It always comes with great excitement to report on great artists receiving well-deserved honors. Recent news from Australia has us buzzing. Why?

On January 26, 2017, Australian artist Graeme Stevenson, known for his colorful watercolors of wildlife, received an incredible honor: the Order of Australia Medal, or OAM. Stevenson was chosen this year for his outstanding contributions to the Australian and global art community. In particular, Stevenson’s project entitled “Put Some Colour in Your Life,” a film series featuring talented artists of Australia and presented worldwide, has achieved great success.

Via the press release: “Beginning on the Gold Coast in 2010, Graeme created ‘Put Some Colour in Your Life’ with the hopes of creating a video library of the artists of the world, to preserve for future generations. His efforts have not only led to the television series creating more than 200 episodes, while travelling from Australia to New Zealand and the United States, but have now been recognized nationally with his receiving of the OAM.

“Stevenson has spent the past six years working tirelessly to get the television series across the globe, partnering with companies such as Princeton Artist Brush Co. and Royal Talens and a number of other major art brands across the world, to film incredible artists from Australia to New Zealand and the United States. With new film crews coming on board in the USA, UK, Canada, India and a number of European countries, ‘Put Some Colour in Your Life’ promises to become one of the biggest names in the global artistic community.

“An artist from the age of twelve, Stevenson has spent his life travelling the world with a paintbrush in hand. As some of the great artists he’d admired all his career began to pass, he realized it was time for a means of preserving their incredible talents and legacy so future generations might one day learn from masters of the arts.”

We congratulate Stevenson on his well-deserved award!

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 Impressionist master is getting his first retrospective in the United States in over 20 years at a great New England space. A collection of unforgettable treasures awaits your gaze here.

In concert with the Hôtel de Caumont Centre d’Art in Provence, France, the Bruce Museum recently opened a wonderful exhibition showcasing the works of Alfred Sisley (1839-1899). Located in Greenwich, Connecticut, the Bruce Museum is presenting around 50 of the artist’s masterworks, giving viewers a comprehensive look into Sisley’s entire oeuvre and career.

Titled “Alfred Sisley: Impressionist Master,” the exhibition represents Sisley’s first retrospective in the United States in over 20 years. Further, the Bruce Museum will be the lone venue to premiere the exhibition in the United States. Via the exhibition webpage, “A friend of Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Sisley initially worked in the naturalistic landscape tradition of the Barbizon School but increasingly adopted a proto-Impressionistic style, creating a body of work that has an impressive internal consistency and cumulative authority. Throughout his career, Sisley adhered to the style of divided light and color, momentary effects of illumination, and an acute responsiveness to atmosphere that are the signature attributes of Impressionism. He dutifully painted en plein air in all manner of weather, recording his favorite sites in the environs of Paris — Bougival, Louveciennes, Marly-le-Roi, Saint-Mammès — in exhaustive detail, in all seasons, and under ever-changing skies. Born in Paris to British parents, Sisley studied the landscape paintings of Constable and Turner before enrolling in Charles Gleyre’s studio where he met Monet and Renoir. Little biographical information about his life has survived so his art must speak for itself, and does so with haunting beauty. The magic with which he was able to capture light sparkling on water, winter sun on snow, and trees rustled by a breeze creates some of the most memorable Impressionist images.”

To learn more, visit The Bruce Museum.

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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 we delve into a propagandistic portrait of arguably Rome’s greatest Emperor.

When learning the history of art, there are literally thousands of artworks worthy of extended discussion. Despite this fact, there exists a select pantheon of objects from the Prehistoric period through modern times that, simply put, can never be overlooked. This week’s feature portrait just happens to be one of them.

When Julius Caesar was brutally assassinated on March 15, 44 BCE, it was the climax of a dark period in the Republic’s storied history. Society was in disarray, and the government was rife with corruption. Fast forward to 14 CE — some 58 years later — and the scene couldn’t have been more different. The newly established Roman Empire was flourishing, reaching new economic and military heights that, as it would happen, would never be reached again.

This sudden rebirth of Rome is largely credited to its beloved emperor, a man named Gaius Octavius (63BCE-14CE), who politically negotiated a peace treaty — called the Pax Romana — that allowed the economy and arts to explode. Further, Octavius ordered numerous infrastructural improvements throughout the empire, elevating the quality of life for millions, and they loved him for it.

As should come as no surprise, much art and architecture was commissioned to serve this beneficent emperor, both publicly and privately. “The Prima Porta Augustus” — as it is called — is a remarkable idealistic portrait of Octavius, likely produced in multitudes and displayed prominently in public areas. Particularly fascinating is how carefully constructed Octavius’ portrait was. An investigation of the portrait’s imagery reveals a life of its own.

To begin, the sculpture was produced toward the end of Octavius’ life, as he neared age 80, but the portrait is that of a beardless youth, in the prime of his physical might. Further, he stands in full military dress, his right arm raised as if poised to direct his people or army. In his left arm rests his spear and cloak. Octavius’ stance is significant — it’s a direct copy of the “Doryphorous,” a famed sculpture from Classical Greece by Polykleitos. The Doryphorous represented for the Greeks perfect human form based on mathematical ratio, and Octavius, in quoting this sculpture, inherits these qualities while connecting his empire to Greece’s glorious past.

Other imagery on the sculpture provides similar propaganda. The artificial support that braces his right leg is sculpted to show the winged child Eros (commonly known as Cupid), riding the back of a diving dolphin. Venus, the mother of Eros, was also the mother of Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome. Scholars believe the baby’s inclusion was meant to subtly legitimize Octavius’ claim to the throne through blood. The dolphin is less clear, perhaps alluding to the Battle of Actium, a fantastic naval conflict in which Octavius defeated Mark Antony to secure his position as leader. Other imagery exists on the breastplate of Octavius, commemorating his Pax Romana and celebrating the wealth and abundance his various exploits and victories had brought to the empire.

Today, the sculpture is held by the Vatican Museums in Rome and remains one of the most iconic and important artworks to have survived over the centuries.

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.

This Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, has launched a compelling “Close Up” program that invites both artists and visitors to create meaningful dialogues with art of all eras – beginning with the Renaissance.  Who and where? Find out here.

The “Close Up” program begun by the famed Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston offers a fresh perspective on the institution’s masterpieces. Debuting in February 2017, the event’s first installment highlights Piermatteo d’Amelia’s stunning “Annunciation,” circa 1487.

The museum writes, “Forging a dialogue between art of the past and present, Piermatteo’s ‘Annunciation’ accompanies a video installation by contemporary artist Bill Viola titled ‘Study for Emergence,’ on special loan from the Yale University of Art Gallery. Each artist engaged profoundly with the Christian tradition as it was envisioned in the Italian Renaissance. In keeping with Isabella Stewart Gardner’s determination to create meaningful dialogues between art of all eras, the relationships in subject matter between the artworks encourage visitors to seek connections between Renaissance and contemporary art otherwise difficult in the historic palace.”

The “Close Up” program will be an annual installment in which a single work of art from the museum’s permanent collection is displayed in its temporary exhibition gallery. In addition to viewing the masterpieces in a new space and in new light, the program will offer — for each installment — a short book written by the Gardner Associate Curator Dr. Nathaniel Silver. The publications will include an account of Gardner’s hunt for the exhibited painting, rare photographs from the museum’s archives, and — in this year’s edition — the first biography of Piermatteo in English.

Speaking about the inaugural exhibition, Dr. Silver suggested, “Gardner’s ‘Annunciation’ is beloved by many of our visitors for its harmonious perspective, and this exhibition offers an opportunity to get a closer look at its finest details. Some might also be surprised to find out that this altarpiece was made by the pope’s favorite painter. Piermatteo d’Amelia skyrocketed to fame in Rome and was even invited to fresco the Sistine Chapel ceiling before Michelangelo. Despite his achievements, this Renaissance master was quickly forgotten.”

A number of public programs will also accompany this year’s installment. On Saturday, February 4, Cammy Brothers — associate professor of architectural history at Northeastern University — and Dr. Silver will open the exhibition with a presentation at 3:30 P.M. On Saturday, February 25, the museum will host Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, M.D., and Peggy Burchenal for an entertaining lecture.

To learn more, visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

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Bonner David Galleries is excited to soon open its doors for a new exhibition featuring a series of figurative works by this well-known painter. Details here!

Opening February 4 and running through February 21, “Times Tender Passing” is a beautiful display by contemporary painter Joseph Lorusso. Representing the best of his figurative work, this exhibition is surely not one to miss for collectors of contemporary realism. Via the gallery, “With his ever contemporary approach, noted artist Joseph Lorusso has created a chronology of relationships passing times. From young love to the introspection of the meaning of life, Lorusso showcases his singular style with a distinctive palette.”

An opening reception with the artist is scheduled for February 4 from 1:30 to 5 P.M. To learn more, visit Bonner David 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.

Most of us alive today have little or no memory of the life and spirit of urban life in America at the beginning of the 20th century, which is why a major university’s art gallery is using art to bring those times back.

Yale University’s Art Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition that seeks to illustrate the life and times of America during one of its most incredible periods of modern development. “It Was a New Century: Reflections on Modern America” opened on December 23, 2016 and continues through June 4.

Drawn largely from a private collection, the show features some 60 paintings, prints, watercolors, and drawings by many of America’s most iconic artists. Among the masters included in the show are George Bellows, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Walt Kuhn, Maurice Prendergast, and Everett Shinn.

The gallery reports, “[the artists] depicted a wide range of popular themes, from the gritty to the glamorous: busy street scenes in working-class neighborhoods; boxers doing battle in private clubs; patriotic flags lining New York’s Fifth Avenue; performers donning costumes and face paint; and sunny retreats for the wealthy, from Shinnecock, Long Island, to Venice. Taken together, these exceptional works present a compelling panorama of a new, modern America.”

To learn more, visit the Yale University 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.

Louisville, Kentucky, is the current home of a major show featuring hundreds of paintings, drawings, and photographs from a native son. He is celebrated for his creative output and research into Native Americans, and this is one exhibition to definitely see.

“Picturing American Indian Cultures: The Art of Kentucky’s Frederick Weygold” is a celebration of one man’s lifelong mission to understand and preserve Native American culture. Weygold (1870-1941) was a productive Louisville artist and ethnographer, producing hundreds of artworks and essays on local Sauk, Lakota, Plains, and Woodland tribes.

On view since January 7 at Louisville’s Speed Art Museum, the exhibition features some 180 paintings, drawings, and photographs by Weygold. Kim Spence, the museum’s curator of prints, drawings, and photographs, noted, “Although Weygold’s work as an illustrator, photographer, and collector of American Indian art is highly regarded in Europe, he remains virtually unknown in the United States.” The Speed Art Museum is seeking to change that through this brilliant exhibition, saying, “The exhibition offers for the first time a comprehensive account of this remarkable man and his achievements as an artist, collector, educator, and social activist.”

The exhibition will be on view through March 26. To learn more, visit The Speed 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.