The 21st Annual Boston International Fine Art Show is just around the corner, featuring an exciting roster of 40 galleries from France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Is your diamond-in-the-rough here?

More than 3,000 original and highly vetted works of fine art ranging from Old Master drawings, sculpture, painting, and much more are slated for the 21st edition of the Boston International Fine Art Show this October. Taking place October 19-22, the event each year draws thousands of attendees — among them collectors, gallery owners, artists, and fine art enthusiasts. “As the only show and sale of its kind in New England,” the press release reads, “the Boston International Fine Art Show features everything from Old Master drawings to contemporary art by emerging and established artists. Works on offer range from fine original prints priced at a few hundred dollars to museum quality masterpieces, priced in the millions.”

Opening with a Gala Preview on the 19th, the events kick off with a presentation from two Gold Sponsors: Yvel and Cutting Edge Homes. The show will open to the public on Saturday, October 20 after a Designer Luncheon.

To find a complete listing of events, galleries, and sponsors, visit the Boston International Fine Arts Show.

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.

Interested parties have until October 22 to catch a viewing of works by one of America’s most respected painters of the contemporary urban landscape. Who is he, and where are they on view?

Well-known painter Ben Aronson is the focus of a solo exhibition this fall via LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Titled “Perspective and the Ephemeral,” the exhibition presents several of the artist’s newest works that highlight his signature synthesis of realism and abstraction in urban landscape subjects.

Activating both memory and the imagination, “Aronson’s gestural, impressionistic application of paint — while underpinned by a precision indicative of a remarkable eye for realism — conveys his imagery of streets, buildings, and faceless figures through suggestions of implied movement and space,” the gallery writes. “These works reveal his sense of impressionist spontaneity and the capacity of his paintings to pause upon a moment, prompting closer regard, and in looking, one is seductively drawn into the action of the painting itself. ‘Perspective and the Ephemeral’ also includes stunning floral still-lifes that reveal Aronson’s eloquence in describing the effects of light, color and shadow on a more delicate scale.”

The exhibition opened on September 29 and continues through October 22. To learn more, visit LewAllen Galleries.

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.

An impressive lot of seminal works from the dawn of printmaking in Europe is headed to the auction block via Swann Galleries late this fall. Find the iconic highlights here! Don’t drag your feet, however.

In just a few weeks, on November 2, Swann Galleries in New York will be hosting a major auction of prints circa 15th century through the modern era. The lots available represent some of the most iconic printmakers — and artists — in history, including Albrecht Dürer, Edward Hopper, Rembrandt, and Francisco José de Goya, to name a few.

Via Swann Galleries: “A powerful section of works by American artists in the first half of the twentieth century is led by Edward Hopper’s scarce and haunting etching, ‘The Lonely House,’ 1923, with an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. Gritty, iconic views of working-class Manhattan by Hopper’s mentor Martin Lewis, including ‘Snow on the El,’ 1931, and ‘Relics (Speakeasy Corner),’ 1928 (each with a value of $40,000 to $60,000), are complemented by works executed during his Depression-era stay in the suburbs with friend and fellow artist Armin Landeck. Regionalists Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood and Paul Landacre are well-represented with pastoral scenes evoking the anxiety of encroaching technology.

“A run of works by Pablo Picasso includes myriad media from all periods of his decades-long career. The aquatint and etching ‘Faune dévoilant une femme,’ 1934, is valued at $80,000 to $120,000, while ‘La Grande Corrida, aven Femme Torero,’ an etching of the same year, is expected to sell between $70,000 and $100,000.

“Seminal works from the dawn of printmaking in Europe include such iconic works as Israel van Meckenem’s engraving, ‘The Dance of the Daughters of Herodias,’ circa 1480, with an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. A run of scarce and powerful works by the master of engraving Albrecht Dürer is led by ‘The Nemesis,’ circa 1501-02, estimated at $80,000 to $120,000. Additional early prints by the visionary include ‘Coat-of-Arms with a Skull,’ 1503, and ‘The Sea Monster,’ before 1500 ($50,000 to $80,000 and $40,000 to $60,000, respectively). An after-print of Heironymus Bosch’s engraving ‘The Temptation of St. Anthony,’ 1561, replete with distended frogs and damned souls, is valued at $40,000 to $60,000. Works by Pieter Bruegel, Hans Baldung Grien, Augustin Hirschvogel and Lucas van Leyden — the latter’s 1510 engraving ‘Ecce Homo’ is valued at $40,000 to $60,000 — will also be available.

“Etchings covering a variety of subjects by Rembrandt van Rijn, with portraits, nudes and landscapes, are led by the 1633 etching ‘Self Portrait in a Cap and Scarf with the Face Dark: Bust,’ at $30,000 to $50,000. Francisco José de Goya is well-represented in the sale with lithographs and portfolios, including the limited first edition of ‘Los Caprichos,’ circa 1799, complete with 80 etchings with aquatint, condemning the foibles of the aristocracy and clergy, which carries an estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. Also from the eighteenth century come two works by the master of English faunal portraits, George Stubbs: the 1788 mezzotint ‘A Sleeping Cheetah,’ and an engraving with stippling, etching and roulette from the same year, ‘A Horse Frightened by a Lion,’ each with an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.

“Nineteenth-century works include James Ensor’s hand-colored etching, ‘La Vengeance de Hop-Frog,’ 1898, a macabre scene probably based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, in which Hop-Frog the jester hangs tarred, flaming noblemen on a chandelier. Ensor’s prints are often extensively hand-colored with watercolor and gouache, making each a unique work of art; this one has an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. Another work by Goya, ‘Picador Caught by a Bull,’ 1825, was likely an experimental lithograph for ‘Los Toros de Burdeos’ ($80,000 to $120,000). Also available are works by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Odilon Redon, whose 1892 lithograph ‘Arbre’ is expected to sell between $50,000 and $80,000.

“A strong selection of works by German Expressionists is led by the 1912 woodcut ‘Prophet,’ by Emil Nolde, and Edvard Munch’s 1902 etching ‘Puberty,’ each with a value of $30,000 to $50,000. A rare woodcut by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, ‘Frau im Stuhl,’ 1913, carries an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. Across the border in Austria, Egon Schiele created the drypoint ‘Kümmernis’ in 1914; in this sale, it is valued at $12,000 to $18,000.”

The complete catalogue and bidding information are available at www.swanngalleries.com.

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 evolution of luxury and leisure in 19th-century England was remarkable as the country experienced profound change in scientific innovation, economic growth, and artistic exploration. As a new culture of leisure emerged, fueled by wealth and affluence, artists took note with brush and paint.

M.S. Rau Antiques will soon be opening a great exhibition featuring — among many other fantastic objects — works by some of the greatest English artists of the 19th century. On view from October 21 through January 20 at its French Quarter gallery in New Orleans, “Aristocracy: Luxury and Leisure in Britain” is a story about how British culture of the 19th century found itself at a crossroads.

“While strict rules of etiquette still governed society, opulence and entertainment emerged as a driving socioeconomic force that became a central facet of aristocratic life,” the gallery writes. “Through an exploration of the elaborate leisure culture that defined the era, the exhibition will reveal the complex ways in which the English aristocracy displayed — and ultimately preserved — its vast wealth and social power in the face of a rapidly changing economic structure.”

The selling exhibition features some incredible paintings, including John William Godward’s “Summer Idleness: Day Dreams,” Edwin Henry Landseer’s “Portrait of an Arab Mare with her Foal,” Domenico Moglia’s “Roman Forum Micromosaic,” “Portrait of a Lady” by Pieter Claesz, and “Caspar” by Jan van Bijlert.

To learn more and preview the objects included in the exhibition, visit M.S. Rau Antiques.

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.

Forum Gallery in New York City is currently presenting a comprehensive exhibition that expands on William Beckman’s passion for rural landscape and its animals.

Through the lens of 10 significant works, Forum Gallery is currently exploring artist William Beckman’s love of landscape. On view now through November 11, “The five oil paintings and an equal number of large-scale charcoal drawings included, all completed since the artist’s last one-person exhibition in 2014, are a return to nature for the Minnesota-born Beckman, who was raised on his parents’ working farm,” the gallery reports. “The farm and its resident bulls and horses are the subjects in the current exhibition.”

In fact, as the gallery notes, from 2008 through 2014, Beckman’s principle artistic concern was with a series titled The Bull Series — 10 large-scale charcoal drawings of bulls. The gallery continues, “The current exhibition expands on his passion for rural landscape and its animals: the principal oil painting in the exhibition, ‘Paint Box,’ is a portrait of a powerful paint horse on the family farm. Horses are also the subjects of the large-scale drawings in the exhibition, while the smaller-scale paintings depict the landscape and different breeds of bulls.

“Power and intensity are the language of William Beckman’s work, and he achieves corresponding measures of each in works ranging from 20 by 18 inches to nearly 10 by 12 feet in size. Working and re-working each element, Beckman does not release a work of art from his studio until he is fully satisfied with the strength of the composition and image he seeks to achieve. His paintings and drawings compel the attention of the viewer through the use of bold color, dramatic, confrontational composition and dynamic eye contact. The dominance of the sky in the low-horizon landscape of hay fields and the bulls and horses seen at close range dominate the viewer with scale and strength.”

To learn more, visit Forum 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.

Alla prima (Italian for “at first attempt”), in which layers of wet paint are applied to previous wet paint layers, is challenging and satisfying for the artist and the viewer. A prestigious atelier is offering a chance to learn about its glorious history and watch professional artists demonstrate its power.

Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia will soon be hosting a special event surrounding the history and practice of the alla prima technique. Admission is free for the October 19 event and will be hosted on the studio’s campus between 6-9 PM.

During the event, instructors Natalie Italiano, Katya Held, Christopher Nixon, Peter Kelsey, and Rob Goodman will be demonstrating their unique approaches to the technique while Alisyn Blake lectures on the nuances of the process. “Their work brings to life a companion presentation by noted artist/scholar Patrick Connors who explains how artists from van Eyck to Monet have used the technique as a way to inform their work in an intuitive and spontaneous manner,” the studio’s website says. “In addition, visitors can discover the story behind Studio Incamminati artists’ skills with informal studio tours and conversations with alumni and students.”

The event has been co-sponsored and organized by the Italian Consulate with Ciao Philadelphia which celebrates the influence of the region’s Italian-American community. To learn more, visit Studio Incamminati.

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.

Opening weekend for Cowboy Crossings — one of the nation’s foremost annual Western art sales and exhibitions — had gross sales nearly reaching the million mark.

Offering more than 150 pieces of world-class Western fine art representing nearly every creative medium, Cowboy Crossings on October 5-7 hosted the opening weekend for its 52nd Annual Sale & Exhibition at the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City. The organizers were overjoyed to announce that their gross sales exceeded $986,310 with a portion of those proceeds benefiting the museum’s educational programs.

“We are pleased by the tremendous support for Western art from across the country,” said CFO and Interim President and CEO Gary Moore. “The combination of working art such as saddles, bits and spurs, and rawhide braiding, along with the fine art of painting and sculptures, helps many individuals connect with the West in ways they might not have previously considered.”

The top-selling work for the Cowboy Artists of America (CAA) was Martin Grelle’s magnetic painting “Expectations,” which realized $54,000. The painting also earned Grelle the Oil Painting Silver Medal Award. The CAA Stetson Award recipient, selected by active CAA members as the best compilation of individual works, was given to sculptor Paul Moore for his six works “Old Man Losing His Heron,” “When His Heart Is Down,” “Tuf of War,” “Blessing at Wuwuchim,” “Hopi Two Horned Priest,” and “Young San Felipe Green Corn Dancer.” The Anne Marion Best of Show Award was given to Grant Redden for “Feeding the Flock,” which also received the Oil Painting Gold Medal Award. “Cow Camp Studio” by artist Tyler Crow was also a two-time winner, taking the Drawing and Other Media Silver Medal Award and the Buyers’ Choice Award. C. Michael Dudash took the Drawing and Other Media Gold Medal Award for “Cowgirl.” In the Water Soluble Medal Awards, Mikel Donahue’s “The Bronc Stomper” took Silver while Phil Epp’s “Hilltop” earned the Gold.

The CAA exhibition will be on display through November 26, while works by TCAA artists will be on exhibit through January 7. To learn more, visit the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

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.

In 2017, American Women Artists is launching a 25-year initiative to bring the work of women artists into American museums. Their goal is 25 in 25 — 25 museum shows in the next 25 years. This historic undertaking begins next week. Where?

The Tucson Desert Art Museum is the proud host of what will surely be a historic initiative by American Women Artists (AWA). In January 2017, AWA announced that it would be starting “25 in 25,” a project that aims to bring the work of women artists into American museums over the next quarter-century. The exhibition will open on October 13 and continue through December 3.

“Over half of the working artists in this country are women,” noted AWA Board President Kathrine Lemke Waste, citing statistics from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, “yet their art is absent from the walls of our museums. Work by women artists makes up only 5 percent of the permanent holdings of art museums in America. Our vision, creativity, and imagination is virtually absent from the cultural record.”

AWA Executive Director Robin Knowlton said, “The national scope of our 25 in 25 campaign beings this fall with a juried show at the Tucson Desert Art Museum. The hope is that we can raise enough donations at each museum show to support a purchase award, guaranteeing the addition of a painting or sculpture, by a woman, in our host museum’s permanent collection.”

To learn more, visit AWA or the Tucson Desert Museum.

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.