The sudden burst and influx of French Impressionism into the hearts and minds of American artists at the turn of the 20th century is a well documented phenomenon that resulted in several generations of fantastic painters, particularly in California.

Heather James Fine Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is currently paying homage to California Impressionism during a stunning exhibition on view through the end of May. Approximately 12 paintings compose the show by artists such as John Frost, Joseph Kleitsch, William Wendt, Jessie Arms Botke, Gehring Cressey, Paul Lauritz, John Marshall Gamble, Millard Sheets, and Jack Wilkinson Smith.

“Many American and European artists traveled to France to study with the French Impressionists, and were inspired by the en plein air style of painting,” the gallery writes. “An influx of French-trained Impressionists settled in California around the turn of the 20th century, finding that between the similarity in lighting and colors to the French countryside and the vast expanse of varying landscapes to explore, California provided an endless supply of painterly inspiration.

“California Impressionism flourished as a distinct subset of American Impressionism, notably brighter, sunnier, and more upbeat than their East Coast counterparts in keeping with the climate and feel of the California landscape. They depicted the state’s exceptional beauty with a focus on the coastlines of Laguna Beach, the canyons and deserts of inland oasis Palm Springs, and the craggy mountains and fertile valleys in between. Artist colonies, communities, schools, and exhibition spaces popped up around them as more and more artists flocked to the area. Their influence helped to define the culture and attitude of the state and the cities in which they lived and worked.”

To learn more, visit Heather James Fine 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.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is offering patrons a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view works by Michelangelo Caravaggio — specifically, the last two paintings the artist ever produced.

As has been noted here, and elsewhere, Michelangelo Caravaggio possesses one of the most fascinating and mysterious biographies in art history, which has aided the production of a mountain of scholarship on his life. Equally — if not more — exceptional was his art, which helped usher in a new age of naturalism and drama known today as the Baroque period.

Many scholars have attempted to link the artist’s chaotic life as a fugitive with the changing nature of his paintings between 1605 and 1610, with focus centering on the last paintings Caravaggio made. In what can only be described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City, has brought together Caravaggio’s last two paintings for exhibition. The display of the works, “The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula” and “The Denial of Saint Peter,” is their first since a 2004 exhibition in London and Naples.

To be sure, there is a remarkable difference between Caravaggio’s late works and his commissions made in Rome during the height of his career, circa 1599-1605. Nearly every Caravaggio scholar agrees that the artist’s last paintings reveal something personal and close to the artist. Between 1606 and 1610, Caravaggio was on the run from papal authorities after murdering a man. Caravaggio’s last works seem to reveal much about his own psychological state as they convey biblical narratives.

Caravaggio died of illness in 1610 while travelling back to Rome, where he was reportedly to receive a papal pardon for his crime. Period reports suggest Caravaggio collapsed on a beach in Porto Ercole and died about three days later.

The two paintings went on display April 11 and will continue through July 9. To learn more, visit The Metropolitan Museum of 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.

A selection of some of the most iconic European paintings and sculptures from The Phillips Collection is currently being exhibited in Texas this summer. What are the highlights, and where can you find them?

Opened on May 14 and running through August 13, “A Modern Vision” is an exhibition currently on view at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. The show features a carefully curated selection of numerous European masterworks from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The works come from arguably one of the most important collections in the United States: The Phillips Collection — from America’s first museum of modern art, which opened in Washington, D.C., in 1921.

“‘A Modern Vision’ presents a selection of the most iconic European paintings and sculptures from The Phillips Collection,” the Kimbell writes. “Ranging from the early 19th century through the mid-20th century, the incomparable collection of modern art and its sources includes distinctive Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Expressionist masterworks. Viewers will encounter a stunning array — paintings from the first half of the 19th century by Courbet, Corot, Daumier, Delacroix and Ingres in dialogue with Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces by Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Redon and Sisley.

“Central to the exhibition are important works by Bonnard, de Staël, Kandinsky, Matisse, Morandi and Picasso, artists who shaped the look of the 20th century. Many of these works have not traveled together in more than 20 years. ‘A Modern Vision,’ in the words of Duncan Phillips, gathers ‘congenial spirits among the artists from different parts of the world and from different periods of time,’ demonstrating ‘that art is a universal language.’”

To learn more, visit the Kimbell Art 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.

An upcoming American Art Sale is boasting many fresh-to-the-market paintings that are causing collectors to turn their heads. Which house, and what lovely works highlight the auction? Find out here.

On May 24 in New York City, Bonham’s will host an American Art Sale that offers several fresh-to-the-market paintings by some of the United States’ most beloved artists. Among the highlights of the sale are works by Marsden Hartley, Henry F. Farny, and Robert Henri.

Leading the sale is “Landscape No. 39” by Marsden Hartley, with an estimate between $400,000 and $600,000. It has spent 42 years in a private collection, and Bonham’s expects spirited bidding on the beautiful painting. The painting is one of approximately 26 that Hartley produced during the summer and fall of 1930. According to Bonham’s, the painting “captures the long-anticipated changing of the seasons in the region surrounding Franconia, New Hampshire.” There can be little doubt that the painting is a fantastic representation of Hartley’s skill as a colorist. Set against the shores of a stream, large boulders streak across the lower portion of the canvas. Just above the low horizon is a mass of trees just hitting their peak colors for the fall season. Dominated by yellows and oranges, flashes of red and vibrant green help balance the hues and provide hints of layering and depth. The artist has even added just a sliver of the sky above, helping release the viewer from an otherwise dense scene of nature’s majesty.

Other highlights of the sale include Henry F. Farny’s “Cheyenne Scout,” which is appearing on the market for the first time. Estimates are also healthy for this painting, expected to realize between $150,000 and $250,000. “The painting depicts an indigenous American scout,” Bonham’s says, “standing alongside a glossy, chestnut horse, with two riders in the background. The landscape is precise and detailed, rendered in soft, cool, pastel hues.”

Works by Eastman Johnson and Thomas Moran also feature in the sale. To browse the other outstanding lots, visit Bonhams.

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 this ongoing series, Fine Art Today delves into the world of portraiture, highlighting historical and contemporary examples of superb quality and skill. This week you’re in for a treat as we highlight Fine Art Connoisseur magazine’s recent photo-essay.

by Max Gillies

Everyone has one, so everyone is interested, to a lesser or greater degree. I’m referring to the face. Artists have been depicting faces for millennia, sometimes flatteringly and sometimes frankly, but always with the understanding that every viewer has a direct connection with the subject — and also a way of assessing the rendition’s accuracy.

Just as important is the way we “read” facial expressions: there are happy and sad, for example, but also every possible emotion and mood between. Capturing each is no easy task, so we instinctively admire those artists who get it right.

Enjoy this diverse array of approaches, and please tell us about other artists who excel in this area.

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.

From childhood, artist Bill Suys was nurtured with a simple principle: have no excuses, work hard, and the rest will come. His mother and father, who both triumphed over deafness to live full and fruitful lives, were loving embodiments of this powerful message. Suys has continued this legacy, which has led the painter from S.C. Johnson to the walls of top galleries and private collections.

Although Bill Suys has taken many turns and paths to his current position as one of our nation’s most talented painters, art was a constant. “I’ve always been an artist,” he says. “From my earliest days I always drew a lot. If I was watching TV, I would be laying on the floor with some kind of scratchpad or whatever I could find. I would fill page after page of little drawings. It was simply what I did — what I always did.” Be that as it may, the art world of the 1960s and 1970s wasn’t conducive to Suys’s artistic vision, which centered on tradition, representation, and works from Andrew Wyeth, Rembrandt, and Vermeer.
 

Bill Suys, “Anvil at the Ready,” oil on linen, 14 x 18 in. (c) Bill Suys 2016

As a result, Suys earned a business degree after he completed his art major at the University of Minnesota. A pivotal moment in the artist’s career was his employment with S.C. Johnson, beginning in the art department and then on to a number of other roles, which is where Suys really began to hone his artistic philosophy, one built on the importance of awareness and preparation. “I felt that if I could develop my craft, then my artistic vision could freely and fully manifest itself.” 
 

Bill Suys, “Buds,” oil on linen, 24 x 48 in. (c) Bill Suys 2016

Suys says, “Key to artistic improvement is ‘paying attention,’ or awareness. Artists must build their visual awareness of the world around them while becoming ever more sensitive to its translation, such as edge, color, and shadow, while also building emotional understanding; both of which form an individual and singular aesthetic. What do brush pressure and speed do to edges, form, and presence? It’s not just about understanding surface, but also understanding oneself. The second factor is preparation: developing the skills, techniques, and processes to execute a vision to the fullest.” 
 

Bill Suys, “Reverie,” oil on canvas, 30 x 24 in. (c) Bill Suys 2016

Suys’s works are characterized by their diverse subject matter, which includes still life, figurative, landscape, plein air, wildlife, and portraiture — evidence of his ability to recognize beauty all around him, extending well beyond his home in the picturesque Kettle Moraine area of Wisconsin. Indeed, no subject seems to escape Suys, who feels compelled to “capture and re-present the beauty and spirit in all things,” he says. “My goal, and really my challenge, is to visually leave a spirit that speaks on its own. I hope to create works that illuminate a greater depth that exists in our world, perhaps a bit of soul.”
 

Bill Suys, “The Storyteller,” oil, 12 x 16 in. (c) Bill Suys 2016

As his illustrious career continues to ascend, Suys will undoubtedly continue to probe the mysterious beauty of our natural world. He suggests, “I try to dig down to my core principles and work from my heart to create a painting. The more I paint and the farther I get down this path, I hope to be able to do that better and more effectively.” There can be little doubt that Suys has already mastered — to a degree — this principle as his resume and list of gallery representation and awards continue to lengthen.
 
To learn more, visit Bill Suys.
 
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.
 

by Max Gillies

Everyone has one, so everyone is interested, to a lesser or greater degree.  I’m referring to the face.  Artists have been depicting faces for millennia, sometimes flatteringly and sometimes frankly, but always with the understanding that every viewer has a direct connection with the subject—and also a way of assessing the rendition’s accuracy.

Just as important is the way we “read” facial expressions: there are happy and sad, for example, but also every possible emotion and mood between.  Capturing each is no easy task, so we instinctively admire those artists who get it right.

Enjoy this diverse array of approaches, and please tell us about other artists who excel in this area.