Opening in March at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is a captivating exhibition that examines “unfinished” artworks, offering visitors a chance to step into the artists’ minds and understand their creative choices.
 
One could suggest that part of what draws many to art is the desire to “know” or “understand” the man or woman behind the creations. Whether it’s through personal acquaintance and friendship or extensive research, there appears to be an unrelenting drive for art lovers to step into the creative mind.
 
Perhaps one of the best ways to understand the artistic process is to explore works left unfinished. To be sure, these works are halted during the realization of a particular vision, allowing audiences to muse upon the steps before this paused moment and what could have resulted.
 

Jacopo Bassano, “The Baptism of Christ,” ca. 1590, oil on canvas, 72 1/2 x 63 1/8 in. (c) MET 2016

 
Opening March 18 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, “Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible” seeks to explore the unfinished works of some of the greatest artists in the museum’s permanent collection. Via the exhibition webpage: “The exhibition examines the term ‘unfinished’ across the visual arts in the broadest possible way; it includes works left incomplete by their makers, a result that often provides insight into the artists’ creative process, as well as works that engage a non finito—intentionally unfinished—aesthetic that embraces the unresolved and open-ended. Featured artists who explored such an aesthetic include some of history’s greatest practitioners, among them Titian, Rembrandt, Turner, and Cézanne, as well as modern and contemporary artists, including Janine Antoni, Lygia Clark, Jackson Pollock, and Robert Rauschenberg, who have taken the unfinished in entirely new directions, alternately blurring the distinction between making and un-making, extending the boundaries of art into both space and time, and recruiting viewers to complete the objects they had begun.
 

Jacques Louis David, “The Death of Bara,” 1794, oil on canvas, 46 7/8 x 61 1/2 in. (c) Musée Calvet, Avignon 2016

 
“The accompanying catalogue will expand the subject to include the unfinished in literature and film as well as the role of the conservator in elucidating a deeper understanding of artistic thought on the subject of the unfinished.”
 
To learn more, visit the Metropolitan 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.
 

Could you be standing or sitting over an ancient artifact right now? Founded in 43 C.E., London has a long and storied Roman history. Just a few days ago, a rare fresco was discovered — under 21 Lime Street, in the heart of London’s insurance district.

For over 1,000 years, Londoners have been walking — and recently, driving — over a Roman fresco that was discovered last week under 21 Lime Street. Erin Blakemore of the Smithsonian reports, “Thousands of years ago, the site was home to a different building, London’s Roman Basilica and Forum, a towering structure larger than St. Paul’s Cathedral, which served as a kind of city center and shopping mall for Londoners.
 

A conservator works on a section of the fresco (c) Museum of London Archaeology 2016

“The discovery of the face-down fresco hints at the way the forum and adjacent buildings were torn down. Apparently, this building was simply toppled to the ground, instead of being demolished in a more thorough manner, meaning that after the wall fell to the ground, it was simply built over. All the better for archaeologists: When they uncovered the eight-foot long and nearly five-foot high wall section, they were able to flip it over to see the ornate decoration they believe used to stand in a rich family’s reception room.”
 
No doubt the discovery highlights once more that so much of our ancient past remains to be discovered.
 
To learn more, visit the Smithsonian.
 
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The art world continues to heat up in New York, with the Art Dealers Association of America’s 2016 edition of “The Art Show.” What are the exhibition/program highlights, and when do events begin?
 
A vast number of creative and ambitious solo exhibitions, group shows, new artists, and new works can all be expected between March 2 and 6 in New York City. Just last week, the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) announced the program and exhibition highlights for the 2016 edition of “The Art Show” — held at the Park Avenue Armory. “This year the ADAA is pleased to welcome Robert Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, as The Art Show’s keynote speaker who will discuss the role of the arts in America’s economic landscape on Friday, March 4, at 6 p.m.” the non-profit organization says.
 
The ADAA writes that “The Art Show” offers “the opportunity to engage with artworks of the highest quality through intimately scaled and thoughtfully curated exhibitions that encourage close looking and active conversation with gallerists.”
 
Events will include 72 enlightening presentations from ADAA member galleries. Anthony Meier, chair of “The Art Show,” remarked, “This year’s presentations are dynamic, ambitious, and vibrant, and speak volumes about the global breadth of art and market expertise of ADAA members. We look forward to welcoming collectors, arts professionals, and the public to experience these high-quality presentations and engage personally with experts in the field.”
 
The Art Show 2016:
Wednesday, March 2 through Friday, March 4, 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 5, 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 6, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
 
Location: The Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue and 67th Street, New York
Tickets: $25 per day. Available online or at the door. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit Henry Street Settlement.
 
The Art Show Gala Benefit Preview
The Art Show Gala Benefit Preview will be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. to benefit Henry Street Settlement. Tickets are available online or through Henry Street Settlement at 212.766.9200 ext. 248. The evening will be in partnership with David Yurman.
 
Keynote Speech: Robert Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts
Friday, March 4, 6:00 p.m.
The Board of Officers Room at The Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York
Free entry with fair admission.
 
To learn more, visit The Art Dealers Association of America.
 
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.
 

It’s officially 2016, which means collectors can gear up for the year’s slate of galas, auctions, shows, and sales. For those who find themselves in Cartersville, Georgia, on February 20, look no further than the Booth Western Art Museum, which will be hosting its 2016 Gala & Art Auction.
 
All are cordially invited to attend the 2016 For the Love of Art Gala & Art Auction at the Booth Western Art Museum on February 20. Honoring artist Tom Hill — recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award — events begin in earnest at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction, cocktail reception, and private tours of the museum’s current blockbuster exhibition “Ansel Adams: Before & After.”
 

Tom Hill, “Buying Ollas, Tlacolula,” watercolor, 21 x 29 in. (c) Tom Hill 2016

 
$150 will earn one admission for the events, including a 7:30 p.m. seated dinner. With bellies full and artistic appetites whetted, the live auction begins at 8:30 p.m. Time is waning, but tickets are still available here.
 

Michael Untiedt, “To Ride the Pale Horse,” oil, 12 x 16 in. (c) Michael Untiedt 2016

 
In addition to the festivities on February 20, a “Boots ‘n’ Saddles Pre-Gala Party” will be hosted at the Tellus Science Museum on the 19th. Tickets are $50.
 
To learn more, visit the Booth Western 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.
 

For six years running, InSight Gallery has hosted an outstanding group show and sale featuring works from the best artists living and working in Texas. When do the 2016 festivities kick off? Find out here.
 
Mark your calendars for March 4 in Fredericksburg, Texas. The “Sixth Annual Texas Masters Show” will feature both new and older works from many of the best Western artists. Organized and hosted by InSight Gallery, the show and sale is one of the gallery’s most popular annual events. Visitors can “expect over 40 new works from Gallery Artists Roy Andersen, Mary Ross Buchholz, Nancy Bush, Jill Carver, Cheri Christensen, Douglas Clark, Teresa Elliott, Jim Eppler, Bruce Greene, George Hallmark, Francois Koch, Mark Haworth, D. LaRue Mahlke, George Northup, Kay Northup, Robert Pummill, Gladys Roldan–de–Moras, Ann Kraft Walker and guest artist Kyle Ma” says the gallery.
 

Ann Kraft Walker, “The Little Visitor,” oil, 20 x 30 in. (c) InSight Gallery 2016

 
A comprehensive list of artworks available can be found at InSight 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 lovely Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin has an equally stunning array of bird imagery from some of American’s greatest creators during a current exhibition. Who can you expect to see?
 
Albert Bierstadt, N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, John James Audubon, and Frank W. Benson are only a few of the major artists currently featured at the Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. “Audubon to Wyeth: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculptures” is exactly what visitors can expect within the exhibition.
 

Jasper Cropsey, “Hazy Afternoon, Autumn,” 1873, oil on canvas, (c) Woodson Art Museum 2016

 
Of particular note is Audubon’s “Pacific Loon (Black-throated Diver),” circa 1834. As one might anticipate, the picture displays an amazing degree of accuracy and precision. Comfortably nestled among the reeds, a pair of Pacific loons confidently pose for the viewer. A key identifying feature, the subjects’ blood-red eyes, capture one’s gaze immediately and fill the picture with life. Making this equally unique among Audubon’s pictures is its technique: oil on canvas. Audubon was known for his production of lithographs for his “Birds of America” series; “Pacific Loon (Black-throated Diver)” is a rare example of the artist’s painterly touch.
 

Martin Johnson Heade, “Two Hooded Visorbearer Hummingbirds,” ca. 1864-1865, oil on canvas,
(c) Woodson Art Museum 2016

 
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.
 

Between 1877 and 1902, Indiana experienced a localized Renaissance of artistic production that has left an enduring legacy for the Hoosier State. Celebrating this achievement, the Indianapolis Museum of Art has a number of these outstanding works on view.
 
On view through May 14, 2017, “A Land Enchanted” is a gorgeous exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art that tells the tale of the Hoosier State’s cultural efflorescence between 1877 and 1902. The museum writes, “Popularly referred to as the state’s Golden Age, this period is often remembered for the numerous contributions of Hoosier authors, including Theodore Dreiser, Meredith Nicholson, James Whitcomb Riley, Booth Tarkington, and Lew Wallace. Coincident with their literary achievements, Indiana’s men and women made a mark equally on the visual arts.”
 
Composed of works from the museum’s permanent collection, “A Land Enchanted” displays a number of outstanding works of art, including paintings and sketchbooks by William Merritt Chase, James F. Gookins, John Washington Love, the Hoosier Group, and others.
 
“A Land Enchanted” will be on view through May 14, 2017. To learn more, visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
 
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The Arles bedroom of Vincent van Gogh was a frequent subject for the painter that held special significance. An upcoming exhibition has brought together each version of “The Bedroom” for the first time in North America. Where?
 
Opening Sunday, February 14, “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms” is a captivating exhibition that will offer patrons who view the paintings a “pioneering and in-depth study of their making and meaning to Van Gogh in his relentless quest for home,” the Art Institute of Chicago says.
 
Set in arguably the most famous bedroom in the history of art, Van Gogh’s representations of his most private setting in Arles, France, have occupied the minds of his scholars and admirers for over a century. Three paintings of the artist’s bedroom were produced, and all will be on view at the Institute. Via the exhibition site: “This exhibition is the first to truly delve into the fascinating history of these three paintings. Beginning with Van Gogh’s early canvases of cottages and birds’ nests, the show explores the artist’s use of the motif of home — as haven, creative chamber, and physical reality — and follows the evolution of this theme throughout his career, beyond the Yellow House to the asylum at Saint-Rémy.”
 
Alongside the pictures of Van Gogh’s bedroom, the exhibition includes 33 additional paintings, drawings, and illustrated letters. What is more, audiences will be treated to a digitally enhanced reconstruction of the artist’s bedroom to “experience his state of mind and the physical reality of the space that so inspired him” the museum explains. “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms” will hang through May 10.
 
To learn more, visit The Art Institute of Chicago.
 
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.
 

Spring has sprung early at the Festival of Arts Third Floor Gallery in California. Featuring works from 12 skillful artists, “Bouquets” is an explosion of colorful activity.
 
Roses, tulips, lilies, and much more can be expected during “Bouquets” — a warming group exhibition that showcases a range of gorgeous subjects and techniques. On view through April 9, the exhibition features Mary Aslin, Cynthia Fletcher, Rich Graves, Molly Hutchings, Mariko Ishii, Jangwon Lee, Jacquie Moffett, Mia Moore, Mariana Nelson, Tim Shockley, Teri Starkweather, Marie Tippets, and Barbara White.
 
Both two- and three-dimensional works will be on view in this exhibition, including paintings, drawings, mixed media, and sculpture. To learn more, visit the Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach.
 
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.