For lovers of art and all things equestrian, look no further than Evergreen, Colorado, this month.
 
August 6 marks the date when Evergreen Fine Art in Colorado will host an artist reception and gallery talk with artist Sophy Brown as she discusses her most recent works within “Bloodlines.”
 

Sophy Brown, “Group 3,” acrylic, 32 1/2 x 18 in. (c) Evergreen Fine Art 2016

 
The gallery writes, “Each of Brown’s works is a spellbinding masterpiece of tight focus, broad contrast and sometimes delicate, sometimes explosive motion. Her innate understanding of equestrian form is unmatched, and her bone-deep connection to each subject is unmistakable in every bright color and bold line. Sophy’s ability to capture the visceral emotional responses of her equine subject matter is second to none.”
 
“Bloodlines” opens on August 6 and will show through September 3. To learn more, visit Evergreen Fine Art.
 
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A Santa Fe Gallery is going tropical with a tantalizing solo exhibition of works by an accomplished artist who spent a month in the Everglades.
 
Opening on August 5 and hanging through August 29 is an outstanding exhibition of paintings by skillful artist Jane Abrams. Hosted by Santa Fe’s New Concept Gallery, the works on view were produced during Adrams’ month-long artist residency awarded by the Everglades National Park in Florida.
 
Abrams describes the location with extremely beautiful and detailed paintings that highlight the area’s diverse ecology and wildlife. The gallery writes, “Jane captures it as a place with ghost orchids, alligators, black vultures and piano birds, found among the magical wonders and profound beauty of the swamps and the fragility of the great spans of wetlands.”
 
An opening reception will be held tomorrow evening, August 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. To learn more, visit New Concept Gallery.
 
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Many artists have a lifelong passion for using their creative eye to capture nature and its incredibly diverse wildlife. This museum in Wisconsin is known particularly for its love of birds in art. A current exhibition only proves this point.
 
On view now through August 14 at Wausau, Wisconsin’s, Woodson Art Museum is a brilliant display of winged beauty from the hand of Owen J. Gromme (1896-1991). A member of Wisconsin’s Conservation Hall of Fame, Gromme was known as the “dean of U.S. wildlife artists” and was a native of Wisconsin.
 

Owen J. Gromme, “Meadowlark,” 1966, oil on canvas, (c) Woodson Art Museum 2016

 
Via the WCHF website: “Gromme’s reputation as a painter of wildlife enabled him to bring attention and action to important conservation issues such as legislation to protect birds, the protection of the Horicon Marsh, and the formation of the International Crane Foundation.”
 
On display at the Woodson Museum are a number of original oil paintings, watercolors, and field sketches by Gromme that will surely be a delight for those looking for a reprieve from the summer heat. To learn more, visit the Woodson 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.
 

Known well for his lush landscapes and plein air paintings of Michigan, accomplished painter Alan Maciag returns to this gallery in August.
 
Showcasing a lineup of works created specifically for Twisted Fish Gallery in Elk Rapids, Michigan, “A Rural Perspective: Paintings of the Michigan Landscape” will feature a number of outstanding works from well-known painter Alan Maciag. Opening tomorrow, August 5, and on view through August 27, “A Rural Perspective” is a lovely display of both artistic accomplishment and the beauty that Michigan has to offer.
 
The gallery writes, “The paintings range in size, with some exceeding five feet and others closer to two feet. They’ve never been shown anywhere else and Maciag is excited to see viewers’ reactions to them. Maciag’s style is contemporary and impressionistic and he always paints in oils. His signature is brisk and lively scenes, with clever use of color. ‘I like the way light hits objects, whether manmade, like a corn crib or barn, or natural, like windrows of trees early in the morning.’ Maciag paints seven days a week, all year long. He likes to set up on farms or fields and often paints a picture for the landowner as a thank-you. ‘I do really love to paint long vistas,’ he says, ‘flat land that goes for miles’.”
 
An opening reception for the show will be held tomorrow, August 5, from 6-8 P.M. To learn more, visit Twisted Fish 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.
 

Collins Gallery in Massachusetts is excited to have on view recent still life paintings from adroit artist Justin Wood. Details here!
 
Opened on July 30 and running through August 12, “Arranging Nature: Still Life Painting” is a beautiful exhibition of recent still life experimentation from Grand Central Atelier graduate Justin Wood.
 

Justin Wood, “Honey,” oil on linen on panel, 11 x 14 in. (c) Collins Galleries 2016

 
“I’m trying to create scenes with well-crafted objects” Wood says, “that are pleasant to look at and create a decorative ensemble.” The gallery adds, “Wood’s invented world of light, artifact and nature resonate a calm stability, an atmosphere of meditative silence. With motifs similar to those used by seventeenth century, Dutch still life painters, Wood’s tabletop arrangements present the viewer with an ordered world where man and nature dwell in harmony. Receptacles of pewter, copper and silver coexist with figs, plums, peeling lemons and other edibles, each work owing its cohesion to the manner in which light is bathed around each object.”
 
“Arranging Nature: Still Life Painting” opened on July 30 at Collins Galleries in Orleans, Massachusetts, and will be on view through August 12. To learn more, visit Collins 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.
 

Converge 45 — a series of curated exhibitions of contemporary art around Portland, Oregon — recently wrapped up, with outstanding results. Will you be there next year?
 
This past weekend, July 29-31, a large community of art organizations, galleries, artists, and collectors in the greater Portland, Oregon, metro area came together for the first annual Converge 45 event. Founded by a coalition of arts professionals and business leaders in Portland, Converge 45 “showcases international, national, and regional contemporary art and ideas,” the mission statement suggests. “Situated in and around Portland, Oregon, a dynamic and expanding center for art, design, and culture, Converge 45 provides a stimulating environment for artists, collectors, and scholars, as well as opportunities for the public to discover the vibrant range of art being produced today.”
 

Julie Cho, Alice Chung, Jacqi Lee, Karen Hsu, David Jacobson (c) Converge 45 2016

Crowds mingle and view contemporary art at the 2016 Converge 45 (c) Converge 45 2016

Artist Mary Chomenko Hinckley with her work “Pasadena Coyote,” bronze (c) Converge 45 2016

 
Kristy Edmunds is the inaugural artistic director and guest curator for both the 2016 and 2017 editions of the city-wide, multi-day event. The curatorial framework for Edmunds this year revolved around the theme of “You in Mind.” Edmunds writes that it was “conceived as an art convergence in four chapters that takes acute and particular care about the idea and ethos of Portland’s inherent positivity to amplify the generous hand of independent artists whose practices tend towards perpetuating/activating the now radical notion of our cultural commons. It is my intention with ‘You in Mind’ that the projects we exhibit and/or present focus on artists who have a ‘public’ in mind, conceptually, structurally and/or are actively present within the resulting work itself.”
 
To learn more about this year’s events and how to plan for 2017, visit Converge 45.
 
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.
 

On view now through August 20 is a major group exhibition of three living artistic stars. You won’t want to miss this.
 
Three artistic stars have aligned at John Pence Gallery in San Francisco, California this summer. As its title suggests, “Aristides, Valeri, Zanzinger” will feature extraordinary paintings by Juliette Aristides, Sadie Valeri, and Elizabeth Zanzinger.
 
Aristides is known for her bold and lively palette, and patrons can expect to encounter her famed still lifes and dramatic figurative works during the show. “Her work invites the viewer to share an inner world as she explores her identity through the roles of artist, teacher, historian and mother,” the gallery writes.
 

Sadie Valeri, “Pink Roses,” 2015, oil on linen on panel, 9 x 12 in. (c) John Pence Gallery 2016

Juliette Aristides, “Hudson River,” 2016, oil on canvas, 29 x 38 in. (c) John Pence Gallery 2016

 
Working in the vein of Dutch Golden Age still life painting is Sadie Valeri. Her combining of sharply focused floral subjects with expressively worked backgrounds offers her audiences a beautiful melding of contemporary and historical artistic traditions.
 
Last — and certainly not least — are the lovely works by Elizabeth Zanzinger, whose lighter palette and bold brushwork provide an outstanding addition to be paired with Aristides and Valeri. The stunning works by all three artists will be available for purchase during the exhibition.

To learn more, visit John Pence 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.
 

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: Vincenzo Cabianca, “Country Girl on Rocks.”
 
On August 26, collectors will have the opportunity to acquire a rare work from a member of the 19th-century group called the Macchiaioli. Titled “Country Girl on Rocks,” circa 1856, the gorgeous canvas is by the hand of Vincenzo Cabianca, an Italian painter born in Verona in 1827. After studying at the Venice Academy from 1845-1947, Cabianca became well acquainted with a group of artists who frequented the Caffè Michelangiolo in Florence.
 
The Macchiaioli — as they would eventually be called — were among the first on the Italian peninsula to break away from the antiquated traditions taught by local academies. Closely related to the French Impressionists, the Macchiaioli preferred to work en plein air — or outdoors — but also remained inspired by the bold tonal structure in Old Master works by, among others, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and Tintoretto.
 
Although the Macchiaioli artists’ penchant for plein air painting is well documented, Cabianca was known to have been more reluctant to abandon his academic training and occasional paintings of historical and literary subjects; among those is his lovely studio works in the piece heading to auction on August 26 via Auctionata. A highlight of the house’s “Classic Works of Art” sale, “Country Girl on Rocks” is a stunning painting with melancholy overtones. A large diagonal composition of rocks overlooking a small seascape form the dominant structure of the painting, but the real focus is the lone female figure who sits and gazes longingly at the horizon. The subject’s dress indicates her exotic ethnicity, perhaps not native to the Italian peninsula. Although her identity is unknown, the viewer easily relates the calm, sober tone of the work. Bidding for the painting begins at $4,200.
 
To view the full catalogue, visit Auctionata.
 
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.
 

Because of our intimate familiarity with it, the human body in art has a unique ability to communicate an infinite variety of emotions, ideas, concepts, and stories, which is why Martin Eichinger prefers to be called a narrative artist rather than a figurative sculptor. What story will you discover?
 
Can you think of reasons that performances such as ice skating, floor gymnastics, or ballet are beautiful to watch? Perhaps it’s the dancer’s defying of physical limitations, the practiced synchronization, or something spiritual? The Holt Ballet Conservatory offers, “To see what the human body can accomplish when the human heart is determined and devoted teaches all of us over and over that persistence overcomes limitation. The beauty of the dancer’s body and its liquid movement, the music and its choreography, the costumes and sets, and the exchange of human energy — audience and dancer.”
 
Indeed, viewing the exquisite figurative sculptures by master artist Martin Eichinger draws many parallels with award-winning performances such as ballet. Often composed in dramatic, expressive, and powerful gestures, Eichinger’s work communicates with viewers on a fundamental and spiritual level that has left collectors and enthusiasts entranced for nearly 30 years. “I’m interested in having my sculptures say more about us as people, about our spirits or our aspirations” the sculptor says. “By sharing story and emotion through the human form, I feel connected in a deeper way, both with the people who view it and, perhaps most importantly, to the sculpture I am working on.”
 

Martin Eichinger, “Event Horizon,” 2008, cast bronze ed. 50, 23 in. (c) Martin Eichinger 2016

 
Eichinger’s journey to becoming one of the most renowned artists living today is a fascinating story itself, beginning with Mr. Hop in the 8th grade. “He exposed me both to the process of ‘making’ art (my most fun class), and also, in the art history portion of our class, taught us about the Renaissance and how all types of artists, independent scientists, thinkers, and adventurers had reshaped civilization,” Eichinger recalls. “The Age of Enlightenment presented artists as part of the thinking and moral structure that this new age brought forth. I thought, ‘Wow! That’s worthy.’”
 

Martin Eichinger, “Fortify My Spirit,” 2010, cast bronze ed. 75, 44 x 20 x 13 in. (c) Martin Eichinger 2016

 
After earning a commercial art and Bachelor’s Degree in advertising, Eichinger set out as an independent contractor, enjoying the flexibility of choosing his own clients and projects, which also afforded maximum creative efficiency and input. Working in advertising, Eichinger’s schedule also allowed him to slowly develop his independent work in the fine arts, but the endeavor hadn’t become financially sustainable. The artist remembers, “A significant advertising client who once passed through my home asked about my collection of bronzes. He stated that he had a pretty significant collection of sculptures himself and had never seen this artist’s work before. He was shocked when I told him they were mine. After talking about his advertising project, which we had worked together on for a couple of months, he paused, a slow kind of pause, to tell me he really liked my designs for his museum exhibits, but if I was able to make the sculptures in the other room, why was I wasting my time ‘doing this shit design work’ for him? I staggered back and Mr. Hop flashed through my mind: ‘Yes, Martin, why?’” The rest, as they say, has been history in the making.
 

Martin Eichinger, “Seeing in the Dark,” 2004, cast bronze ed. 75, 29 x 14 x 17 in. (c) Martin Eichinger 2016

 
Since that fateful encounter with his client, Eichinger has ascended the ranks of investment-worthy artists, and was recently called “the direct heir to Canova and Carpeau” by Richard Speer of Willamette Week, who also described the sculptor’s command of anatomy as “flawless.” To be sure, flawless is but one of many words one could use to describe “From the Heart,” a beautiful exploration of male liberation and masculinity. As Eichinger describes it, “‘From the Heart’ portrays a man’s liberation achieved through emotions of the heart rather than the mind. The physical balance of the figure above the flowing column mirrors the spiritual balance reached through the acknowledgment of his feminine side. While the gesture initially seems to leave the man vulnerable, a redefined strength emerges; a man strong enough to swoon.”
 

Martin Eichinger, “One with the Universe,” 2010, cast bronze ed. 75, 60 in. (c) Martin Eichinger 2016

 
“Fortify My Spirit” is another exquisite example of Eichinger’s brilliance. Only one of a four-part “Meditation Series,” the sculpture is — and was — a profound journey for the artist, both creatively and spiritually. “My goal is to produce artwork that comes from a place deep inside of me, and I have used meditation techniques to quiet the chatter and help make clear what remains,” says Eichinger, “Using a simple meditation of counting my breaths, 1 through 4, each breath first manifests as a thought and eventually becoming a vision. ‘One with the Universe’ reminds me that I am part of something bigger than me. ‘To Love Is to Be’ is about the essential nature of loving and being loved. ‘Three Options Are Open’ rejects polarized or black and white thinking and helps me see new possibilities. ‘Fortify My Spirit’ is an acknowledgment that my request for strength has been answered. Together they create a mythic grounding or a collective narrative for my being.”
 
Eichinger is as motivated and enlivened by his art as he’s ever been, and collectors continue to acquire his sculptures in droves. His success is a potent reminder of art’s fundamental need to visually communicate intangible and larger humanistic themes during these modern times, and of the efficacy of traditional methods in conveying such themes. Although our time on Earth is limited, one can rest assured that the spirit and humanity within each of Eichinger’s sculptures is part of an artistic lineage that extends from the Paleolithic “Venus of Willendorf” through our indefinite future.
 
To learn more, visit Martin Eichinger.
 
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.