For the past 10 years, the New York Academy of Art has celebrated the hot summer months with a series of outstanding exhibitions that should — among other things — heat up the collector’s checkbook. What’s on the slate for 2016?
 
The New York Academy of Art will make a splash this summer at the Southampton Arts Center. Opening June 23 and running through July 31, the Academy will mount a highly anticipated exhibition titled “Water|Bodies.”
 
The group show will present new paintings, drawings, and sculptures from Academy artists alongside works by artists with longstanding ties to New York’s East End. Among the artists included are Ross Bleckner, Patrick Demarchelier, Eric Fischl, Ralph Gibson, April Gornik, Isca Greenfield-Sanders, Michael Halsband, Enoc Perez, and David Salle.
 
As the exhibition title alludes, bodies of water and bodies in water will be the theme. The subject presents artists with near infinite ways to explore both figurative compositions and the luminous effects of water.
 
To learn more, visit the Southampton Arts Center.
 
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The 2016 edition of the Prix de West just concluded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with several of the nation’s most celebrated artists continuing to bolster résumés — and legacies.
 
Among the notable events at this year’s Prix de West were numerous workshops, trunk shows, seminars, artist demonstrations, volunteer opportunities, and private tours. In addition, of course, honors and awards were given to the most deserving artists, with this year’s winner being a familiar figure.
 

Susan Lyon, “Juanita with Red Ribbons,” oil, (c) Prix de West 2016

T. Allen Lawson, “Buff Canyon Cinema,” oil, (c) Prix de West 2016

 
The monumental David Leffel was honored with the Prix de West Purchase Award for his powerful portrait titled “Jonathan Warm Day Coming.” Accomplished painter Susan Lyon was honored with the Donald Teague Memorial Award for her fiery painting “Juanita with Red Ribbons.” T. Allen Lawson’s “Buff Canyon Cinema” was awarded the Robert Lougheed Memorial Award for best landscape.
 

Doug Hyde, “Traditional or Contemporary Design?” (c) Prix de West 2016

Bill Anton, “Deep in the Wind Rivers,” oil, (c) Prix de West 2016

 
The James Earle Fraser Sculpture Award was taken home by Doug Hyde for his “Traditional or Contemporary Design?” Bill Anton and Jeremy Lipking ended up tying for the Frederic Remington Painting Award. Greg Beecham’s magnetic “Another Balmy Day on Captain Hudson’s Bay” was honored with the Major General and Mrs. Don D. Pittman Wildlife Award while Bill Nebeker’s sculpture “Cold Mornin’ Cow Camp” took home the Express Ranch Great American Cowboy Award.
 

Jeremy Lipking, “Between the Past and Present,” oil, (c) Prix de West 2016

Greg Beecham, “Another Balmy Day on Captain Hudson’s Bay,” oil, (c) Prix de West 2016

 
Finally, but certainly not least, Terri Kelly Moyers was honored with the Prix de West Buyer’s Choice Award for her lovely figurative painting “Las Flores.” Total opening sales for this year’s auction realized a whopping $2,671,032 from about 47 percent of the available works.
 

Bill Nebeker, “Cold Mornin’ Cow Camp,” bronze, (c) Prix de West 2016

Terri Kelly Moyers, “Las Flores,” oil, (c) Prix de West 2016

 
The Prix de West included many more events, opportunities, shows, sales, workshops, and lectures than can be listed here. To view the full schedule and plan your trip for 2017, visit The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
 
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Begun in 1987 when a cohort of friendly painters met in Taos, New Mexico, the Oklahoma Society of Impressionists (OSI) is just one of many organizations at the forefront of the contemporary realism and plein air movements. Their upcoming show is just the latest display of talent and beauty.

The Oklahoma Society of Impressionists (OSI) will mount a hypnotic group exhibition on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. “Vision of Impressionism,” opening June 20 and on view through August 6, highlights the recent works of artists on its esteemed roster, including — among others — Bruce Peil.
 
The exhibition is curated by James W. Bruce, Jr. and Linda Howell, and an opening reception will take place Thursday, June 30 at 5 p.m. To learn more, visit the OSU Museum of Art.
 
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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: Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, “Winter Landscape with Wood Gatherers and Skaters.”
 
“Prince of Landscape Painting” was the well-deserved titled given to Dutch romantic painter Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (1803-1862). Be that as it may, this was only one of the endless number of awards and honors Koekkoek received over his career.
 
Koekkoek was an artist from birth, as his father, Johannes, and his two brothers, Hermanus and Marinus, were also successful painters. Barend, however, would enjoy the most career success, counting among his illustrious patrons King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV of Prussia, Tsar Alexander II, and King Willem II of the Netherlands.
 
Like many other romantics of his generation, Koekkoek found endless fascination in the majesty and sublimity of creation. Like his contemporary artist Caspar David Friedrich, Koekkoek preferred to place diminutive figures within imposing natural landscapes. “The motif was a popular source of inspiration among Romantic artists,” writes Heritage Auctions, “emphasizing a humbling contrast between the inconsequential stature of mankind, and the grandeur and vastness of creation.”
 
Heritage Auctions will offer a beautiful original from the painter during its June 24 “European Paintings” sale in Dallas, Texas. The work, titled “Winter Landscape with Wood Gatherers and Skaters,” dates to 1854 and represents the artist’s mature years. Continuing, the auction house describes, “Set in the fiery golden glow of a dwindling sun, this work combines all the elements for which the artist was best known: dazzlingly detailed figures in various states of daily activity, an evocative atmospheric mood, and an emphasis on the sublimity and majesty of nature. This work reveals a careful study and synthesis of Dutch seventeenth-century painters, and firmly roots the artist within the great tradition established by masters such as Hobbema, Cuyp, Ruisdael and Wynants. The golden light and the inclusion of travelers in his work suggests Koekkoek also admired the Dutch Italianate painters of the seventeenth century, including Pieter van Laer and Jan Both.” Auction estimates are between $150,000 and $250,000.
 
To view the full catalogue, visit Heritage Auctions.
 
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Mark your calendars for June 11 at the Clark Museum in Massachusetts: That’s when a monumental exhibition of Old Master paintings from the Prado Museum opens.
 
It seems apropos that the first word in the title of an upcoming exhibition at the Clark Museum is splendor because that’s exactly what patrons can expect. Featuring 24 unforgettable masterpieces never before shown in America, “Splendor, Myth, and Vision” celebrates the role of the nude in Western painting.
 
Among the notable names included in the exhibition are Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacopo Tintoretto, Diego Velázquez, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Guercino, Nicolas Poussin, Luca Giordano, Guido Reni, and Jusepe de Ribera.
 
Via the museum, “The works presented in ‘Splendor, Myth, and Vision’ are among the finest of the Prado’s unparalleled holdings, selected not only for their relationship to the exhibition’s themes, but also for their beauty and historical significance.”
 

 
To learn more, visit The Clark Museum.
 
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Did you know that May is the month of the Santacruzan, which commemorates the discovery of the Holy Cross by St. Helena? However coincidental it may be, an awesome solo exhibition entitled “Crusaders” has been mounted in the Philippines. Find out more here!
 
A master of human anatomy with an acute eye for detail, renowned realist Orley Ypon will offer the public his newest oils during a magnetic exhibition at the BenCab Museum in the Philippines. “Crusaders” will showcase Ypon’s penchant for depicting crowds of writhing bodies in naked glory. Twisting, laughing, smiling, and in all sorts of emotional states, these bodies seem to race toward an undetermined end. “In many of the works, the playful, cavorting bodies are seen rising from the sea — the genesis of all life,” says the artist.
 

Orley Ypon, “Budyong,” 2016, oil on canvas, 32 x 40 in. (c) BenCab Museum 2016

Orley Ypon, “Adrift Series 1,” 2016, oil on canvas, 32 x 48 in. (c) BenCab Museum 2016

Orley Ypon, “Man with Idol,” 2016, oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. (c) BenCab Museum 2016

 
Continuing, the artist describes his work: “Well-composed and beautifully executed, the works subtly comment on societal ills and concerns of the present. True to the Horatian ideal, although in a different art form, Ypon seeks to delight and instruct the viewer, prodding him to open his eyes and look around with a fresh appreciation and understanding of his community and the world, and of himself.”
 
To learn more, visit the BenCab Museum.
 
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Opening June 9 at the Tweed Museum of Art in Duluth, Minnesota, is an outstanding solo exhibition from one of the nation’s top representational painters. Discover his secrets in capturing the domestic sphere.
 
Classically trained and grounded in traditions of the Old Masters, painter Jeffrey T. Larson is, without a doubt, a name that should perk the ears of collectors and traditional art enthusiasts. “Domestic Space” is the latest display of Larson’s talent and mastery of oil at the Tweed Museum of Art in Duluth, Minnesota. The exhibition will be on view through September 18.
 

Jeffrey Larson, “Fish on Bowl,” 2006, oil on canvas, 12 x 11 1/2 in. (c) Tweed Museum of Art 2016

 
The museum reports, “Visitors to the exhibition at the Tweed Museum of Art can expect a rich introduction to classical realism, a term invented by Larson’s mentor, Richard Lack (1928-2009). The exhibition presents thirty works, including portraits and still life paintings created in Larson’s studio during winter months, as well as figures in nature which he paints en plein air, in full summer sun. The ‘wow’ factors in these works are the meticulously rendered colors, tones and textures of still life objects, which range from shiny new to age-mellowed, and the surprising range of intense color in his light-drenched outdoor scenes.
 

Jeffrey Larson, “The White Sheet,” 2006, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 in. (c) Tweed Museum of Art 2016

 
“Jeffrey Larson studied from 1980-84 with Richard Lack (1928-2009) at Atelier Lack in Minneapolis. Lack is credited with preserving and passing on classical techniques and teaching methods which extend back to the master-apprentice system of 17th-19th century European academies. To expand his artistic education, Larson also studied anatomy at the University of Minnesota, bronze-casting at private foundries, and traditional paintings in museums in Europe and the U.S.”
 
To learn more, visit the Tweed Museum of Art.
 
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An innovative exhibition in Michigan seeks to explore the illusionary properties of glass and silver. Who are among the artists represented, and where? Details are just one click away!
 
Opened on April 16 and on view through June 11, “Reflective Illusions: Depicting Silver and Glass” is a compelling exhibition that showcases a how a diverse range of artists depict the two difficult materials.
 
Among the included artists in the show is Jane Jones, an Art Renewal Center Associate Living Master. Jones is renowned for her still life paintings of gorgeous flowers in crystal-clear vases. Jones is regarded as a master of glass and the subtle nuances of light as it cascades through this refractory material.
 
To learn more, visit the Alden B. Dow Museum of Science & Art.
 
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The International Guild of Realism (IGOR) is one of the world’s most prestigious institutions for traditional arts. On view for just a few more days is a tantalizing exhibition of masterworks from the organization’s most exceptional painters. Where?
 
On view through June 11 at the Albany Museum of Art in Albany, Georgia, are nearly 70 masterworks by 65 of the International Guild of Realism’s most outstanding painters. Selected by a jury of their peers, one can rest assured that the quality and impact of the works displayed will be like no other.
 
Via the museum webpage: “Contemporary realism emerged in America in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a movement concerned with the straightforward realistic approach to representation which continues to be widely practiced in this post-abstract era and is different than photorealism, which is somewhat exaggerated, ironic and conceptual in nature.”
 
To learn more, visit the Albany 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.