that defined a transformative era.
“With this exhibition, we invite visitors to reflect on the enduring relevance of the human figure in art, and to appreciate the rich legacy of academic training that continues to inspire artists and educators today,” says Sokol. “The human figure remains central to the curriculum at Lyme Academy and continues to play a vital role in contemporary art. While modern expressions have become infinitely varied, this exhibition offers an opportunity to locate the figure’s origins in the foundational studio exercises that began centuries ago.”
Joseph Mallord William Turner, "The Whale on Shore," about 1837, watercolor on paper. Taft Museum of Art, Bequest of Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft, 1931.382
J. M. W. Turner paintings on view > Celebrate the 250th anniversary of James Mallord William Turner’s birth by seeing twelve of his watercolors from the Taft Museum of Art and the Cincinnati Art Museum. On view at the Taft Museum of Art through June 15, 2025, “J. M. W. Turner: Watercolor Horizons” is the first exhibition to bring together the entirety of the two museums’ luminous works by Turner in this medium.
Joseph Mallord William Turner, “Jedburgh Abbey,” about 1832, watercolor on paper. Taft Museum of Art, Bequest of Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft, 1931.383
More from the Museum:
Considered one of Britain’s greatest landscape painters, Turner (English, 1775–1851) was a master of the art of watercolor. A prolific artist and intrepid traveler, he was especially drawn to mountains, alpine lakes, glaciers, river valleys, and the sea, as well as the human presence within these dramatic settings. Watercolor Horizons features views of Switzerland, Germany, France, England, Scotland, and Italy. The exhibition explores Turner’s skill with a brush on paper through these remarkable landscapes, examples of his innovative techniques, and painting tools from the era on loan from local collections.
Joseph Mallord William Turner, “The Death of Lycidas—’Vision of the Guarded Mount’,” about 1834, watercolor on paper. Taft Museum of Art, Bequest of Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft, 1931.384
“’J. M. W. Turner: Watercolor Horizons’ is a rare opportunity to see these treasures up close and in person,” said the exhibition’s curator Tamera Lenz Muente. “Each is filled with exquisite color and mind-blowing details that you can examine with magnifying glasses we’ll have in the gallery. Paired with a tea from the café or a family program, the Turner birthday experience at the Taft is one not to miss.”
Joseph Mallord William Turner, “Folkestone, Kent,” about 1822, watercolor on paper. Taft Museum of Art, Bequest of Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft, 1931.385
Robert Griffing (b. 1940), "Pushing through the Billows," 2014, oil on linen, 46 x 40 in.
On Collecting Fine Art >
Born in Germany but a U.S. citizen for many years, the New Jersey-based businessman Dieter Weissenrieder became interested in the visual arts as a young adult thanks to a close friend who became a curator at a major German museum. His wife, Eleanor, a retired schoolteacher, grew up in suburban New Jersey, so she has visited New York City’s museums all her life and began bringing Dieter along soon after they met. The couple have always enjoyed traveling, especially in Europe, and have visited many museums there.
“More than 40 years ago,” Dieter recalls, “Eleanor and I made our first art purchase because the small house we were renting needed some art on its walls. From a gallery in Greenwich Village we bought a landscape painted by a French artist, and we still own it today. In the 1970s, we acquired our first sculpture in Taos when we began skiing and visiting galleries there.”
In fact, the Weissenrieders are devoted skiers and have skied out west every year. Those experiences exposed them to what is now called Art of the American West: “We started to develop relationships with gallery owners in various ski resorts,” Dieter explains, “and as we got more hooked on art, we began attending auctions and museum benefit sales,” especially at the Autry Museum of the American West (Los Angeles) and Eiteljorg Museum (Indianapolis). The couple also drew inspiration from a fellow collector: because they have a house in Scottsdale, Arizona, they often visited the enormous and outstanding collection formed by Eddie Basha in nearby Chandler. (Fortunately, Basha’s heirs have donated it to the Heard Museum in Phoenix and Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West so that many other people can enjoy it, too.)
Today the Weissenrieders own paintings and sculpture by William Acheff, Gerald Balciar, Amery Bohling, John Buxton, John Coleman, Don Crowley, Michael Dudash, Toni Falk, John Fawcett, Deborah Copenhaver Fellows, Fred Fellows, Bruce Greene, Robert Griffing, William Haskell, Karin Hollebeke, Walt Horton, Doug Hyde, Jerry Jordan, Sue Krzyston, Steven Lang, Mel Lawson, Chul Young Lee, David Mann, Curt Mattson, Frank McCarthy, Denis Milhomme, K.W. Moore, Sr., Paul Moore, Bill Nebeker, Rock Newcomb, Gary Niblett, Don Oelze, Robert Peters, Dave Powell, Heide Presse, Robert Pummill, Alfredo Rodrigues, Scott Rogers, Roseta Santiago, Harry J. Sharre, Tim Shinabarger, Daniel Smith, Matt Smith, Gordon Snidow, Nathan Solano, Ray Swanson, Andy Thomas, Russ Vickers, Curt Walters, and David Wright. Sadly, several artists who were alive when they acquired the work have subsequently died, including Joe Beeler, Glenna Goodacre, Allan Houser, Harry Jackson, and Oleg Stavrowsky. Also in the Weissenrieder Collection are important pieces of Native American pottery by Autumn Borts-Medlock, Eric Fender, Jody Folwell, Susan Folwell, Tammy Garcia, Al Qoyawayma, Maxine Toya, and Alvina Yepa.
“Getting to know the artists has added an exciting dimension,” Dieter remembers. “Eleanor and I feel that collecting art without ever meeting the artist is not as rewarding as developing a relationship.” (Only rarely have they bought work by a deceased artist, perhaps five in total, including E.I. Couse.) “Now” Dieter continues, “we deal primarily with the artists themselves and with galleries. Because we have run out of wall space, we have even told several artists to create smaller paintings if they want us to continue acquiring!”
The Weissenrieders have formed a particularly close friendship with John Buxton and his wife, Noralee. Illustrated here is a painting Dieter commissioned, “Great Falls of the Passaic at Paterson,” a breathtaking site of natural beauty now protected as a national park. Dieter wanted his friend to imagine the falls as they might have looked around 1750, when Native Americans relied on their abundant supply of fish. The Weissenrieders visited this place with Buxton, who had hired a senior Boy Scout to paddle the artist’s canoe deep into the falls so he could get a better sense of scale and perspective.
John Buxton (b. 1939), “Great Falls of the Passaic at Paterson,” 2013, oil on linen, 56 x 35 in.
Dieter picks up the story: “Alas, the current proved too strong, so the canoe capsized and got a big hole in its side. Luckily, the young man was a good swimmer and we were able to pull the canoe out of the Passaic River about 400 feet downstream. The bad news: the canoe was totaled; the good news: John won two major prizes for this gorgeous painting, and we now have a wonderful memory to cherish forever.” In addition, the Paterson Museum located nearby displays a giclée replica of the painting to help visitors appreciate the significance of the falls historically.
Robert Griffing (b. 1940), “Pushing through the Billows,” 2014, oil on linen, 46 x 40 in.
Yet another close friend who carefully researches his scenes of Eastern Woodland Indians is Robert Griffing, represented here by “Pushing through the Billows.” Dieter admires how this artist studies elements such as clothing and tools “right down to the smallest detail,” and he recounts with a smile a missed opportunity to acquire yet another work by Griffing: “A dealer offered us one privately, but Eleanor and I balked at its price. Ten months later, that painting fetched a sum 70 percent higher during an auction we attended. It’s the one that got away.”
Dieter tries to have lunch with Buxton and Griffing at least once a year near Pittsburgh, where he owns a manufacturing plant. He and Eleanor are also friendly with the artist John Fawcett and his wife, Elizabeth; during a visit to the Weissenrieders’ small farm, Fawcett painted a portrait of their entire family mounted on horses, a large work that hangs over the fireplace in their living room. The collectors have visited the California home of Denis Milhomme and his wife, Lorene, who were especially pleased when the Weissenrieders loaned three of Denis’s best works to his 2022 retrospective at the Eiteljorg. The sculptor Scott Rogers and his wife, Janette, have visited the Weissenrieders in New Jersey, and Dieter still treasures their visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it was “great to listen to Scott analyze the artworks on view.”
Though the pace of their collecting has slowed, Dieter says that he and Eleanor still aim to acquire art “that is meaningful, tells a story, and will outlast us.” They have succeeded on all three counts.
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.
Breathtaking, Marian Fortunati, oil on linen panel, 24 x 24 in; Marian Fortunati
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.
Unknown Maker, View of Venice Wallpaper (Courtyard Seen through Drapery), c. 1840, woodblock print on paper, 21 5/8 x 22 1/4 in., RISD Museum, Mary B. Jackson Fund, 34.1055
Surprises await visitors to the RISD Museum in its exhibition “The Art of French Wallpaper Design.” Organized by curator Emily Banas, it explores the vibrant designs that adorned Europeans’ walls in the 1700s and 1800s.
“The Art of French Wallpaper Design”
Rhode Island School of Design Museum risdmuseum.org
through May 11, 2025
On view are more than 100 rare samples of salvaged wallpapers, borders, fragments, and design drawings, all revealing their creators’ innovations and technical skill. Accompanied by a digital publication, this project celebrates the foresight of Charles and Frances Wilson Huard, who assembled this collection in the 1920s and ’30s.
The online catalogue notes that “in the past, much like today, wallpaper designs typically reflected what was in vogue, so once papers were out of fashion, they were removed or pasted over. It is therefore not surprising that examples of historical wallpapers are few and far between, particularly those in good condition. To assemble a comprehensive collection today would be a difficult undertaking.”
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