Have you ever stopped and thought about what American art means? It’s a question artists have attempted to answer for generations — and they responded in a number of ways after the economic crash of 1929 and the U.S. entry into World War II.
 
On view now through September 18 at the Art Institute Chicago, “America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s” is an excellent opportunity to trace and learn the story of American art during a formative era of this nation’s history.
 
The museum writes, “With economic downturn at home and the rising threat of fascism abroad, artists of the time applied their individualized visions of the nation to rethinking modernism. This exhibition brings together 50 works by some of the foremost artists of the era — including Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Grant Wood — to examine the landscape of the United States during the Great Depression and the many avenues artists explored as they sought to forge a new national art and identity.”
 

 
To learn more, visit the Chicago Institute of Arts.
 
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.
 

You’ve spoken! In this occasional series we highlight one of most popular articles among Fine Art Today readers. This week we revisit some exciting news about Baroque master Michelangelo Caravaggio.
 
Murderer, defector, villain, painter. Caravaggio is indeed one of the most fascinating characters in the history of art. Very few of the artist’s works survive, which means any opportunity to see even one is an opportunity worth taking.
 
It’s been two years since the public last laid eyes on the magnificent “Crucifixion of Saint Andrew” by Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Since 2014, the Cleveland Museum of Art has been painstakingly conserving the priceless painting, predominantly focusing on cleaning the work from edge to edge. Via the museum webpage, “This is the first time the painting has been conserved since coming to the museum in 1976. In 2014, extensive treatment began on the work, whose original paint layer was obscured by clouded, cracked varnish and retouching. The cleaning of the painting was the subject of a Conservation in Focus exhibition during the summer of 2014, when a sophisticated paintings conservation lab was constructed in the museum’s Julia and Larry Pollack Focus Gallery, where visitors were able to watch the museum’s Conservator of Paintings Dean Yoder and ask questions. ‘The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew’ returned on view May 17, 2016, in the Reid Gallery (Gallery 217) in time for the museum’s centennial summer celebrations. Visitors will be able to fully appreciate the newly conserved Baroque masterpiece, the largest painting by Caravaggio in America.”
 

A conservator works on the masterpiece. (c) Image by David Brichford

 
The museum continues, “The painting depicts the martyrdom of Saint Andrew, who was sentenced to death for his missionary activity in Greece. While bound to the cross, he preached for two days to an increasingly sympathetic crowd. Finally pressured to release Andrew, his executioners were paralyzed while trying to untie him. Caravaggio portrays the moment when Andrew’s desire to be martyred has been fulfilled. In an unusual interpretation of the subject, Caravaggio presented the event as intimate and private rather than as a gruesome public spectacle.”
 
To learn more, visit the Cleveland Museum of Art.
 
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.
 

Held on July 23 at the Peppermill Resort in Reno, Nevada, the 2016 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction had some stunning results. Details here!
 
Approximately 750 bidders packed the auction room on July 23 at Reno’s Peppermill Resort for the single largest event in the field of classic Western and American Art: the famed Coeur d’Alene Art Auction. With over 313 lots available for bidding, organizers of the time-honored event were expecting spirited sales, but they weren’t expecting quite such a blockbuster.
 
Over 94 percent of the available lots were sold during this year’s event and approximately $18.2 million realized from the sale. Among the highlights of the auction was Howard Terpning’s “The Long Shot,” which blew away its $300,000-$500,000 estimate when it hammered for $1,379,000.

Still energized by the continued sense of immediacy from the CDA auction, Sue Simpson Gallagher, owner of Simpson Gallagher Gallery in Cody, Wyoming, and art consultant, felt the most exciting part of this year’s auction was the interest in extremes showing so many perspectives of Western art — diversity from Zimmerman to Warhol. “There were great opportunities to buy high-quality art of varied time periods and genres,” she says. “It was fascinating to watch some pieces go for twice the high estimates while others sold surprisingly low. I thoroughly enjoyed being in the high-energy audience and was impressed by the limited number of no sales.”

The Hockaday Museum in Kalispell, Montana, is the proud host of a spectacular view – both inside and outside its doors. Opening August 13 is a wonderful exhibition celebrating Women Artists of Glacier National Park.
 

Heide Presse, “Indian Summer,” oil on linen, 24 x 24 in. (c) Hockaday Museum 2016
 

 
To learn more, visit the Hockaday Museum of Art.
 
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.
 

Humans have spent millennia constructing — whether that be infrastructural, residential, or commercial. Humans also leave much abandoned, which is when nature conquers once more.
 
On view through August 6 in Stowe, Vermont, at West Branch Gallery is a compelling solo exhibition of oil and encaustic works by Charlie Hunter. Titled “Rail Town Noir,” the exhibition is Hunter’s most recent display of a familiar theme: the beauty found in nature’s reclaiming of manmade things.
 

Charlie Hunter, “My Favorite Boxcar,” oil on linen, 10 x 20 in. (c) West Branch Gallery 2016

 
The subject is one that hits close to home for the artist, as he calls the banks of the Connecticut River in an old mill town in Vermont home. “There, I like to paint what nature does to what man creates,” Hunter suggests. “I tend to use a monochromatic ‘earth palette’ blend of ultramarine blue, viridian, yellow ochre, and burnt sienna. Sometimes I do an underpainting from life, then, in the studio, apply transparent glazes on top. My goal is to paint beautifully that which is not traditionally considered beautiful. Like a less grotesque Anselm Keifer in a considerably better mood.”
 
To learn more, visit West Branch 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.
 

One of the nation’s top contemporary galleries is hosting “Wednesday Nights in the Railyard” — an exciting opportunity to preview new art arrivals and much more. Who’s the host, and where?
 
Located in the heart of one of America’s greatest art cities — Santa Fe, New Mexico — EVOKE Contemporary is continually hosting some of the nation’s most accomplished artists through exciting events and exhibitions.
 
The gallery recently kicked off a new series of events, titled “Wednesday Nights in the Railyard,” taking place now through October. The events offer the public a chance to preview new gallery additions, mingle with artists, and enjoy refreshments and hors d’oeuvres. The Railyard in Santa Fe is a particularly happening place, as patrons can peruse the evening Farmers’ Market, other art district galleries, dinner & drinks, and more.
 
EVOKE Contemporary is launching its events with a stunning exhibition: “Silver Linings,” which will showcase a collection of small and exquisite paintings of skies by several artists, including Francis Di Fronzo, Louise McElwain, and Michael Workman.
 
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.