On view through December 17 at New York City’s Hollis Taggart Galleries is an amazing display of dexterity and skill through the sculptures of Alan Wolfson — master of the diorama.

Collectors not from New York City could easily bring it into their homes with Alan Wolfson’s incredible dioramas. Intricately detailed and crafted with skill, Wolfson’s miniature urban vignettes offer an intimate portrait of the city through abandoned storefronts, street corners, and subway stations.

A selection of Wolfson’s works is now on view at New York’s Hollis Taggart Galleries. Via the gallery, “Devoid of figures, Wolfson’s scenes are primarily focused on the architecture and design of his chosen urban locations, but most importantly on the leftover evidence of those city dwellers that have been and gone. Trash, cigarette butts, and graffiti all indicate the presence of people and yet the works are left empty, creating a world of possible narratives. As viewers, we become voyeurs peering into the unkempt and lonely corners of the city that Wolfson invites us to explore. These elaborate snapshots are the result of months of extensive planning and research, with each detail having been meticulously crafted by the artist himself. Wolfson’s final sculptures represent a careful balance of the real and the invented, combining elements from memory, reality, and imagination.”

Titled “New York Nocturnes,” the solo show will be on view through December 17. To learn more, visit Hollis Taggart 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.

As we detailed in last week’s edition of Fine Art Today, many of the nation’s top contemporary galleries are mounting group exhibitions featuring outstanding masterpieces in miniature. The trend continues with simply one of the best: Arcadia Contemporary.

“12 By 12 In 12” is yet another stunning display of brilliance in paint on a miniature scale this holiday season. Hosted by the monumental Arcadia Contemporary in Culver City, California, the exhibition features over 50 artworks by many of the nation’s top artists, including Nick Alm, Mary Jane Ansell, Julio Reyes, Malcolm T. Liepke, Cesar Santos, Jordan Sokol, Katie Whipple, and Zoey Frank.

Arcadia Contemporary invites viewers to delight in their favorite artist’s style and concepts in small formats, which could present beginning collectors with an invaluable opportunity. Indeed, whether you’re an experienced collector or just initiating your journey, Arcadia Contemporary is one destination that should be on every list.

“12 By 12 In 12” opens on Saturday, December 10, with a reception from 6-9 p.m. To learn more, visit Arcadia Contemporary.

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.

What is the idea of art? What about meta-painting? The Museo del Prado invites visitors to explore and reflect on the changing status of painting and other arts during a magnetic exhibition featuring hundreds of outstanding artworks.

More than 100 paintings, prints, and sculptures loosely based on the royal collections and Spanish art are the subjects of a fascinating exhibition currently on view at Spain’s Museo del Prado. On view through February 19, “Meta-Painting: A Journey to the Idea of Art” will encourage its audience to embark on a self-reflexive experiment, using art to “analyze issues such as the origins of artistic activity; religious and mythological accounts; the ‘magical’ nature of images and their devotional function; the emergence of the idea of ‘art’; the relationship between pictorial and real space; the way in which artists have represented themselves or have reflected on their creative and working environment; and the fundamental concerns of art theory,” as the museum reports.

The exhibition is, additionally, a celebration of the museum’s 197th anniversary. Continuing, the Prado writes, “The exhibition’s ‘journey’ is divided into different phases. Fifteen sections focus on the relationship between art, the artist and society, each one of which looks at a specific issue, among them: the powers attributed to religious images; the role played by the ‘painting within the painting’; artists’ attempts to break through the pictorial space and continue it towards the viewer; the origins and practice of the idea of artistic tradition; portraits and self-portraits of artists; places for the creation and collecting of art; the origin of the modern concept of art history; the subjectivity that emerged in self-portraits from the Enlightenment onwards; and the importance of the concepts of love, death and fame in the modern artistic discourse.”

To learn more, visit the Museo del Prado.

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.

EVOKE Contemporary is proud to feature brilliant works by painter Michael Workman during an upcoming solo exhibition. Visitors to the gallery will encounter truth, beauty, and goodness.

According to Santa Fe gallery EVOKE Contemporary, “Truth, Beauty, and Goodness” are the “broad, subjective, and sometimes discounted concepts that form the foundation of Michael Workman’s paintings.” Patrons who are lucky enough to visit the gallery this holiday season will encounter just those things during Workman’s solo exhibition, which runs from November 25 through January 7.

Included in the show are some 18 new landscape paintings — all executed masterfully with adroit combinations of expressive, feathery brushwork and tightly rendered forms. Also worthy of attention is Workman’s ability to capture the subtle effects of light as it cascades across mountainous landscapes, blankets a herd of cattle, or reflects off towering thunderhead clouds.

Continuing, the gallery writes, “Workman’s landscapes are idyllic; they depict the visual splendor of the American Southwest in colorful vistas, sunlit mountains, and far-reaching fields peppered with cattle. At the same time, his scenes convey a deeper meaning, one that simmers just under the surface, slowly escaping from among the layers of oil paint and intricate brushwork. Workman does not endeavor merely to paint an appealing picture, but also to share the spiritual connection he feels to the land and throughout his own life.”

To learn more, visit EVOKE Contemporary.

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 spectacular original by Norman Rockwell, the iconic wartime painter and illustrator for The Saturday Evening Post, was the highlight of the day during Sotheby’s American Art sale on November 22. Which painting commanded seven figures?

Norman Rockwell’s 1944 oil painting “Which One?” is perhaps more relevant than ever — perhaps adding to the spirited bidding for the painting during Sotheby’s American Art sale on Tuesday, November 22. The work appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post prior to the 1944 presidential election between incumbent Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Thomas Dewey.

The vertically formatted painting displays an elderly gentleman dressed in suit and tie, with an umbrella hooked on his arm. Standing between the green curtains of a voting booth, the man purposefully considers his next action: voting for President of the United States. The subject appears perplexed, unsure of which individual to choose as his next leader. The painting seems more pointed than ever during this election year as many of the nation’s voters likely felt similar feelings of apprehension and uncertainty. In the man’s right hand is the front page of the Cedar Rapids newspaper, which states more literally the gentleman’s thought process: Two photos, one of Roosevelt and Dewey under large bold letters asking “Which One?” No other figures occupy the painting, and the tight cropping of the picture highlights the subject’s moment of truth in his isolation.

With three telephone bidders in pursuit of the painting, auction organizers at Sotheby’s in New York City were expecting competitive bidding for the lovely original, which had estimates between $4 million and $6 million. The final hammer price exceeded expectations, and the painting was had for a total of $6,537,500. Three other originals by Rockwell brought a combined $3.5 million. Collectively, Rockwell earned a whopping $10 million on Tuesday.

Among other works offered during the sale were originals by Childe Hassam, Milton Avery, and Albert Bierstadt. To learn more, visit Sotheby’s.

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 occasional series, Fine Art Today delves into the world of portraiture, highlighting historical and contemporary examples of superb quality and skill. This week: Kehinde Wiley, “Duc D’Arenberg.”

This year’s presidential election and increased awareness of racial tensions in the United States have made the magnificent works of Brooklyn-based painter Kehinde Wiley even more potent — which seems hard to imagine. Although Wiley has firmly situated himself within art history’s portrait painting tradition, he’s added his own creative flare in remarkable ways that have vaulted him to international success.

This week’s featured portrait is a fabulous painting that illustrates well Wiley’s artistic genius. At first glance, the monumental “Duc D’Arenberg” adheres beautifully to the traditions of equestrian portraits. A strong and rearing stallion forms the center of the composition, with bulging muscles and a flowing mane. The landscape beyond shows troops and cavalry marching toward the shores of an unknown body of water. But in a striking break from tradition, the portrait’s subject is a young African-American man, dressed in brilliant contemporary clothing. With sword at his side and mace in hand, the figure gazes sternly over his left shoulder and at the viewer. The confrontation seems confident, masculine, and empowering. Particularly noteworthy is the sitter’s hooded sweatshirt, which displays a brilliant pattern that contrasts sharply with its more natural surroundings.

Via Wiley’s webpage, the artist writes that he “engages the signs and visual rhetoric of the heroic, powerful, majestic and the sublime in his representation of urban, black, and brown men found through the world. By applying the visual vocabulary and conventions of glorification, history, wealth and prestige to the subject matter drawn from the urban fabric, the subjects and stylistic references for the paintings are juxtaposed inversions of each other, forcing ambiguity and provocative perplexity to pervade it.”

To learn more, visit Kehinde Wiley.

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.

It’s arguably the most prestigious, competitive, and exciting art competition for contemporary realism in the world. Now in it’s 12th year, the Art Renewal Center recently announced its newest Salon winners. Who took home the hardware?

The Art Renewal Center (ARC) – one of the most respected realist art institutions – was overjoyed to recently announce the latest winners of it’s incredibly popular and competitive Salon. The 12th Annual International ARC Salon features over 1,000 finalist works representing 640 artists from 63 countries. As part of the competition, the ARC has also acquired 14 works for their own collection.

Awards are categorized by various different sections – most often surrounding subject, including best nude, best social commentary, best trompe l’oeil, best figure, best portrait, best still life, best imaginative realism, best landscape, and many more. Of course, all artists covet earning best in show honors, museum purchase awards, and others sponsored by magazines such as Fine Art Connoisseur and PleinAir Magazine.

Tenaya Sims’ outstanding work “Semillas” (seeds) earned top distinction as Best in Show in 2016. Runner up honors, titled The Bouguereau Award, was taken home by Nick Alm for his painting “The Performance. The winner of The Da Vinci Initiative Award for the Young Aspiring Artist was awarded to 15-year-old Ray Wanda Totanes for her marvelous painting “Perception of Self”. The Oil Painters of America (OPA) also sponsors an award of $1000, which was given to Michele Del Camp for his painting “The Argument.”

Many other honors were given to well-deserving artists, and we encourage you to view the full list of recipients by visiting the ARC International Salon webpage.

As has been the custom since its inception, the ARC will be working with galleries such as Rehs Contemporary, Arcadia Contemporary, and The Salmagundi Club to mount several exhibitions of finalist works, which will be held early in 2017; exact dates to be announced. Currently on the slate is a showing of approximately 75 works for the live version of the ARC Salon that will travel from the Salmagundi Club to the MEAM Museum in Barcelona, Spain, where it will be on view from September 23 through November 27, 2017. The showing at the Salmagundi Club will open May 12 and continue through June 1, 2017.

The 13th Annual International Salon will feature a new category: plein air! Sponsored by the California Plein Air Painters and Masters of Plein Air Academy, organizers expect a robust number of entries in this category, especially given the meteoric rise of plein air’s popularity.

To learn more, visit The Art Renewal Center.

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.