Few words in the art world sound better than “masterpiece” and “free,” both of which are part of this outstanding series of opportunities for art lovers and their families.
 
Running through Sunday, September 4, at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, is a series of entertaining and informative films that “document the Louvre’s study days, in which works by five major artists were collected together, removed from their frames, and set on easels to replicate the feel of an artist’s studio,” the museum writes.
 
Filmed in 2012, the five episodes will be shown — free of charge — to the public at the museum’s Kahn Auditorium beginning Sunday, July 24, at 2 p.m. Each successive episode will be shown on the following Sundays, August 7, August 14, August 28, and September 4. The museum continues, “Curators, historians, restorers, and scientists from around the world came to examine and discuss [the works] in total freedom. These films listen in on their conversations about artists’ objectives, techniques, and compositional changes. Engaging animations explain and simplify complex language and concepts.”
 
To learn more, visit the Kimbell 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.
 

In conjunction with its outstanding exhibition “Et in Arcadia Ego,” this cutting-edge museum will host a star-studded panel discussion that many should consider attending.
 
Currently on view at the New Museum in Los Gatos, California, “Et in Arcadia Ego” is a fascinating exhibition that explores — among other topics — the timeless myth of Arcadia as it has been imagined by contemporary and historical creative minds. The museum is proud to host a tantalizing panel discussion in conjunction with the exhibition on August 11.
 
Included on the panel are David Ligare, Stephanie Peek, Holly Lane, and Seamus Conley. Executive Director Lisa Coscino and Curator Marianne McGrath will moderate the conversation. Tickets start at $15 for non-members and $10 for members. Via the museum, “Our current exhibition ‘Et in Arcadia Ego,’ explores the timeless myth of Arcadia as it has been represented by artists and writers, employing concepts such as idealized landscapes, liminal figures, and a contemplation of mortality. Join our panel of artists exhibiting in ‘Et in Arcadia Ego’ as they discuss these themes in their work.”
 
To learn more or purchase tickets, visit the New 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.
 

One of the nation’s most celebrated art museums has announced that it will unveil its recently renovated galleries dedicated to the collection of Marion and Henry Bloch.
 
In early 2017, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, will celebrate and unveil its recently renovated Bloch Galleries, which hold nearly 30 Impressionist masterpieces by — among others — Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
 
Via the museum, “The 2017 re-opening of the Bloch Galleries in the Museum’s original 1933 Beaux-Arts building also coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Bloch Building, an addition designed by architect Steven Holl that greatly expanded the Museum’s footprint. Since the 2007 expansion, the Museum has enjoyed a 42% increase in visitation, also encouraged by their nearly fifteen-year free admission policy.”
 
To learn more, visit the Nelson-Atkins 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.
 

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: Clark Hulings, “Old Town.”
 
Without a doubt, artist Clark Hulings (1922-2011) is considered one of the leading American realist painters of the 20th century. He spent much of his esteemed career travelling the world in search of the perfect subjects, and collectors — both public and private — adore the master’s ability to capture timeless beauty through momentary human gesture, texture, light, shadow, and atmosphere.
 
Although Hulings was born in Florida and spent his adolescence in New Jersey, New York, Louisiana, and Europe, he would eventually settle in Santa Fe in 1972 — a place that not only captured his creative attention, but his heart as well. Via the artist’s webpage, “Clark Hulings traveled the world looking for rural and urban landscapes and genre scenes that became the subjects of paintings reflecting the vibrancy of the human spirit. Admired for his genius in manipulating the formal elements, he searched for beauty in places where others might only find misery. In the world of street people he saw compassion and self-respect. In urban alleyways he envisioned sunlit corridors of family activity. Among rustic farmers he discovered people whose lives were synchronized with cycles of the seasons and the animals they care for.”
 
For collectors seeking to own an original from this great American painter, the opportunity that awaits at Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers on August 12 and 13 is once-in-a-lifetime. “Old Town” is not only a timeless and gorgeous painting of Cerrillos, New Mexico, but was regarded by Hulings himself as his finest creation. “This statement is corroborated by well-known collector Jerry Freeman who was a close friend of Bob Eagle and Hulings,” Altermann reports. In a soft, diagonal composition, a single figure and his dog have just emerged from the local general store with the day’s groceries. Snow has melted and pooled in the troughs of an old unpaved street — providing the artist with a perfect opportunity to display his keen eye for light, color, and reflection.
 
“Old Town” headlines Altermann’s August 2016 sale on August 12 and 13 with estimates between $70,000 and $90,000. To view the full catalogue, visit Altermann Galleries & Auctioneers.
 
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.
 

Everywhere one looks in nature, one can find colors, movement, texture, and rhythm. However, it takes a skillful artist to properly capture these elements in a beautiful way. This painter has it mastered.
 
Opening Saturday August 6 at Carmel, California’s James J. Rieser Fine Art, “Rhythms in Nature” is a compelling display of profound beauty from the hand of skillful artist Kim Lordier. Featuring a number of the artist’s newest pictures, the exhibition highlights once more Lordier’s keen observation and sensitivity through award-winning landscapes. Twenty-five pastels in total compose the show, which includes stunning works such as “Whisper,” “Elkhorn Memory,” and “Wild Wind Blows, Asilomar.”
 

Kim Lordier, “Whisper,” 2016, pastel on archival board, 30 x 40 in. (c) James J. Rieser 2016

 
Via the gallery webpage: “Native to the San Francisco Bay Area and a 1989 graduate of the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, Kim has been a competitive horseback rider and painted most of her life. After college, she flew with a major air carrier, turning to painting full time after the events of September 2001. Utilizing a rich palette and strong design, she captures the abstract qualities of light as it plays upon the landscape. Inspired by the early California Impressionists and Taos Society of Artists, Kim paints the western landscape of our times.”
 
“Rhythms in Nature” opens on August 6. To learn more, visit James J. Rieser Fine 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.
 

Over three days this summer, nearly 100 artists from all across the globe participated in a monumental painting event, the products of which are on view at this outstanding gallery in Utah.
 
Beauty was created all across the globe this summer when nearly 100 artists took part in the “Where in the World Is Plein Air” event. The excitement isn’t close to being finished as the lovely Illume Gallery in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the proud host of the exhibition.
 

Marc Hanson, “Day One,” oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in. (c) Illume Gallery 2016

Timothy Horn, “Day Two,” oil, 12 x 16 in. (c) Illume Gallery 2016

Steven Lee Adams, “Day One,” oil, 8 x 12 in. (c) Illume Gallery 2016

 
Two hundred and fifty-two paintings are included in the exhibition, which features some of the biggest names in the art world today, including — among many others — Mark Fehlman, J. Brad Holt, Jim McVicker, Dave Santillanes, R. Gregory Summers, and Rachel Pettit.
 

Aaron Schuerr, “Day One,” pastel, 13 x 16 in. (c) Illume Gallery 2016

Stephanie Birdsall, “Day Two,” oil, 9 x 12 in. (c) Illume Gallery 2016

Stephen Stauffer, “Day Two,” oil, 12 x 16 in. (c) Illume Gallery 2016

 
Our very own publisher, B. Eric Rhoads, offers this compelling commentary on the event and its impact on the world of plein air painting and art collecting:
 

 
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 the market for great Western American art continues to expand, so too do the opportunities to purchase it — coupled with cocktails, exhibitions, and more, of course.
 
From 2010 through 2014, the annual Western Art Week in Great Falls, Montana, established a tradition of fun and sales success — so much so that a new show and sale was established at the Coeur d’Alene Resort in Idaho: The Heart of the West Show. Taking place over three days this fall (September 1-4), the Heart of the West Show will feature over 60 juried artists and galleries, many of whom are regular attendees of previous Western Masters events.
 
Via the venue’s website: “The Heart of the West Show gives Western art lovers a unique opportunity to meet and talk to their favorite artists while enjoying food, drinks, demonstrations and educational presentations. Attendees inevitably connect and bond over a shared love of fine art while supporting local, regional, and national artists.”
 
The notable names featured in this year’s event include Colin Alexander, Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey, Scott Hayes, Joe Kronenberg, Cheryl King, and many more. “The Heart of the West Show” opens on September 1 and will continue through September 4. The auction will take place on Saturday, September 3.
 
To learn more, visit Western Masters Art Show.
 
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.
 

Lesser known in the United States but supremely gifted and prolific, a renowned “Down Under” portraitist is the subject of a well deserved retrospective in Australia. Will you recognize his name?
 
For the last 50 years, artist Robert Hannaford has produced a monumental number of exquisite drawings, paintings, portraits, and much more. Now, the Art Gallery of South Australia is overjoyed to celebrate the artist’s masterful career with a well earned retrospective.
 
Opened on July 2 and running through October 9, the exhibition “assembles many previously unseen portrait and figure drawings alongside some of the artist’s more familiar paintings,” the gallery writes. “Many of Hannaford’s favorite artists from the Art Gallery’s collection will be included in the exhibition, bringing him into conversation with 500 years of art. Revered for his ability to capture the true nature or ‘essence’ of his sitters and recipient of numerous important commissions and awards, Hannaford has been selected as a finalist for the Archibald Prize over the past twenty-five years, winning the people’s choice three times.”
 
To learn more, visit the Art Gallery of South Australia.
 
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 vacillating mental states of Vincent van Gogh are a topic almost as intriguing as his gorgeous artworks. See how one exhibition is taking this story to a whole new level.
 
What comes to your mind when you hear the name van Gogh? Perhaps it’s the artist’s iconic painting “Starry Night,” his numerous and revealing self-portraits, or maybe it’s the infamous tale of his severed ear. Whatever it may be, there’s little doubt that the life Van Gogh lived, his troubled mental state, and his unfortunate death have fascinated scholars and casual art enthusiasts alike for generations.
 
An innovative exhibition in Amsterdam is taking a fresh look into the personal and artistic lives of Vincent van Gogh, with particular interest in the artist’s suicide and the notorious event when the artist mutilated his ear. Titled “On the Verge of Insanity: Van Gogh and His Illness,” the exhibition is a rare opportunity to view a revolver believed to have been the instrument of the artist’s death in addition to rarely seen doctors’ notes and assessments of van Gogh’s condition.
 
Also on view are some 25 paintings and drawings from the last year or so of van Gogh’s life, which are referenced along with the documents to sculpt a magnificent — yet unfortunate — story of the artist’s descent until his death. All told, the exhibition hopes to draw some clarity into the particular illness — or illnesses — that van Gogh suffered from and in what ways these ailments may have affected his later pictures. “On the Verge of Insanity: Van Gogh and His Illness” opens tomorrow, July 15, and will be on view through September 25 at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum.
 
To learn more, visit the Van Gogh 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.