The Clark Hulings Fund for Visual Artists (CHF) recently announced a unique artistic and philanthropic collaboration with master sculptor Glenna Goodacre. Collectors and major donors should look at this opportunity. What is it? Find out here!

What a way to head into retirement. In collaboration with the Clark Hulings Fund for Visual Artists (CHF), master sculptor Glenna Goodacre — a longtime friend of the late Clark Hulings — will produce a series of bas-relief sculptures inspired by the iconic Hulings drawing “Helping to Push.” However, the story doesn’t stop here. The CHF will then produce a limited edition of 25 bronzes, and will gift them as a thank you to major donors to the fund.

According to the non-profit organization, Goodacre’s decision to re-interpret “Helping to Push” was no coincidence. They write, “When Elizabeth and Mary Hulings first founded CHF, this particular piece was the fund’s iconic image because its title and subject captured both the essence of the nonprofit organization — to help artists who are helping themselves — and its namesake’s view on life. ‘My father was always interested in images of people working together, and with their animals,’ said Elizabeth Hulings. ‘He had a great passion for collaborating with peers. He wasn’t a teacher, but he still wanted to help other artists — which is the reason we started CHF.’”

Continuing, the CHF says, “As the CEO of her own corporation, which she established in 1979, Goodacre understands firsthand how important it is for artists to have the knowledge and tools to run economically viable businesses. The internationally renowned sculptor has had a long and illustrious career, creating more than 600 works, of which her most famous are her Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, DC, the massive Irish Memorial in Philadelphia, and the Sacagawea U.S. dollar coin.

“The bas-relief, which carries both artists’ signatures, offers a vibrant interpretation of Hulings’ drawing, capturing the original’s sense of movement. ‘It’s a phenomenal piece she’s created, with great textures and lines that are strongly reminiscent of the drawing, and of my father’s technique with pen and ink,’ said Elizabeth. ‘The quality is extraordinary, which would be surprising, except that it’s Glenna, and we all expect that level of work from her.’

“The framed piece will be offered as a thank you gift on a first-come, first-served basis to those who contribute $15,000 or more to CHF. Donations to the fund are tax deductible, excluding the amount of goods or services received, which in this case will be $5,000. The fund plans to offer only this one limited edition of the work.

“Goodacre’s corporation will be dissolved at the end of this year, and she is no longer creating new work. In advance of her retirement, she is destroying her molds for existing sculptures, and selling or donating tools and artwork from her private collection. One of her most recent gifts was a bronze entitled ‘CEO,’ her homage to female business leaders; the sculpture depicts a businesswoman on the move, and Goodacre’s daughter — Jill Goodacre Connick — served as the model for the piece.”

To learn more, visit The Clark Hulings Fund for Visual Artists.

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.

Although Bombay Sapphire is a company known for producing high-quality gin, it also sponsors an “Artisan Series” in which awards are given to regional and online artists. Who are the recent winners?

A range of deserving artists recently earned honors via Bombay Sapphire’s annual “Artisan Series” — a national art competition in which artists submit work to be reviewed by a panel of judges. Two categories compose the competition, regional and online entries.

In the regional market competition, a panel of judges review all entries within a regional market territory; regions include, among others, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Vancouver, Santa Barbara, San Antonio, Seattle, Toronto, and New York. 2016 witnessed several talented winners in this section, including Darius Frank from the Philadelphia region, Resa Wohlrabe from the Austin region, and Ivan Alifan from the New York region.

Artists living outside these large-city regions are entered into an online competition. On December 1, the Grand Prize Winner, First Place Prize Winner, and People’s Choice winner will be announced in Miami at the Artisan Series Finale. Winners of these awards receive a number of lucrative stipends for studio upgrades and solo exhibition endeavors.

To learn more, visit The Artisan Series.

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.

Featuring a stunning array of recent works by emerging artists, One Art Space in New York City is poised to open a compelling group show.

Featuring Jennifer Young, Nick Gebhart, Thurston Belmer, Ryan M. Schroeder, Bruno Perillo, and Marshall Jones, “Behind Narrative” is a fascinating group exhibition set to offer an amazing combination of figurative, realist, and mannerist paintings. Opening on November 10 at One Art Space in New York City, “Behind Narrative” explores contemporary elements of urban identity in one of America’s largest cities.

“Behind Narrative” will be on view through November 13. To learn more, visit One Art Space.

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.

Founded nearly 25 years ago by painter Daniel Graves, the Florence Academy has grown into one of the world’s preeminent ateliers by continuing to teach and advance classical realism. The school was overjoyed to recently announce the opening of its lavish new complex.

For the past 25 years, the Florence Academy has built itself into a top-tier atelier, but less could be said for their studio spaces, which became increasingly cramped as its classes continued to grow. As a result, students and studio spaces were dispersed in several buildings across Florence, hindering effective collaboration and critique — key cogs for a successful studio program.

The narrative has made a change as of Saturday, October 29, when the doors of the academy’s stunning new 35,000-square-foot complex were officially opened. Importantly, all of the academy’s studios are now under one roof. Further, many of the studios themselves have grown in size, not only providing more room for their large class sizes, but allowing for additional program expansion.

Constructed during the mid-19th century, the program’s building laid vacant and in a state of near-ruin for decades. Fine Art Connoisseur’s Publisher, Eric Rhoads, who spoke during the building’s inauguration dinner, suggested, “A building once vibrant and thriving with an important purpose, and which later crumbled and had no purpose, is brought to life again. It’s much like interest in classical realism, which was thriving, then died, and has now come back to life.”

Continuing, the academy wrote, “The Florence Academy currently has 100 students under one roof, and is one of the few classical academies offering full accreditation, resulting in the ability to get student loans. It is also working toward graduate programs for MFAs, which it plans to offer in the near future.”

From all of us at Fine Art Connoisseur, we congratulate the Florence Academy on their stunning new complex! To learn more, visit the Florence Academy.

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 Grenning Gallery is overjoyed to be presenting a number of breathtaking works during its Russian-American Alliance Exhibition this month. Initially formed several years ago, the artist group has continued to blossom, and their show is worth your attention.

It was during an invitational plein air painting trip to Russia that several artists from the United States and the host nation formed an alliance — and the art world has benefitted ever since. The budding relationship between the painters has recently resulted in group exhibitions, the latest of which is currently on view at the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York.

Spearheaded by Ben Fenke, the current exhibition will feature works by the artists during their latest foray to Maine and Sag Harbor. “Most of these painters have never been to the United States, so we expect very fresh eyes!” the gallery writes. “They all met a few years ago, when Russia sponsored a group of painters living in Italy to paint in the hometown of Levitan, arguably the most famous 19th century Russian landscape painter. The Grenning Gallery is fortunate to be hosting four of Russia’s most notable painters for the outdoor painting excursion this month to Mount Desert Island, Deer Island Maine and Sag Harbor. Their trip culminates in this exhibition of some of the finest works done in nature.”

Artists included in the show are Russians Olga Karpacheva, Viktor Butko, Irina Rybakova, and Oleg Zhuravlev and Americans Carl Bretzke, Stapleton Kearns, Leo Mancini Hresko, Tim McGuire, and Jesse Powell.

“Russian-American Painting Alliance” opened on November 5 and will remain on view through December 4. To learn more, visit The Grenning 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.

Frederic Leighton’s “Flaming June” — a sun-drenched, sleeping female wrapped in orange draperies — is one of the most memorable and reproduced images in the history of British art. The work’s fascinating story, from its creation to international fame, is detailed during this exhibition.

Although the subject is imaged deep within a serene sleep, set against the calm waters of a Mediterranean seascape, Frederic Leighton’s “Flaming June” has made energetic waves since its production in 1895. One of the preeminent artists of the 19th century in Britain, Frederic Leighton was a key member of the Royal Academy and even earned the title of president from 1878 to 1896.

Although Leighton would create a number of stunning works — both in oil and in bronze — “Flaming June” is perhaps his masterpiece and most iconic. The story of this magnificent work is the subject of an exhibition currently on view at the Leighton House Museum. Significantly, this will be a rare moment when the painting returns to its home from the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico, where it has been since 1963.

Following the work’s critical reception at the Royal Academy, its disappearance in the 20th century, and its path to Puerto Rico, the exhibition also juxtaposes “Flaming June” with other pictures produced for Academy in 1895. Among the other stunning works on view are “The Maid with Golden Hair,” “Twixt Hope and Fear,” and “Candida.” Via the museum, “The re-gathering of these pictures places ‘Flaming June’ back into the context of its original exhibition, providing a compelling starting-point for exploring its history. Leighton was already unwell with the heart condition that would kill him at the time he made this last Academy submission. The assembled pictures represent his last statement as an artist and allow a reappraisal of his achievements, relating these five works back to the career that led up to their production and understanding the legacy of a creative life that was close to its end.”

“Flaming June: The Making of an Icon” will be on view through April 2. To learn more, visit the Leighton House 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.

Commissioned in 1849 as part of a series of three panels to hang in the Refreshment Room in the House of Lords, London, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer’s “The Monarch of the Glen” is as beautiful and majestic as paintings come — and it’s currently on view at Christie’s, New York.

It is one of the most celebrated British paintings of the 19th century, and any opportunity to view — let alone own — Sir Edwin Henry Landseer’s iconic “The Monarch of the Glen” is one collectors and connoisseurs are sure to note.

It is available via Christie’s, New York, and the auction house writes that the work is “a testament to Landseer’s powers as a great Romantic artist. The artist’s most famous work, it has become an iconic image of the Scottish Highlands: an animal of sublime power and beauty is posed before a misty mountain landscape, monarch of all he surveys. Attention is focused on the body, head and antlers of the stag, which is brought up close to the picture plane. It is a portrait of a specific animal realized with all Landseer’s deep knowledge of anatomy and his tactile feeling for the textures of muscle, bone and fur. No-one could match such verisimilitude, or charge a deer with such energy and vitality.”

To learn more, visit Christie’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.