Marc Hanson, “Them Winter Blues,” oil, 22 x 48 inches (Gold Medal)
The Oil Painters of America are currently exhibiting an amazing selection of paintings in Saint George, Utah, for their 2017 Western Regional Exhibition. The organization also recently revealed who Juror William A. Schneider chose for several coveted awards.
The picturesque community that is Saint George, Utah, is the beautiful setting for this year’s Oil Painters of America (OPA) Western Regional Exhibition. Now through December 9, selected paintings are on view at Illume Gallery of Fine Art, Authentique Gallery of Art & Design, and The Mission Gallery.
Anna R. Bain, “Silent Snowfall,” oil, 36 x 30 inches (Gold Medal)
This year, the Juror of Awards was the nationally known master William A. Schneider, whose works have received numerous honors and been featured in publications and national and regional exhibitions, including the OPA regional exhibitions.
Steve G. Atkinson, “Dirty Work,” oil, 30 x 40 inches (Silver Medal)
Schneider had the pleasure of awarding two Gold Medals in the Master Signature and Associate Divisions. Artist Anna R. Bain received the Gold Medal in the Associate category for her gorgeous painting “Silent Snowfall,” while the well known Marc Hanson took Gold Medal Honors in the Master Signature Division for “Them Winter Blues.” Steve G. Atkinson’s “Dirty Work” was the Silver Medal winner in the Associate/Signature Division while “Game Trail” by Mary Ann Cherry was the Bronze Medal winner.
Mary Ann Cherry, “Game Trail,” oil, 20 x 40 inches (Bronze Medal)
Two Awards of Excellence were awarded in the Masters Division, earned by Robert Johnson’s “Taos Trapper” and Nikolo Balkanski’s “Nathalia.” Other Awards of Excellence included Suzie G. Baker’s “Orient/Santa Fe Line,” James E. Tennison’s “Spanish Walk,” Derek W. Penix’s “Koi Pond,” Rachel Pettit’s “Edge of Dawn,” Beverly C. Boren’s “Tea and Oranges,” Lyn Boyer’s “Last One Up,” “Just after Sundown — Monterey” by Patricia Clayton, “September Light” by David A. Vollbracht, and Kurt Anderson’s “Co-op Studio Recchio.”
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Pamela Telese, “Train Engine 2 at Brooklyn Navy Yard,” oil on linen, 11 x 16 inches
Jason Patrick Voegele has curated a fantastic exhibition at the Lodge Gallery in New York City this fall featuring top realist painters Derek Buckner, Todd Gordon, Valeri Larko, and Tun Myaing, among others. What’s their unifying theme?
The Lodge Gallery in New York City will be opening “The Outer Boroughs” tomorrow, November 17, with a reception from 7-10 p.m. Curated by Jason Patrick Voegele and running through December 17, “The Outer Boroughs” explores the transformative cultural history of New York through contemporary urban landscape painting. Works by artists Derek Buckner, Todd Gordon, Valeri Larko, Tun Myaing, Laura Shechter, Pamela Talese, and John Wellington will compose the show.
Derek Buckner, “Gowanus,” oil on canvas, 32 x 46 inchesValeri Larko, “Power Ball,” oil on panel, 18 x 24 inches
According to the gallery, “Paris has its arrondissements, Shanghai has its municipal districts, and New York has Manhattan and its outer boroughs. Beyond the historically Manhattan-centric perception of New York as the epicenter of the art world, this exhibition focuses on the cultural history, transformative energy, and transgressive aesthetic of select creative communities within Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx. Although each borough represents a unique and differentiated pride and history, all the neighborhoods represented in this exhibition follow a similar and repeating cycle of discovery, overdevelopment and decline. Both the blights of urban decline and the variant results of urban renewal are on display. In some works, we observe the kind of redevelopment that often creates booms in commercial value, safety, and convenience while in others we witness the heavy loss of cultural integrity and the sacrifice of traditional creative output in favor of more subversive and territorial markings.
by Laura ShechterTodd Gordon, “5 Points Loading Dock,” oil on canvas, 29 x 59 inches
“The works in this exhibition are formidable testaments to the only unchanging constant in New York, which is change itself. Here, through the beauty of each urban landscape we witness the ongoing dynamic between nostalgia and growth. We witness the skin of the city shifting. Waves of residents once abundant are now gone or replaced; meanings vanish and new meanings are culled out of the transformation. As the familiar expires and generations of culturally grounded communities lose grip on their homes to the tune of post-industrial triumph and gentrification, this is perhaps a perfect moment to pause and take account of the greater contributions to the legacy of our great city and the great creative energies that are born of the outer boroughs in transition.”
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The first film adaptation detailing the life and work of Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520) — one of the most famous artists to ever live — will be screening nationwide this November.
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The Florence Academy of Art U.S. (Jersey City) is proud to present a new panel-discussion series beginning this fall in New York City titled “FAA Dialogues.” Florence Academy of Art U.S.’s Academic Director Jordan Sokol and his faculty are partnering with the historic Salmagundi Club — which this year celebrates 100 years on Fifth Avenue — to offer this free educational series to the public.
The first discussion will be held on Thursday, November 30 from 6:30-8 p.m. and will be moderated by Fine Art Connoisseur Editor-in-Chief Peter Trippi, with panelists Jacob Collins, Alex Kanevsky, Donald Kuspit, and Alyssa Monks. The topic is “Traditional vs. Contemporary Perspectives in the Art World,” and the panelists will look at this theme from the angles of contemporary-art-world definitions, art production, the art market, the infrastructure of the traditional art world vs. the infrastructure of the contemporary art world, and more. There will be an open Q+A with the audience at the end of the panel.
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Frederic Edwin Church, “Syria by the Sea,” 1873, oil on canvas, Detroit Institute of Arts
The Reynolda House Museum of American Art recently announced its plans to mount a significant 2018 exhibition surrounding the travels of iconic painter Frederic Church.
On view February 8 through May 13, 2018, “A Painter’s Pilgrimage” is sure to be a fabulous opportunity for any lover of fine art and, specifically, exquisite 19th-century landscape painting. Mounted by the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, the exhibition seeks to illuminate important paintings by Frederic Edwin Church (1828-1900) that were inspired by his travels to ancient sites in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. More than 50 paintings, oil studies, and drawings from the late 1860s through the early 1880s will compose the show.
Frederic Edwin Church, “The Parthenon,” 1871, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York CityFrederic Edwin Church, “Temple of Jupiter at Sunrise, Baalbek, May 7, 1868,” graphite and chalk on paperboard, Smithsonian Design Museum
Via the museum, “The most popular artist in mid-19th-century America, Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900) took landscape painting to new heights of grandeur and was best known for his large, visually stunning paintings of American scenes as well as views of South America, the North Atlantic, and the Caribbean. But from 1867 until the end of his life, many of Church’s most important paintings represented ancient cities or buildings that he saw during his 1867–69 trip to the Middle East, Rome, and Athens. While Church’s paintings of the New World focused on the natural world, his works from the Old World explored human history. The exhibition brings together nearly all of Church’s most important paintings of the Mediterranean region and Holy Land in order to explore this major shift in his artistic practice.”
Frederic Edwin Church, “Al Ayn (The Fountain),” 1882, oil on canvas, Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, MAFrederic Edwin Church, “Broken Columns, View from the Parthenon, Athens, April 1869,” oil and graphite on paperboard, Smithsonian Design Museum
Allison Perkins, director of the Reynolda House Museum, added, “[The exhibition] provides a remarkable opportunity to see the work of one of the most honored Hudson River School artists whose painting ’The Andes of Ecuador’ is one of the most important works in the Reynolda House collection. All of the work in the exhibition was created after Church observed firsthand some of antiquity’s most extraordinary cities, buildings, temples, and ruins. The exhibition juxtaposes pencil drawings and oil studies that Church completed during his trip with paintings he completed back in his studio.”
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Helen Allingham, “Harvest Moon,” 1879, watercolor, private collection
In England, Watts Gallery will soon be the first gallery to publicly exhibit important works from the oeuvre of Helen Allingham — the first woman to be admitted to full membership in the Royal Watercolor Society in 1890.
Hard to believe that Helen Allingham has yet to receive a major public art gallery exhibition, but that’s all about to change on November 21, when Watts Gallery will present just that. On view through February 18, 2018, the exhibition will “seek to reassert the reputation of Helen Allingham as a leading woman artist and as a key figure in Victorian art,” the gallery writes. “Bringing … rarely seen works from private collections together with important paintings from public collections, the exhibition will demonstrate Allingham’s extraordinary talent as a watercolorist and will examine how she became one of the most successful creative women of the nineteenth century.
Helen Allingham, “Feeding the Fowls, Pinner,” watercolor, Royal Watercolor Society
“Having moved to London aged just seventeen, Allingham trained at the Royal Female School of Art and the prestigious Royal Academy Schools. By 1870, she was pursuing a professional career as a graphic artist and children’s book illustrator, becoming the only female founding member of The Graphic, a new illustrated weekly magazine. Illuminating Allingham’s early career, the exhibition will display an array of graphic works, including the illustrations to Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd when first published as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine.
Helen Allingham, “William Allingham,” 1875, watercolor, Burgh House & Hampstead Museum
“Following her marriage to the renowned Irish poet William Allingham in 1874, Allingham began to focus on working in watercolor, producing vivid depictions of rural England. As the boom of industrial development continued to threaten traditional rural life, Allingham’s art captured unspoiled landscapes and historic cottage architecture in exquisite detail; she was passionately concerned for the preservation of the English countryside. In 1886, she became the first woman artist to be awarded a solo exhibition at the Fine Art Society, entitled Surrey Cottages. Her depictions of Shere, Witley, Haslemere, and other villages across the region will be included in the show. Many of these picturesque timber-framed cottages can still be identified today.
Helen Allingham, “The Little Path, Kitchen Garden, Sharston Manor, Cheshire,” 1920, watercolor, Burgh House & Hampstead Museum
“While living in Surrey, Allingham became friends with the leading Arts and Crafts gardener, Gertrude Jekyll, painting vibrant images of Jekyll’s experimental planting at Munstead Wood. Preparatory studies of plants and flowers will be exhibited alongside a depiction of Jekyll’s famous South Border in full bloom.
Helen Allingham, “Lord Tennyson,” 1890, watercolor, Burgh House & Hampstead Museum
“Widowed at the age of 41, Allingham took on the sole responsibility of bringing up her three young children, pursuing a professional career right up until her death in 1926 age 78.
Helen Allingham, “Our Primrose Wood, Brook, Surrey,” 1913, watercolor, Burgh House & Hampstead Museum
“The exhibition continues Watts Gallery Trust’s program of exhibitions devoted to pioneering women artists. Guest curated by the pre-eminent Allingham scholar Annabel Watts, it offers an unprecedented overview of the artist’s work. It will be accompanied by the publication of a new edition of Annabel’s book on Allingham. Drawing on extensive research, this publicationseeks out the actual cottages painted by Helen Allingham a century ago, comparing how they look today with the original watercolors.”
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Hundreds of figure and portrait painters gathered this past week in Miami at the historic Biltmore Hotel for the first ever Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE). The event, designed to provide painters with an experience to develop their techniques, skills, philosophy, and marketing, was met with rave reviews by attendees.
Hundreds of figure and portrait painters gathered this past week in Miami, Florida, at the historic Biltmore Hotel for the first ever Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE). The event, created by Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, was designed to provide painters with an experience to develop their techniques, skills, philosophy, and marketing. It was met with rave reviews by attendees. Included with the event and held simultaneously was TRAC (The Representational Art Conference) for academics in the art world.
Jordan Sokol demonstrates his figure drawing techniques.
The week started with three pre-convention workshops: Jordan Sokol of the Florence Academy taught a two-day course on drawing the figure, Daniel Gerhartz offered a two-day workshop on painting the figure, and Graydon Parrish provided a one-day workshop on color, highlighting the Munsell color system.
A packed Expo Hall at FACE17Max Ginsburg with Fina Mooney
The event opened with Fine Art Connoisseur Publisher Eric Rhoads offering comments about his dream of creating an event just for museum-quality realists where they can gather as a community, sharing processes and ideas. Rhoads said, “If we gather and work together toward a common goal, there will come a day when you, the artists in this room, will receive the recognition you deserve and your works will be selling for tens of millions of dollars. This event is not only about developing or improving your technique, it’s about the heart of your art, your purpose, and how you can soar as an artist.”
Sherrie McGraw demonstrates her portrait techniques on the main stage at FACE17.The VIP party at FACE17
Rhoads then introduced Fine Art Connoisseur Editor-in-Chief Peter Trippi, who welcomed attendees and reinforced Rhoads’s message. Trippi then introduced Michael Pearce, associate professor at California Lutheran University, who ran the TRAC portion of the event.
Publisher Eric Rhoads with Michael Harding of Michael Harding OilsSherrie McGraw, David Leffel, and Peter Trippi
After introducing those who were awarded FACE scholarships, which included registration, hotel room, and spending money, Rhoads introduced 13-year-old student Fina Mooney, who received a standing ovation for her essay about how artists can embrace and train younger students at a more sophisticated level, without assuming they are not up to the task.
David Leffel demonstrates his portrait techniques on the main stage at FACE17.David Leffel demonstrates his portrait techniques on the main stage at FACE17.
The opening also included a lecture by Donald Kuspit, as well as a panel with Graydon Parrish, Jacob Collins, and Patricia Watwood, moderated by Peter Trippi. This was followed by a demo by artist Max Ginsburg.
The VIP party at FACE17Publisher Eric Rhoads with Artist/Faculty Graydon ParrishPublisher Eric Rhoads with Suzanne JohnsonEditor-in-Chief Peter Trippi with John Buxton
Headlining the event were faculty including the world’s finest figurative and portrait painters, among them Jacob Collins, Juliette Aristides, Daniel Graves, Max Ginsburg, Steven Assael, Ryan S. Brown, Daniel Gerhartz, Graydon Parrish, Jordan Sokol, John Coleman, Michael Mentler, Patricia Watwood, Gregory Mortenson, David A Leffel, Linda Comas, Michel Langlais, Lee Hutt, and Sherrie A. McGraw.
John Coleman demonstrates his sculpture techniques on the main stage at FACE17.
TRAC speakers included Donald Kuspit, Stephen Hicks, Elliot Bostwick Davis, Shannon Robinson, Joseph Bravo, Michael Pearce, and others with a focus on information for academics in college art programs.
Jan Jewell and Sue Coleman
The convention also included a hands-on opportunity for artists to practice what they learned each day in a studio with live models and mentors to work with artists. One of three ballrooms was used as an artist studio, with nine models and 125 painters. It was an incredible sight.
Artists paint live models during FACE17
Another ballroom was filled with art materials vendors offering paint, panels, frames, and training, as well as a store with art books and videos.
Artist/Faculty Gregory Mortenson, Jordan Sokol, and Ryan Brown
At the closing, Rhoads reinforced the importance of the mission of this event, which is to offer museum-quality artists a home that is focused on their specific issues and their community.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
Even as a little girl in Honduras, I’ve loved using my hands to create things whether on paper, of clay or pieces of fabrics stitched together. I’ve been fortunate to have the support of loving parents who encouraged my need to create art even if it meant they’d come home and the curtains had become my latest project. So, my parents and I always knew I would be an artist.
In 2006, long after marrying a wonderful husband who is my high school sweetheart, my biggest fan and favorite critic and having two beautiful girls who make wonderful studio company, I graduated with a Bachelors in Fine Arts from the University of Central Oklahoma.
In college, I found amazing professors who introduced me to many thoughts on art, new art skills and techniques. However, traditional techniques in oil painting were not included. So, in 2009 with some oil paints, a few brushes, a pochade (cigar) box, and a couple of instructional books, I embarked on my full time painting career, chronicling it in my previous blog. After eight years of painting, I am still learning and drawing inspiration from old masters such as Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Henri Fantin-Latour, and John Singer Sargent.
I would love to say my work has some deep meaning of love lost, the purpose of life, or some important social political statement, but that’s not the case. My intent is simply to capture the beauty that I see in nature, such as the flowers or beehives in my garden, and those items that show the hand of time or those that simply bring me joy.
In college I told a professor that I wanted to make pretty things. He said “that is the worst way to describe an artwork.” I believe pretty things have power. A small flower can carry deep and meaningful symbolism and can be even powerful enough to bring happiness in times of mourning. People have sacrificed freedom to acquire that which pleases their eye. Pretty things such as gold, precious stones or a even a tulip, have become the cause of wars or the bankruptcy of a nation, as in the Dutch tulip mania. There is a lot of power in pretty things and my fascination with them is what keeps me putting brush to canvas.
I have been honored to have my work purchased by collectors worldwide. My work has been featured on the Jealous Curator and Create Magazine websites. And most recently, I was the recipient of a scholarship to attend the Oklahoma Art Conference. I continue to hone traditional oil painting techniques in my small home studio in Edmond, Oklahoma, where I paint pretty things and share them with others on my website.
Please visit my website to view new works and sign up for my emails.
Dacia Gallery is the proud host of Erin Anderson’s latest solo exhibition, titled “Object.” Exploring modern paradigms of human relationships to one another and to the environment, there’s a lot here to see and ponder.
Opened on November 2 and continuing through December 8, “Object” is once again a remarkable display of artistic and conceptual talent from painter Erin Anderson. Hosted by Dacia Gallery, “Object” will present Anderson’s familiar female nudes against biomorphic copper abstractions.
Erin Anderson, “The Vet,” oil on copper, 30 x 36 inches
As suggested in the press release, “Her work explores modern paradigms of human relationships to one another and the environment. Secondary themes in her work explore modern issues of gender, identity, and body image. Women have long been the focus of figurative artists throughout history. Often stripped of their natural identity they are expected to embody societal ideals and abstract philosophies. This exhibition seeks to address that thinking by showcasing the individual portraits of women, including a self-portrait of the artist, who are not meant to represent anything other than themselves. This show examines our inherent struggles with female objectification and offers a presentation of the female nude, as she is, representing only what she wants, and asking the viewer to be accepting.”
by Erin Anderson, oil on copper
Discussing her work, Anderson added, “I am inspired by complex dynamics and relationships within individuals and groups. Working on copper sheet, my compositions remain anchored in representational figure painting juxtaposed by abstraction. The metal substrate and paint work in concert to communicate layers or levels of reality: one that is easily perceived and directly in front of us and one that can be felt and is dynamic or changing. To explore the connective nature of our experience, I make visual comparisons between the figure and systems in nature. I find that studying the ways in which nature is connected informs the ways I create atmosphere within and around my subjects. The ensuing work is an exploration of our relationships to one another and our fundamental connection with the environment.”
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
Peregrine Heathcote, "Directing Our Histories to the Best of All Possible Worlds," 2016, oil on canvas, 52 x 72 inches
Bonner David Galleries is celebrating its 15th anniversary this fall. To commemorate the landmark, the gallery will mount a “best of” group exhibition that features a single artwork by each of its 40 world-class artists.
For 15 years, Bonner David Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona, has established a rock-solid reputation for representing many of the most successful contemporary artists. On view from November 11-29 will be “The Best of Bonner David,” featuring artworks by each of its 40 artists. The gallery will host a special celebratory gala reception from 6-9 pm on Friday, November 10.
Among others, represented artists include Brad Aldridge, Lovemore Bonjisi, Rich Bowman, Nocona Burgess, John Burton, Cary Ennis, Danny Galieote, Luigi Gatti, Peter Gwisa, Claudia Hartley, Peregrine Heathcote, Victoria Herrera, Dyana Hesson, Jane Jones, Robert LaDuke, Francis Livingston, Joseph Lorusso, Tawanda Makore, Richard Mteki, Perlagia Mutyavaviri, Wellington Nyanhongo, Agnes Nyanhongo, Collen Nyanhongo, Moses Nyanhongo, Eve Plumb, Norbert Shamuyarira, Lane Timothy, Kathrine Lemke Waste, Richard Williams, and Romona Youngquist.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
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