A rich selection of more than 50 oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, photographs, manuscripts, letters, and printed books from 24 museums and private collections in the U.S., Great Britain, and Ireland, have been brought together to explore the relationship between author Henry James (1843-1916) and the visual arts of the 19th century. Where?

From October 19 through January 21, 2018, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston will host a stunning exhibition that highlights the important intersection between literature and visual art during the 19th century. Specifically, the exhibition explores — as its name suggests — the relationship between author Henry James and the visual arts. According to the museum, the show “offers a fresh perspective on the master novelist and the significance of his friendships with American artists John La Farge, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler, and close friend and esteemed arts patron, Isabella Stewart Gardner.”

The museum adds, “James, who had a distinctive, almost painterly style of writing, is best known for his books Portrait of a Lady (1880), Washington Square (1880), The Wings of a Dove (1902), and The Ambassadors (1903). He was part of a creative circle of writers and artists in the late 1800s that were on the move between grand salons and artists’ studios in Boston, Florence, London, and Rome. A woman ahead of her time, Gardner was an influential part of the group, and her Museum vividly evokes one city that captivated all of them: Venice.

“Gardner and her husband, Jack, spent considerable time in Venice where they rented the lavish Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal from friends and fellow Boston expatriates Daniel and Ariana Curtis. In 1892, James was a guest of the Gardners, and Palazzo Barbaro became the model for the palace in The Wings of the Dove. Sargent’s 1889 painting An Interior in Venice showcases the palazzo’s grand salon and is part of the exhibition, on loan from the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Gardner’s own meticulously crafted photo and travel albums record the profound impact that Venice, Palazzo Barbaro, and her creative friends had on the formation of her museum.”

“With the Gardner Museum’s renowned collection of art, rare books, and archival material that detail how installations were inspired by great artists and writers of her time, we are the perfect partner with the Morgan for this exhibition,” said Christina Nielsen, the Gardner Museum’s Williams and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection, who curated the Boston exhibition along with consulting curator Casey Riley of the Boston Athenaeum. “In fact, Isabella’s first serious acquisitions were books, and she was herself an avid reader who understood that words could paint vivid images in one’s mind. A strong and complex woman who sometimes followed — and sometimes flouted — social conventions, she had much in common with the most memorable of James’s heroines.

“Portraiture is a major theme in the exhibition. In less than one decade, James used the word ‘portrait’ in three book titles, including his first literary masterpiece, The Portrait of a Lady. Fiercely protective of his privacy, James nevertheless sat for numerous portraits and photographs. Sargent’s 1913 portrait of James, a treasure on loan for the exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery, London, is perhaps the most famous painted image of the author on his 70th birthday. James described it — with his characteristic wit: ‘Sargent at his very best and poor old H.J. not at his worst; in short a living breathing likeness and a masterpiece of painting.’ Photographs of James by Alice Boughton and Ellen Gertrude Emmet Rand are on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., for the exhibition. They will be featured alongside Sargent’s beloved ‘Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner,’ from the Gardner Museum — which James famously described as a ‘Byzantine Madonna’ — and the ‘Portrait of Mrs. Edward Darley Boit,’ on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

“Like Sargent, Whistler had long-lasting friendships with James and Gardner, and his ‘Nocturne, Blue and Silver: Battersea Reach’ and his ‘Little Note in Yellow and Gold,’ from the Gardner’s collection, are featured prominently in the exhibition. Notable women in the circle of friends are Lila Cabot Perry, whose 1913 self-portrait, ‘The Green Hat,’ will be positioned near landscapes painted by another friend, Elizabeth Boott Duveneck. Duveneck inspired characters in three of James’s most important works: Washington Square (1880), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), and The Golden Bowl (1904). On loan from the Cincinnati Museum of Art for the exhibition is a portrait of Duveneck with her father by her husband, American painter Frank Duveneck — again illustrating the artistic connections between the influential friends.”

To learn more, visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner 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.

The Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York, along with Nigerian artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby, are soon opening a fascinating exhibition featuring a portrait series depicting domestic scenes and daily life. Details here!

On October 14, the Tang Museum — located on the campus of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York — will open an exhibition showcasing the monumental works of Nigerian artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby.

In “Predecessors,” personal themes transcend individual experience and speak to universal themes of family, love, and domesticity, but also provide a powerful perspective on the African diaspora and postcolonial culture. According to the museum, “Akunyili Crosby depicts her late mother, who was a prominent Nigerian politician, her sister, and herself within compositions of her grandmother’s home. The psychologically powerful, monumental works examine her relationship with loved ones, her Nigerian upbringing, subsequent immigration to America, and marriage to a white Texan. Through the utilization of collage, printmaking, painting, drawing, and photo transfer, Akunyili Crosby creates a sophisticated visual language that draws upon her Igbo tribe’s customs, Nigeria’s British colonial past, and tropes of Western art. In ‘Predecessors,’ personal themes transcend individual experience and speak to universal themes of family, love, domesticity, and enters the global discussion of postcolonial cultural exchange.”

Tang Teaching Museum Dayton Director Ian Berry said, “Akunyili Crosby’s work, in stunning detail, subverts preconceived notions of artistic representation. Through layering different methods and at times unexpected materials, she presents an alternative to stereotypical perceptions about Western art and the lives of contemporary Africans. It is a pleasure to collaborate with Njideka and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati to present her series ‘Predecessors’ at the Tang, and we are excited to have her join us on campus this fall.”

The exhibition continues through December 31. To learn more, visit the Tang 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.

How do you define “imaginative realism”? Renowned artist James Gurney has suggested that it is the realistic depiction of something that one can only imagine. Perhaps it’s something more? This gallery investigates during a major group exhibition.

GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, Pennsylvania, will be the proud host of a cutting-edge exhibition featuring many of the world’s best imaginative realist artists. The IX Arts Main Show will open on October 18 and continue through October 22 — a short stint, so plan now. The exhibition will feature works by some 140 artists from around the globe.

Founded in 2008, IX Arts is the first, groundbreaking art show, symposium, and celebration dedicated solely to imaginative realism — bringing artists, students, collectors, and art fans together for an annual gathering intended to inspire and create further awareness and zeal for imaginative realism.

To learn more, visit IX Arts.

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.

Well-known Tacoma, Washington, painter Mark Larson is currently showcasing a fantastic lineup of new works that explore man, nature, and their intersection in the modern world.

On view through November 10, “New Totems” is an engaging display of contemporary realism by artist Mark Larson. Hosted at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia, Washington, these new works cover all three floors of this beautiful venue and kick off the center’s fall performance season.

“Larson’s paintings are a thought-provoking exploration into the often strained dialectic between humanity and nature in our modern world,” writes the center. “In this time of tremendous cultural and environmental change, ‘New Totems’ aims to show us how we intersect with and have an impact on nature. Mark has been working on this body of work since 2015, and this will be the first time that many of these works have been shown in public. With paintings ranging from small studies to very large canvases as large as eight feet across, this is a show you won’t want to miss.’

To learn more, visit the Washington Center for the Performing Arts.

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 its successful run at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace in 2016, this incredible exhibition that delves into the world of self-portraiture through a remarkable selection of works from the Royal Collection soon lands here.

The Royal Collection is one of the most important art collections in the world, and now important examples of historical self-portraiture from the collection are heading to the Vancouver Art Gallery in British Columbia. “Portrait of the Artist: An Exhibition from the Royal Collection” is the first outside the United Kingdom to focus on images of artists within the Royal Collection. Among the artists represented are Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Artemisia Gentileschi, Lucien Freud, and David Hockney; also included are images of artists by their friends, relatives, and pupils, including the most reliable surviving likeness of Leonardo da Vinci, by his student Francesco Melzi.

Following its run at the Queen’s Gallery, “Portrait of the Artist” will open in Vancouver on October 28 and remain on view through February 4, 2018. Kathleen S. Bartels, director of the Vancouver Art Gallery, remarked, “‘Portrait of the Artist’ presents a remarkable group of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and works of art spanning six centuries from the Royal Collection. These works highlight both the enormous richness of the Royal Collection and the complex and deep relationship that the British monarchy has had with artists. We are delighted to offer audiences this rare opportunity to trace the evolving role of artists across time.”

Continuing, the gallery’s press release reads, “Central to the history of the British monarchy has been the role of art, both to define the image of the monarchs and to confirm their power, wealth, and taste. However, during the Renaissance, artists began claiming an increasingly central role in visual culture, as emphasis shifted toward individual achievement and the notion of the artist as a uniquely visionary genius. This growing respect for artists as creators led to the collecting of artist’s self-portraits and images of artists playing roles and at work. Such voracious collection began with King Charles I, one of Europe’s greatest art collectors. As soon as succeeding British monarchs began employing and collecting the work of artists (both British and European), they also began collecting artist’s self-portraits.”

To learn more, visit The Vancouver Art 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.

Fine Art Connoisseur was busy last week in Utah during events for the American Impressionist Society (AIS) Annual Exhibition. What’s more, while Publisher Eric Rhoads and Editor-in-Chief Peter Trippi were leading a group of collectors through museums and galleries in Russia last week, we also hosted a curator-led tour through the Springville Museum with several acclaimed artists.

John Burton, Ryan Brown, Olga Krimon, Josh Clare, Bryan Mark Taylor, and West Coast Editor Vanessa Rothe were among the attendees of a curator-led tour at the Springville Museum last week. The group of artists — who revere the large-scale Soviet Impressionist works — were greeted by Dr. Vern G. Swanson, Director Emeritus at the Springville Museum, and curator Ellie Sands. The group discussed the historical significance of painting larger figurative works as well as the history of Russia in the early 20th century and how art played a major role in everyday life for the people.

The Springville Museum boasts the largest Soviet realist art collection on the West Coast and has been a longtime draw for artists and collectors alike. The works collected highlight how the Soviets combined realism and Impressionism, circa 1930 to 1980. Colorful, vibrant portraits, characters in the fields, and the everyday working class are celebrated in these fine works along with important state and political events — all captured and immortalized by union artists.

After the tour, Fine Art Connoisseur was off to sponsor the official museum lecture and tour through the “Saints at Devils Gate: Landscapes Along the Mormon Trail” large-scale exhibition at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. Artists John Burton, Josh Clare, Bryan Mark Taylor, and Rothe presented a lecture on what it took to paint on location and create such large-scale paintings. Often, these paintings are 50 x 35 inches, and the presenters discussed how artists framed and transported them. The works are mostly landscape, and the exhibition continued through October 3. This tour was also in conjunction with the educational events for the American Impressionist Society annual exhibition.

For more information, visit https://history.lds.org/section/museum?lang=eng

Finally, the group ascended the hills to Park City for the American Impressionist Society 18th Annual National Juried Exhibition, held at Montgomery Lee Gallery. The exhibition was well attended, with over 100 artists and visitors on hand. More than 175 works were on display, juried by acclaimed artist Albert Handell. Over 30 awards and sponsored gifts, worth more than $69,000, were given out during the event.

Rothe then led an educational panel with Olga Krimon, Howard Friedland, Debra Joy Groesser, Shanna Kunz, and John Burton surrounding the business of being a fine artist, how to teach a workshop, in-depth color choices, social media, networking, and marketing. Events continued with group demonstrations and paint-outs around Park City. The exhibition is available to view online at www.americanimpressionistsociety.org and runs through October 29.

Jason Sacran was the Best of Show winner for his gorgeous painting “Beaver Lake Revisited,” which earned the artist $12,000 cash. Mary Qian’s “George” was the Second Place winner — an honor that came with $8,000 cash. Elizabeth Robbins’ lush still life “Springtime” was the $4,000 Third Place winner, while “Point Lobos Mist” by John Burton was the Artists’ Choice winner.

Fine Art Connoisseur and PleinAir magazines also sponsored awards that came with a full-page advertisement in the publication, worth $4,000. Kelli Folsom’s “I See Your Face in Every Flower” took the Fine Art Connoisseur Award of Excellence, while Thomas Jefferson Kitts earned the PleinAir Magazine Award of Excellence for “The Mama Lu Under Repair.”

Dave Santillanes’ “The Brook” won the William Schultz Memorial Award; Marianne Miller’s “June Siesta” took the Marjorie L. Bradley Memorial Associate Member Award; Michele Usibelli’s “Winter Escape” won the Dickinson Signature Member Award; Kevin Macpherson’s “The Master Calligrapher” earned the Ney Founders Award for Masters; James Crandall’s “Lady with a Bicycle” took the President’s Choice Award; Vianna Szabo’s “Pause” won the Award of Excellence for Pastels; Ron Stocke’s “Bermondsey London” took the Award of Excellence for Watermedia; Kenn Backhaus’ “Monarchs and Queen Anne’s Lace” won the Southwest Art Magazine Master Award of Excellence; Dawn Whitelaw’s “A Change Over” earned the American Art Collector Master Award of Excellence; Aimee Erickson’s “The Writer” won the Southwest Art Magazine Award of Excellence; and Jeffrey Watts’ “Ode to Spring” took the American Art Collector Award of Excellence.

To learn more, visit the American Impressionist Society.

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.

Bank of America has an outstanding conservation grant aimed at keeping iconic artworks looking their best. The Newark Museum was the most recent institution awarded the grant. Which American work is getting its makeover?

“We are honored and delighted to receive this generous grant and are most grateful for the ongoing support from our partner Bank of America,” said Newark Museum Director and CEO Steven Kern after receiving the latest Bank of American Art Conservation Project grant. Launched in 2010, the project has provided grants to museums in 20 countries, supporting more than 100 conservation projects. Among the artworks conserved under the grant have been Thomas Gainsborough’s “Blue Boy,” a Claude Monet painting at the Kimbell Art Museum, and three paintings at the Dalí Museum in Tampa, Florida.

This year’s grant was awarded for the Newark Museum’s project to conserve a brilliant 1871 oil painting, “The Arch of Titus,” by George Peter Alexander, Frederic Edwin Church, and Jervis McEntee. Work will begin on the piece in February and will be completed by May. The painting will then go on display at the Newark Museum through October before being shown within an exhibition by the Detroit Institute of Arts titled “Frederic Church: To Jerusalem and Back,” opening October 22, 2017 and running through January 4, 2018.

If you’re interested in following the conservation process, follow the museum via Facebook at facebook.com/newark.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.