In this ongoing series for Fine Art Today, we take a longer look at the history and features of a soon-to-be-available artwork of note. This week: Albert Bierstadt, “Sunrise.”
 
Although he was born in Germany and would eventually study his craft there for several years, Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) is widely recognized as one of America’s greatest artistic products and a founding member of the famed Hudson River School. Bierstadt’s parents moved to Massachusetts when Albert was just one year old, in 1831. From childhood, Bierstadt displayed a keen interest in and notable talent for art.
 
Bierstadt’s artistic career was officially launched around 1858, when an exhibited landscape at the National Academy of Design found instant appeal to critics. It was around this time that the artist came into contact with other like-minded artists who adored landscape painting with romantic, almost glowing light. Among them were Thomas Moran, Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, John Frederick Kensett, and Asher Durand. This group of painters would eventually be categorized as members of the Hudson River School.
 
Along with several other artists, Bierstadt began to travel with various companies and journeymen of the Westward Expansion. Bierstadt’s lavish views of the American West — including many areas that became national parks — enlivened the imaginations of his viewers and helped cultivate a desire to preserve these lands among the public.
 
Bierstadt’s financial success is noteworthy as well. In 1865, the artist’s magnificent work “The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak” sold for an astronomical $25,000, the equivalent of around $350,000 in today’s market.
 
It seems collectors have eagerly bought up Bierstadt’s original works since their production, and the trend continues to this day. Opportunities to purchase an original work from this iconic figure are few and far between, which makes Thomaston Place Auction Galleries the place to be on August 27. Among a number of outstanding lots is Bierstadt’s magnificent “Sunrise” — which headlines the gallery’s “Summer Feature Auction.” This medium-sized work is without a doubt one of the artist’s masterful works and a rare scene that has a relatively shallow sense of space — a far cry from the expansive vistas the artist is known for. A warm golden light lifts over the still waters of a pond or river in mid-fall. The season is noted through the brilliant vermillion reds, oranges, and yellows in the waning leaves of the trees. The scene appears completely untouched, unblemished by the alteration of man’s hand.
 
“Sunrise” will be available on August 27 with an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. To view the full catalogue, visit live auctioneers.
 
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Perhaps you’ve heard, but an amazing film chronicling the life and times of Vincent Van Gogh is revolutionizing the definition of cinematography — the art of filmmaking. When can you catch a view of this historic film?
 
Breakthru Productions is making major waves throughout the art and film worlds with a monumental cinema project that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. “Loving Vincent” is “an investigation delving into the life and controversial death of Vincent Van Gogh” the production company suggested. “The intrigue unfolds through interviews with the characters closest to Vincent and through dramatic reconstructions of the events leading up to his death.”
 
So far the film might sound like your typical documentary on one of the most studied individuals in art history. However, the revolutionary catch is how the film is being produced. “Loving Vincent” is the world’s first feature-length film made entirely through painted animation. In other words, every frame in the film is an oil painting on canvas, using the same techniques that Van Gogh used himself.
 
Hundreds of painters have worked tirelessly for years to construct the film, which will also include detailed views of Van Gogh’s original works. Here’s a tantalizing taste of what’s to come. Stay tuned!
 

 
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Minnesota is where all things watercolor will be celebrated August through October with a series of exhibitions, workshops, and more. Details here!
 
August 26 marks the date when the Bloomington Center for the Arts in Bloomington, Minnesota, will host a major series of events titled “Artistry Awash Watercolor Exhibition and Festival.” Featuring a number of nationally and internationally recognized Minnesota watercolorists, the festival will play host to a number of tantalizing watercolor exhibitions, master classes, hands-on workshops, artist demonstrations, a “wash-off” competition, and a panel discussion led by exhibiting artists.
 
Among the artists included in this year’s festival are Cheng-Khee Chee, Andy Evansen, Stan Fellows, Jane Freeman, Terry Genesen-Becker, Sandra Muzzy, John Salimen, and Nanci Yermakoff. Registration and tickets for all events have been scheduled and are open now.
 
The festival opens on August 26 and will continue through October 14. To view the full schedule of events, classes, and associated costs, visit the Bloomington Center for the Arts.
 
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Entering its 11th year, the International Guild of Realism’s Juried Exhibition is just one opportunity the organization hosts to showcase the best realist artists working today. Masterful artist Quang Ho had the difficult task of juror this year. Details are just a click away!
 
Some of the best representational painters working today will be featured during the International Guild of Realism’s 11 Annual Juried Exhibition at Denver, Colorado’s Gallery 1261. Both the Guild and its Rocky Mountain host are recognized today as premier organizations for the support and advancement of realism and traditional arts.
 
Opening on August 26 and running through September 17, the exhibition was curated this year by the renowned painter Quang Ho, who had the following comments on his difficult task:

“It will be a tough task to be the judge for such a show, as I know there will be many exceptional entries to look through. The term ‘realism’ can mean many things to many different people. On the surface, it seems to mean work that looks ‘real’ as in ‘tight’ realism — work that is rendered to look like life as we assume it should look. To merely render something tightly doesn’t necessarily carry with it an understanding of what is real. I would like to challenge the artists to explore what ‘real’ might actually mean to them. As a judge of paintings, I will not look at ideology or the artists’ personal beliefs about a subject matter, but at how the painting is put together and executed overall, and then how that might unify within the theme of the painting.”
 
Among many others, some of the featured artists include Alex Manzaranes, Barbara Walker, Ed Copley, Erwin Lewandowski, Terry Miller, Thane Gorek, and Grace Kim.
 
To learn more, visit Gallery 1261.
 
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There always seems to be something great happening artistically in Santa Fe, no matter the time of year. Manitou Galleries is proud to host the enchanting art of this renowned Western painter, beginning August 19.
 
Layered with heavy impasto, vivid color, and warm textures, the art of Kim Douglas Wiggins is truly a sight to behold. A native of New Mexico, Wiggins was raised in a part of the country that has enchanted the imaginations of artists for generations. Today, New Mexico is deeply embedded into his soul, which surfaces with profound beauty in his paintings.
 

Kim Wiggins, “One Night in New Mexico,” oil, 24 x 30 in. (c) Manitou Galleries 2016

 
Opening August 19 at Santa Fe’s Manitou Galleries, “Kim Wiggins: The Art of Enchantment” will showcase a number of recent oils by the painter as he continues to produce a diverse range of pictures that have collectors and connoisseurs eager for more.
 

 
“Kim Wiggins: The Art of Enchantment” opens on August 19 and will be on view through September 2. To learn more, visit Manitou Galleries.
 
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Now in its fourth year, this Virginia gallery can barely wait to kick off an outstanding exhibition and live painting demonstration. This is a challenge surely worth noting.
 
Featuring three superb female painters — Mia Bergeron, Elizabeth Floyd, and Cindy Procious — Principle Gallery is overjoyed to host its fourth annual “Face Off & Exhibition” opening August 27 in Alexandria, Virginia. Each of the artists will showcase a number of exciting new works in addition to participating in a live painting demonstration during the opening reception.
 
The structure of the painting demonstration is quite exciting, as each artist is asked to paint a portrait of the same sitter of the course of one sitting. Attendees to the event will delight in viewing firsthand how each accomplished painter addresses the same subject with her own unique artistic vision. The sitting will last three hours before the painters are asked to lay down their brushes.
 
The event is free and open to the public. To learn more, visit Principle 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.
 

A special artistic treat awaits visitors to Haynes Galleries in Thomaston, Maine, later this month. How do demonstrations, manicured gardens, a new landscape book, and superb paintings sound?
 
Anyone with a passion for outstanding landscape and a magnetic personality behind it should book Haynes Galleries in their calendars this month. Plein air painter and landscape master Roger Dale Brown returns to Haynes’ walls on August 19 through September 24, but that’s just the beginning. In conjunction with another solo exhibition by the lovely Zoey Frank, Brown will present a number of new works, both large and small, produced during recent travels around the country.
 

Roger Dale Brown, “Basking in the Last Light,” oil on canvas, 20 x 40 in. (c) Haynes Galleries 2016

 
Both exhibitions will open on August 19 with a free reception from 5-7:30 P.M. In addition, from 3-5 P.M. Brown will share his passion for painting during an exclusive painting demonstration among the groomed gardens of Haynes Galleries. “Brown will narrate as he works so guests will experience his passion for painting first hand,” the gallery reports. “He will discuss his travels and painting trips as well as how he picks his scenes, what makes for an interesting and engaging composition, and his painting process.”
 
The exhibition was inspired in part by the recent release of Brown’s new book under the same title: “A Passion for Painting.” On August 20, Brown will also be available to sign books and field questions about his journey. “‘Roger Dale Brown: A Passion for Painting’ is a chance to see iconic vistas and unfamiliar scenery captured on canvas delicately and with care” the gallery continues. “But it is also a chance to experience the beauty of the landscape as Brown sees it, through the eyes of one of the premier plein air artists working today.”
 
To learn more, visit Haynes 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.
 

A half-life-sized version of this incredible sculpture was deemed 2014’s most creative sculpture in the world. When is the world premiere of the life-sized version? Tomorrow, in fact.
 
Considered one of today’s best living sculptors, Paige Bradley displays a nearly flawless command of figurative sculpture. “Form and Figure” — an exhibition that will showcase new works by Bradley and Mark Yale Harris — opens tomorrow, August 12, at Canyon Fine Art in Santa Fe.
 
Among the most anticipated works to be shown is the first-ever life-sized version of Bradley’s 2014 sculpture “Expansion” — which was ranked the world’s most creative public sculpture that same year. The incredible work displays a lone female figure in a meditative posture — legs crossed, arched back, and arms extended outward from the body. Cracks in the sculpture reveal an inner light meant to represent the light of the sitter’s spirit. “‘Expansion, Lifesize’ has been a dream of mine since 2004, when I placed the original, smaller version in a Brooklyn park” writes Bradley. “As ‘Expansion’ was lit up, photographers literally began running to it and feverishly taking photos as the sunlight turned to dusk. Now that Canyon Fine Art has helped me create a life-size version of her, I feel like my dream of having this sculpture placed somewhere exciting is closing in.”
 

Mark Yale Harris, “Awakening III (Monumental),” bronze, 48 x 39 x 21 in. (c) Canyon Fine Art 2016

 
Not to be overshadowed by Bradley’s unveiling of “Expansion, Lifesize” are the stunning sculptures of Mark Yale Harris. Harris’ works are, stylistically, much more simplified as his forms are reduced to basic geometric shapes. They will undoubtedly provide a fascinating contrast with Bradley’s anatomically convincing works. Further, Harris’ works will also showcase wildlife subjects in addition to the figurative, giving the show diversity and exceptional range.
 
“Form and Figure” opens tomorrow, August 12, at Canyon Fine Art in Santa Fe and will be on view through September 9. To learn more, visit Canyon Fine Art.
 
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Although the average person might immediately think of towering Himalayan mountains when thinking of Tibet, the nation is also the birthplace of Buddhism — making it culturally invaluable and ripe for a skillful brush.
 
Buddhists from all over the globe travel to Tibet each year as part of pilgrimage to the various culturally significant monasteries scattered throughout its rocky lands. In addition to the pilgrims, native Tibetans have preserved an ancient culture often revealed through spectacular dress, spiritual ceremonies, and performance that — unfortunately — continues to display the modern world’s effect year by year.
 

Huihan Liu, “Curiosity,” oil on canvas, 12 x 9 in. (c) Trailside Galleries 2016

 
In 1987, artist Huihan Liu, a native of southern China, made the first of a number of visits to the rooftop of the world and was instantly taken by the culture and hospitality of the local residents. After 29 years, “I can’t tell whether I go back in order to paint, or I paint in order to go back,” Liu admits. Whichever it may be, the artistic products are undeniably beautiful and will — for years to come — help preserve the historical culture of this small nation.
 

Huihan Liu, “Tibetan Saddle,” oil on canvas, 12 x 16 in. (c) Trailside Galleries 2016

 
Ten outstanding works produced from Liu’s travels to Tibet are the subjects of a solo exhibition this month at Trailside Galleries in Jackson, Wyoming. “Huihan Liu: Journeys to Tibet” highlights not just the rich traditions and dress of native Tibetans, but additionally Liu’s masterful ability to harness this spirit in his works. Using feathery and expressive brushwork, the paintings have a timeless appeal and dream-like aura that lends itself to tradition. Mostly figurative in subject, a diverse range of dress, color, age, and narrative are explored in the various paintings.
 

Huihan Liu, “Pilgrims Making Wishes, Lhasa,” oil on linen, 30 x 24 in. (c) Trailside Galleries 2016

 
“Huihan Liu: Journeys to Tibet” opened on August 1 and will be on view through August 31 at Trailside Galleries in Jackson, Wyoming. To learn more, visit Trailside 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.