Marie-Antoinette is perhaps best known for her unfortunate demise at the hands of French revolutionaries. However, the queen was a woman of remarkable wealth and taste, which was captured with immense talent through the brush and paint of Louis-Auguste Brun.
 
Opened on March 4, “Louis-August Brun, Painter to Marie-Antoinette: From Prangins to Versailles” is an outstanding opportunity for art lovers and connoisseurs alike to consume the propagandistic — yet true to life — representations of the most infamous queen in France’s history. The exhibition, which is on view at the Swiss National Museum, boasts some 100 works by Louis-August Brun, and none more well-known than his two equestrian portraits of Marie-Antoinette.
 

Louis-Auguste Brun, “River Landscape with Patrician Residence,” circa 1776-1778, oil on canvas, 194 x 179 cm.
(c) Claude Bornand, Lausanne 2016

 
While the equestrian portraits are the focus of the exhibition, Brun had a remarkable career in which he represented other dignitaries, animals, and landscapes. Indeed, the exhibition is a superb overview of Brun’s entire oeuvre and highlights the painter’s personal journey from a local craftsman in the village of Rolle, Switzerland, to the luxuries of the Palace of Versailles.
 
In addition to the exquisite paintings, there are a number of other coordinated events, including a film that retells the final years of the artist’s life. Further, a Marie-Antoinette-inspired menu was specially crafted at the museum’s café — a delectable experience, to be sure. The exhibition will hang through July 10.
 
To learn more, visit the Swiss National Museum.
 
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During the 17th century, painter Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) undoubtedly mastered the art — and anatomy — of portraiture. Whether it was a wealthy sitter’s real or imagined personality, all were captured with extreme elegance and verisimilitude. For the first time in nearly 20 years, a major exhibition dedicated to the genius is now on view. Where?
 
Featuring over 100 exquisite works of 17th-century court portraiture, “Van Dyck: The Anatomy of Portraiture” is a captivating exhibition at The Frick Collection in New York City. Opened on March 2, the show offers a comprehensive exploration of Anthony van Dyck’s life and career, which took the painter from his native Flanders to Italy, France, and, eventually, to the court of Charles I in London.
 

Anthony van Dyck, “Frans Snyders,” circa 1620, oil on canvas, 56 1/8 x 41 1/2 in. (c) The Frick Collection 2016

 
Van Dyck was an artist of outstanding versatility and inventiveness, especially with regard to his portraits, which form the dominant genre in his oeuvre. Whether it be absolute mastery in the representation of the world’s finest silk, or a subtle glance or gesture, Van Dyck was a genius at constructing an individual’s identity — even if it was fantasy. The exhibition will also track the artist’s stylistic development as a draftsman and painter. Beginning with his roots in Antwerp, the exhibition follows Van Dyck’s travels to Italy, his iconographic evolution, contemporaries, and finally his time in England.
 
“Van Dyck: The Anatomy of Portraiture” will run through June 5. To learn more, visit The Frick Collection.
 
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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: Frank Weston Benson, “The Ponter.”
 
Like so many of the great American artists of the 19th century and beyond, Frank Weston Benson (1862-1951) was an avid outdoorsman who delighted in trekking through the countryside for his subject matter — especially wildlife. By the end of his life and career in 1951, Benson had long established himself as one of the country’s most accomplished etchers, painters, and watercolorists.
 
Born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1862, Benson is perhaps best known today for his impressionist seascapes and landscapes, which are often populated with the artist’s wife and children. For most of Benson’s career, drypoint etching was his preferred medium. In 1883, he would study at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in addition to the Academie Julian in Paris, where he picked up his Impressionist sympathies. As scholars have noted, Benson was “lauded for his clear design, the naturalness of his birds and hunters, and the mastery of etching techniques.”
 
However, after 1900 and toward the latter part of Benson’s career in particular, the artist became increasingly interested in watercolor — perhaps inspired by Winslow Homer’s use of that medium to represent hunting scenes. Regardless, Benson would eventually complete over 600 watercolors, and the works form an important part of the artist’s mature years.
 
Heading to auction via Myers Fine Art & Antiques Auction Gallery in St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 13 is “The Ponter” — a crisp and colorful watercolor original by Benson. Viewers find themselves on the shores of a lake, amid the reeds. A hunter and his loyal companion gaze away from the viewer and into the distance, where a flock of geese and ducks take flight. The title of the piece references the subject and his propulsion of his small boat by thrusting against the bottom of the lake with his paddle — also called a “punter.” The quick expressiveness of the brushwork is absolutely hypnotic, creating a rhythm and movement in the reeds that is paralleled by the distant birds. Auction estimates are $20,000-$30,000.
 
To view the full catalogue, visit Myers Fine Art & Antiques Auction Gallery.
 
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Jim Sherraden
“#12 Paper Quilt“
26 x 40 in.

About the artist:
These paper quilts are created by cutting Master Printer Jim Sherraden’s wood block prints into pieces and reassembling them.  All of the quilts are composed of hundreds of individual pieces of paper assembled into popular quilters patterns. Courtesy of Jim Sherraden, Master Printer at Hatch Show Print (TN).
 
About the show:
The 9th Annual AD20/21: Art & Design of the 20th & 21st Centuries and The Boston Print Fair, takes place at The Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts, in Boston’s South End. The show and sale features select exhibitors offering modern to contemporary fine art, photography, jewelry, furniture, decorative arts, sculpture, fine prints, drawings, and more. The show opens with a Gala Preview on Thursday April 7 from 5:30-9:00pm, to support and celebrate Boston Design Week (www.BostonDesignweek.com). The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Boston Globe Antiques Columnist Virginia Bohlin at the Gala at 6:00pm. Gala tickets are $250 (5:30pm admission), $100 (6:30pm admission), and $50 for Just Desserts at 7:30pm.  Gala tickets are available on the show’s website. Weekend tickets are $15 under 12 free. Complimentary special programs, re-admission, catalog, and coat check. Café at the show.  Valet and discount parking available. 

For detailed information, including directions and parking visit  www.AD2021.com  or call 617-363-0405.

Fusco & Four/Ventures, LLC
8 Allenwood Street, Boston, MA 02132
617-363-0405
Fax 617-363-0406
Email [email protected]

Mannerism matters in Germany over the next few months as the Städel Museum in Frankfurt has recently mounted a monumental exhibition that includes the style’s biggest names from 16th0century Italy.
 
Although Mannerism is a vexing style to some, there can be no doubt that any opportunity to view original works by Pontormo, Bronzino, Andrea del Sarto, Rosso, and Vasari in one location is enthralling. “Maniera” opened on February 24 at Frankfurt’s Städel Museum and is the first presentation of such distinguished Florentine Mannerists in Germany.
 

Agnolo Bronzino, “St. Sebastian,” ca. 1528-1529, oil on wood, 87 x 76.5 cm.
(c) Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid 2016

“Maniera” has a decidedly Florentine focus and draws attention to the city as one of the first centers of the European Mannerism. Featuring over 120 stunning works, the exhibition tells a comprehensive story of Mannerism’s evolution, from its Medici roots in 1512 to the 1568 publication of Vasari’s “Lives” — widely considered to be the first art historical text filled with artist biographies. In fact, it was Vasari who coined the colorful term “maniera” in his “Lives,” using the word to categorize the bizarre, exaggerated, capricious, and elegant style of the preceding decades.
 

Raphael, “Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist,” ca. 1508, oil on wood, 29 x 21.5 cm. (c) Szepmuveszeti Muzeum, Budapest 2016

Via the museum’s webpage, “In 1967, the art historian John Shearman summed it up in a catchy formula — ‘the stylish style.’ Its sophisticated grace and creative tenacity make the ‘maniera’ one of the most fascinating phenomena in the art of Italy.
 

Giorgio Vasari, “Venus at her Toilet,” ca. 1558, oil on wood, 154 x 124.7 cm. (c) Staatsgalerie Stuttgart 2016

“One of the most exquisite works in the Städel holdings — Bronzino’s famous ‘Portrait of a Lady in Red (Francesca Salviati?)’ (ca. 1533) — formed the point of departure for this ambitious show. The project is being carried out with special support from the museums of Florence, above all the Uffizi, the Galleria dell’Accademia and the Galleria Palatina. Further key loans will come from such prominent museums as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Paris Louvre, the Prado and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest and the Brera in Milan.”

“Maniera” will be on view through June 5. To learn more, visit the Städel 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.
 

Although Portraits Inc. has a stellar reputation for producing the highest-quality portraits of friends, dignitaries, and family, the genre also extends to our furry friends. Only days remain for an exhibition of outstanding puppy portraiture.
 
Opening on February 11 and running through March 11, “Love Me, Love My Dog: Intimate Portraits of Our Best Friends” is an exhibition that is sure to warm hearts — if not inspire a visit to your local Humane Society. The show features a number of lovely portraits of various breeds of dogs. What is more, an eclectic range of media is displayed, from exquisitely detailed pencil, pen, and charcoal drawings to expressive and veristic oil paintings.
 
Particularly noteworthy is the character emitted by each portrait. Like humans, animals — especially dogs — possess individual traits and characteristics that make them uniquely themselves, and the mark of an accomplished portraitist is the ability to capture those unseen qualities. There can be no doubt that the stable of artists at Portraits Inc. are among the nation’s best, and this exhibition is yet another brilliant display.
 
To learn more, visit Portraits Inc.
 
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Known for employing his brush to capture magnificent Southern California cityscapes, painter Danny Heller offers viewers a trip across the country and back to mid-century Manhattan during this thrilling solo exhibition.
 
“In some ways, I act as a type of documentarian of an endangered architectural culture,” writes artist Danny Heller, who opened his most recent solo exhibition, “Midcentury Manhattan,” on March 1 at George Billis Gallery in New York City. Although the artists is known for his Southern California cityscapes, “Midcentury Manhattan” displays how Heller’s artistic lens translates to the “concrete jungle” — and the results are stunning.
 

Danny Heller, “Goldberger’s Pharmacy,” oil on canvas, 34 x 48 in. (c) George Billis Gallery 2016

 
Of the exhibition, Heller suggests that it “delves deeper into my exploration of the architecture, car culture, and design aesthetic that flourished in New York City in the 1950s and 60s. At a time when the city was transitioning from WWII aftermath to Modern metropolis, a whole new vision of contemporary city life was taking shape. Brownstone buildings turned into glass skyscrapers, a simplified clean aesthetic replaced ornate details, and entire city blocks were leveled to make way for the almighty automobile.”
 

Danny Heller, “TWA Terminal Arrival,” oil on canvas, 26 x 48 in. (c) George Billis Gallery 2016

 
Focusing on this evolving culture, Heller’s pictures comment on the duality of new and old in Manhattan, from deep spaces that show bridges and buildings stretching into the distance, to intimate views of storefronts displaying 1950s fashions. Heller’s pictures present the viewer with a crisp, clean view of the city that parallels the aesthetic he described. Further, Heller’s views are sparsely populated with human subjects — if they appear at all. In this way the paintings have a ghostly aura that grips the audience, but also encourages viewers to perhaps imagine themselves within the scene.
 

Danny Heller, “Park Ave Perspective,” 2016, oil on canvas, 34 x 44 in. (c) George Billis Gallery 2016

 
“Midcentury Manhattan” opened on March 1 and will be on view through March 26. To learn more, visit George Billis 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.
 

Working within the tradition of Romantic Realism, painter Simon Andrew displays his proficiency in color relationships, compositional structures, and the physicality of paint during a magnetic solo exhibition in Canada. Which gallery is proud to play host?
 
Painter Simon Andrew delves into a wide range of contemporary cultural issues in his work, such as displacement, memory, and geography. Many of these themes come to the fore during his latest solo exhibition, “Interior and Exterior Domains” at Mira Goddard Gallery in Toronto, Ontario. Opening March 5 and on view through March 26, the show will juxtapose the artist’s vision and themes through — as its title suggests — interior and exterior spaces.
 

Simon Andrew, “Monet Reconstruction — The Crow,” 2015, oil on board, 12 x 15 in. (c) Mira Goddard Gallery 2016

 
Of his work, Andrew says, “My paintings succumb to a distilling process. Supported by expressive and varied handling, they are often charged with a remembrance of an event or a place that in retrospect seems more relevant. In effect, they are a visual conversation with time and place, but after the fact, in an attempt to find a space in which they can simply exist as new and valid experiences.”
 
To learn more, visit Mira Goddard 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.
 

The Eiteljorg Museum in Indiana will soon open a grand exhibition that tells a thrilling artistic story. Who are the major names included?
 
Six million years is a long time, but the Colorado River has taken advantage, slowly carving its way through the bedrock to form one of the most spectacular natural wonders in existence: the Grand Canyon. Opening March 25 at Indianapolis’ Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, “The Grand Canyon” is an extraordinary and captivating exhibition that highlights how some of the most renowned artists have represented earth’s biggest scar.
 
Among the major artists shown in the exhibition are Ansel Adams, Thomas Moran, and William Henry Holmes. What is more, the exhibition has been organized in tandem with a host of other events, including lectures and geology talks, art-making activities, an IMAX film showing, curator talks, and symphony orchestral performances. There’s surely something for everyone and a range of ways to appreciate the Grand Canyon.

“The Grand Canyon is a revered icon of the American West,” says John Vanausdall, Eiteljorg president and CEO. “But its interconnected natural and human histories are perhaps lesser known. ‘The Grand Canyon’ exhibit explores the extraordinary natural beauty and delicate ecosystem of this remarkable landmark and gives visitors a view that can only be topped by visiting the Canyon itself.”

“The Grand Canyon” will be on view through August 7. To learn more about the exhibition and its accompanying events, visit the Eiteljorg 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.