Magical themes and realism are combined beautifully in the paintings of Ricardo Fernandez Ortega, who is showcasing his recent works at Santa Fe’s Meyer Gallery now through November 2. “Overflight” features about 13 of the artist’s large-scale paintings, which often depict female figures surrounded by birds in flight — or even sprouting wings themselves to drift through a calm night sky. “From the sky,” the artist says, “you can see many beautiful things that go unnoticed when looking from the ground.”

“In ‘Journey Partner,’ a lavishly dressed female figure crouches by a resting horse with her eyes cast downward,” the gallery describes. “Hovering just above her head is a white flag, billowing in the soft breeze against a dark sky. Is it dusk or dawn? A strip of clear blue light illuminates the mountain range behind her as clouds with a purple tinge begin to overtake the darkness. According to the artist, the white flag represents peace; if the girl and horse were to stand up, leaving the ground where their eyes are fixed, it would be within their reach. Upon first glance, the flag could also be interpreted as a bed sheet, symbolizing the dream world in which the subjects exist. Mysterious and enchanting, Fernandez Ortega’s magical realism is open to the viewer’s interpretations.

“Wings, animals, and bright or incandescent objects act as symbols in Fernandez Ortega’s work, representing internal qualities such as freedom, goodness, and intelligence. Often revolving around a dominant feminine subject, these symbols weave mystifying messages and evoke visceral, subconscious emotions from the viewer. ‘I would like my paintings to help people understand themselves and each other,’ says Ortega. ‘I’m looking for connections between the subconscious and the realistic events that build our life.’

“Fernandez Ortega’s skillfully realistic painting style and intuitive chiaroscuro technique draw us into his surreal environments with mesmerizing curiosity. Great 17th-century Spanish masters including Diego Velazquez inspire Fernandez Ortega, who currently resides in Durango, Mexico. By combining classical techniques with magical realism, Fernandez Ortega creates a style that is uniquely his own.”

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.

The Salmagundi Club in New York City will soon be celebrating the 100th anniverary of its Fifth Avenue location with a gala reception that includes food, drinks, music, fine art, artist demonstrations, and a special presentation from Fine Art Connoisseur Editor-in-Chief Peter Trippi.

The part begins on Friday, November 3 at the Salmagundi Club on Fifth Avenue in New York City. From 6-9pm, the club will host an opening gala reception featuring great food, drinks, art, music, demonstrations, and much more. Tickets for the event start at $100 for SCNY members and $125 for the general public.

The evening will also host a “Mystery Palette” sale at 8pm sharp. One-of-a-kind paintings on “Mystery” palettes created by nationally recognized artists will be hidden and then unveiled at 8 o’clock! The fun is that the identity of the artist is concealed until after the work is purchased. The “Mystery Palettes” will sell for $250, regardless of who painted them. Among the works will be palettes painted by Kathy Anderson, Del-Bourree Bach, Chris Blossom, Scott Christensen, Don Demers, Claudia Seymour, John Potter, John Traynor, and Guy A. Wiggins. In addition to the “Mystery Palettes,” a select few will be offered for Silent Auction, among them works by John Stobart, Joseph McGurl, and Carole Teller.

If a night full of fun isn’t enough, it all continues Saturday, November 4 at 11am with a lecture by artist Don Demers, who will speak about the significance of the Salmagundi Club’s building and how it became a haven for artists whose work influenced a generation of American art and artists. Saturday continues with a special arts panel discussion moderated by Peter Trippi. Including panelists Annette Blaugrund, Melissa Rachleff Burtt, Hal Bromm, and Anna Sui, the conversation will explore how the club’s survival in Greenwich Village fits into the fascinating ebb and flow of lower Manhattan’s creative communities.

To learn more, visit the Salmagundi Club.

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.

The first ever Figurative Art Convention & Expo is just about ready to kick off in Miami, Florida, at the Biltmore Hotel. Hosted by Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine Publisher Eric Rhoads and Editor-in-Chief Peter Trippi, this is surely going to be art history in the making.

There’s still time to plan your trip and register for the first annual Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE), hosted at the lavish Biltmore Hotel in Miami, Florida, November 8-11. Only 21 seats remain for the event, which will feature 20 of the industry’s top artists, scholars, and collectors.

Among the esteemed faculty who will be presenting a range of informative demonstrations are 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, and Sherrie A. McGraw.

The convention is also organized in conjunction with The Representational Art Conference (TRAC), which will feature keynote speakers and lectures from Donald Kuspit, Stephen Hicks, Elliot Bostwick Davis, Michael Pearce, and Joseph Bravo.

To find out more about the scheduled events and to register, visit the Figurative Art Convention & Expo.

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.

Following the conservation of two rarely seen paintings by the celebrated Venetian Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), the Frick Collection is proud to have recently opened a significant focus exhibition surrounding not just their creation, but the career of their remarkable creator.

Opened on October 24 and continuing through March 25th, 2018, at the Frick Collection in New York City, “Veronese in Murano: Two Venetian Renaissance Masterpieces Restored” is a brilliant exhibition that could turn out to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The two focus paintings, “St. Jerome in the Wilderness” and “St. Agatha Visited in Prison by St. Peter,” have rarely left their homes in a church in Murano — an island in the lagoon of Venice. In fact, the St. Agatha piece hasn’t left since its installation in the early 19th century, while the St. Jerome work was last exhibited in 1939.

According to the museum, “Over the last year, the paintings have been fully restored by Venetian Heritage, thanks to the sponsorship of Bulgari, and their conservation was accompanied by thorough research into their history. The canvases are shown in the Frick’s Oval Room, which has been transformed into a chapel-like space in order to re-create the feeling of Francesco Degli Arbori’s chapel in Murano. The paintings date from the same time as the Frick’s two allegorical paintings by Veronese, ‘The Choice between Virtue and Vice’ and ‘Wisdom and Strength.’ Now hung in the Oval Room, the religious works create a fascinating dialogue with the allegories displayed in the adjacent West Gallery.”

To learn more, visit The Frick Collection.

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.

Nationally known painter Dean Mitchell was inspired at an early age to become an artist, and he credits his maternal grandmother — Marie Brooks — for that. The artist is honoring her in a beautiful way that will continue for years to come. How?

There are countless ways to honor those who have been influential in our lives. For artists, that typically comes in the form of a painting — perhaps a portrait — of the individual, executed with sensitivity and care. Well-known and accomplished painter Dean Mitchell has taken a different avenue to honor his grandmother Marie Brooks.

Mitchell was born in 1957 in Pittsburgh but was reared in Quincy, Florida. The artist recalls walking the streets of downtown Quincy frequently with his grandmother — fondly recalling how her umbrella shaded him from the sun. On one special day when Mitchell was 5, the two casually entered a five-and-dime store called McCroy’s, where Brooks purchased for him a paint-by-numbers set. Although she had no interest herself in art, Brooks noticed that Mitchell appeared to have an interest. That simple, historic purchase changed the course of his life forever.

Fast-forward to 2017 and Dean Mitchell ranks among the best-known and most collected artists in the United States. Mitchell has been featured in numerous publications, including the New York Times, American Artist, Artist Magazine, Fine Art International, PleinAir Magazine, and Art News. Moreover, his works can be found in both public and private collections across the country.

On November 11, the artist will officially open a fine art gallery in his hometown of Quincy. Mitchell has named his space the Marie Brooks Gallery — a beautiful tribute to the woman who has been such an important influence on his career and personality. “My grandmother’s love, dignity, and respect for others have shaped my life,” Mitchell said. “Her moral and spiritual influence gave me a sense of self-worth, pride, and the inner strength to pursue my dreams. Family, community, and a place to feel safe was important to her. Education was always stressed along with hard work. My grandmother would often say, ‘Baby, ain’t nobody gonna give you nothing. You gotta work for what you want in life.’”

Mitchell’s hope is that the gallery and his story will inspire others to work hard and follow their dreams, and to bring hope to all who come through the doors. The gallery will feature rotating exhibitions by Mitchell and will also serve as a space for the artist’s workshops and drawing classes. Mitchell also looks to have the gallery serve an important role in elevating the arts in Quincy, providing lectures on art and supporting local scholarships.

On November 11, the gallery will be hosting a grand opening reception from 10am-5pm. To learn more, visit The Marie Brooks Gallery.

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.

Only a talented artist would find an abandoned golf center in the North Bronx, New York, a subject worthy of extended consideration. How beautiful could it be? With this solo display, very.

“End Game” is an interesting exhibition soon to be unveiled at New York’s Lyons Wier Gallery. The solo show features a series of landscape paintings by talented realist painter Valeri Larko that began in 2013. The subject? That would be an abandoned golf center in the North Bronx, accessible only by squeezing through chained fences. “[In the fall of 2013] Larko managed to finished one small painting before a detective caught her in the act of trespassing and strongly suggested that she not return,” the gallery says. “Luckily, that painting was almost finished, and she was able to return a few more times to complete it without running into him again.

“Fast forward to February 2016, she was driving down RT 95 and caught a glimpse of a colorful structure. Later, when exploring the area, she discovered it was the same golf center that she had painted in 2013, This time around, she found a break on the other side of the site allowing her full access to a number of buildings yet explored.”

Once a vibrant 12-acre family entertainment center, the crumbling structures and overgrown natural areas proved to be an engaging subject for Larko, who has since completed a series of paintings to be on view November 9 through December 16. “One of the things I noticed while spending the past year and a half painting at the golf center is the abundance of birds, butterflies, geese, raccoons, and other animals that thrive there,” the artist said. “The overgrown setting had become a de facto nature preserve. Surrounded by wildflowers and birds, it was easy to forget that I was painting in the midst of the busy overbuilt city. While some transformations have been necessary, I miss the old architecture, signage, and natural settings that gave the city its unique visual appeal. In the meantime, my goal is to capture these places before they are lost forever and to keep the stories of these overlooked places alive.”

To learn more, visit Lyons Wier Gallery.

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.

A dynamic range of 57 American sculptures from the collection of Dr. Michael L. Nieland compose a current exhibition in Pennsylvania. Which late 19th and early 20th century artists are represented?

In 2015, Dr. Michael L. Nieland made a transformational gift to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pennsylvania: nine incredible sculptures from many of America’s greatest sculptors. An additional 48 pieces are slated to be given in 2018. Now, the institution is celebrating the gift by exhibiting the works in “A Timeless Perfection: American Figurative Sculpture in the Classical Spirit.”

The show will include all 57 sculptures to become part of the museum’s permanent holdings. Among the artists included in the show are John Talbott Donoghue, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Malvina Hoffman, Mario Korbel, Boris Lovet-Lorski, Adolph Alexander Weinman, Paul Wayland Bartlett, Walker Hancock, and Frederick MacMonnies.

According to the museum, “While the collection is entirely figurative and primarily comprised of sculpture, book ends, candleholders, vases, and inkwells add a utilitarian aspect to it. The gift also includes 40 pieces of medallic art designed by some of the same artists and produced by the Society of Medalists and American Numismatic Society, further broadening the scope of the Museum’s collection. All of the utilitarian pieces and medallic art gifted by Dr. Nieland will be included in the exhibition.

“A remarkable new generation of academically trained American sculptors emerged during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the height of the Gilded Age, they achieved widespread critical and commercial success for works created on public commission as well as for private patrons. Working on both grand civic platforms and on a more intimate, domestic scale, they transformed the art of American sculpture. New York City was at the heart of the transformation, but other major American cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston, provided encouragement, support, and venues. Surprisingly and unfortunately, the flowering of these artists was relatively brief, and amid rapidly changing aesthetics in the 20th century, the reputations of many of these sculptors dimmed. Despite increased interest in their work in recent decades among scholars, curators, and collectors, their careers, achievements, and even their names, once famed, are now recalled only narrowly.

“‘This outstanding collection gives us an opportunity to rediscover another dimension of modern American art from the late 19th century into the first half of the 20th century,’ states Barbara L. Jones, Chief Curator and organizer of the exhibition. ‘By exploring the lives and aesthetic achievements of these sculptors, the exhibition will expand awareness and deepen the public’s knowledge of this extraordinary era of American sculpture, in addition to bringing overdue recognition to these artists.’

“‘This is the third transformational gift of art to be received by The Westmoreland as a result of our recently completed campaign. With works ranging from six to nearly 60 inches in height, this stunning collection provides diversity in the arena of American figurative sculpture and complements works already in our collection,’ says The Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO Judith Hansen O’Toole of the extraordinary gift from Dr. Nieland.

“Dr. Nieland describes the works of art in this collection as, ‘in part, depicting the beauty of the human body, a central focus of art since the beginning of time.’ He further states, ‘Altogether, the works reinforce the poetic assertion in Genesis (1:27) that the human form, male as well as female, represents the image of The Creator. Sensuality is implicit in these pure and refined objects, but utilization or exploitation of the human form for other purposes can border upon the salacious.’ Regarding his decision to gift the works to the Museum, he says, ‘The Westmoreland with its devotion to American art is a perfect fit for this collection. Our good fortune to have possessed these beautiful sculptures presents us with the opportunity and obligation to pass them on. Someone owned them before us and inevitably the time arrives to look to their preservation and conservation in the hands of others. I am thrilled that my treasures have found a new home in The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.’”

“A Timeless Perfection: American Figurative Sculpture in the Classical Spirit” continues through December 31. To learn more, visit The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

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.

Women Painting Women — an online resource and Web-based community that has showcased more than 430 contemporary women painters from across the globe, is currently showing 53 paintings from 30 contemporary female artists in its first ever traveling museum exhibition. Where did it land on October 18?

Texas A&M University’s J. Wayne Stark Galleries is the proud host of Women Painting Women’s (WPW) first ever traveling museum exhibition. On view now through December 16, the exhibition — curated by WPW co-founders Alia El-Bermani and Diane Feissel — honors the human spirit and explores the complexity of being a woman today.

According to the press release, “The collection of paintings avoids voyeuristic depictions and delves into such concepts as identity, role association, fragility with dignity, and emotional complexity. The women depicted in the paintings vary in age, race, and their pose to reflect the modern woman.” “To see this show is to live more than the female experience,” suggested Elizabeth Jackson of ArtSee Magazine. “The psychological complexity of the portraits, the emotional intensity, and the humor — all are fundamental aspects of what it is to be human. The view here is sensitive and compellingly complicated.”

Alia El-Bermani added, “Each artist looks beyond the surface of her subject, beyond mere replication of the physical world before her, in search of deeper realities. These artists have found a freedom to avoid voyeuristic depictions of the female form to examine honest and sometimes personal narratives about the struggles and resilience of the indomitable contemporary woman.”

To learn more, visit here.

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.