As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery.
Want to see your gallery featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
How do you find inspiration?
Kim Lordier: Often times inspiration appears at a critical juncture in life and sparks a new series. And at times I am compelled to seek it out. Last year we went on the hunt to find and photograph the wild horses of the Onaqui herd just south of Salt Lake City, Utah. A horse fanatic since birth, the opportunity to see these magnificent and hardy animals in person was magical and tragic at the same time, knowing that the mustangs were to be rounded up by helicopters and placed in holding pens too populated for any kind of humane treatment two weeks after our sojourn. I feel it is important to tell the story, and look for more humane ways to manage these over populated herds.
My painting, “After Nine Days” was named after the song by America “A Horse with No Name”. I kept singing it in my head while creating this piece. I grew up listening to it on the radio and remember feeling this beautiful melancholy wash over me every time I heard it play. When coming up with a title I did a little research on the song, and read that the writer, Dewey Bunnell, says “A Horse with No Name” was “a metaphor for a vehicle to get away from life’s confusion into a quiet, peaceful place.” I cannot tell you how appropriate this feels for the state of, well, everything right now.
To see more of Kim’s work, visit:
www.kimfancherlordier.com
As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery.
Want to see your gallery featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
Wayne Art Center (Pennsylvania) is presenting an exhibition of recent figurative art pieces by artist Paul DuSold, on view through November 12, 2022.
From the organizers:
Set in the grandeur of the art center’s Davenport Gallery, “Endymion’s Dream – The Mystery of Beauty” will include more than fifteen life-size paintings created by DuSold as an expression of an artist’s relationship to the inspiration of beauty. The theme of this work is connected to the mythological figure of Endymion [pronounced: en-DIM-ee-uhn], a shepherd, and his love for Diana, the goddess of the moon. About this series DuSold shares “It is the theme of our human need to transcend separateness through artistic expression of love and the eternal mystery of beauty.”
The human figure plays a vital role in the work found in this exhibition. The artist states that he develops each painting starting with the visual relationship of the figure in its pose with respect to the placement of other figures and within the overall composition of the painting paired with a painter’s respect for light, color, shape, and value.
DuSold’s appreciation for the history of the nude figure in Western Art is undeniable. About these works, he considers the figure to be a metaphor within the paintings whereas the female figure represents the majesty of natural beauty and the male figure represents the artist’s creative experience and the search for expression through art.
An interview with the artist that touches on the challenges of developing figures within the landscape, the progression of this series, and the metaphor within these works can be found online with Main Line Television and on the art center’s website. Visit: Endymion’s Dream The Mystery of Beauty by Paul DuSold, Philadelphia Artist on Vimeo.
Visit the Wayne Art Center’s website at wayneart.org.
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter
> Subscribe to Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, so you never miss an issue
A new retrospective exhibition at Step Up Gallery features the figurative works of artist Carole Belliveau over a period of 45 years:
“The Road Taken, a 45-year Journey” by Carole Belliveau of Santa Fe, NM
Step Up Gallery at Mesa Public Library, Los Alamos, NM
October 14 – November 9, 2022
stepupgallery.org
The exhibit will focus on Belliveau’s captivating female figure paintings and contrast the figurative work with rich use of gold and silver leaf. To provide the historical background of Belliveau’s artistic journey, award-winning dolls representing her early days will also be on display.
Belliveau began her artistic journey as a self-taught Fine Art Doll Artist, designing her own collection introduced at The International Toy Fair each year in New York City. She was juried in as the youngest member of the National Institute of American Dolls Artists and was known for her one of a kind and limited-edition dolls and original Teddy Bear designs. In 1981, the book Dollmaker, The Eyelight and the Shadow was published featuring the process of creating a portrait doll of her son Matthew. This doll and others became collector favorites winning many Doll of the Year Awards. She also designed toy concepts for companies such as Hasbro, Zapf and Marie Osmond Dolls.
Belliveau moved to California in 1989 and completed her BFA at Academy of Art University in San Francisco cum laude. She turned her focus to both figure painting and plein air landscape painting. Her years of improvising, using diverse materials to create miniature shoes, designing clothing, wig-making, wax working and hundreds of other sculpture skills, informed her approach to mixed media figure painting. She began to combine her oil and acrylic paints with passages of gold and silver leaf to express her singular esthetic. Jurors and collectors have characterized Belliveau’s figurative work as “ethereal, light-filled and lyrical.”
Five years ago Belliveau and her husband relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico. They have one adult son and two granddaughters who have been the subject of intimate and loving portraits over the years. Recently, she has taken on administrative roles in the very active and successful arts organization, Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, and currently holds the office of Vice President.
Belliveau is the Grand Prize Winner of TRAC 2019, an international competition and is a Signature Member of American Women Artists (AWA), Plein Air Painters of New Mexico (PAPNM) and Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association (MBPAPA), where she is a Past President as well. She has won the BOLD Brush Awards in Oil Painting and Best Acrylic and her paintings are in many personal and public collections nationally.
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter
> Subscribe to Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, so you never miss an issue
The first exhibition in the United States focusing on art created during the Tudor dynasty will feature more than 100 paintings, tapestries, sculptures, and more …
From King Henry VII’s seizure of the throne in 1485 to the death of his granddaughter Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, England’s Tudor monarchs used art to legitimize and glorify their tumultuous reigns. On view at The Met through January 8, 2023, “The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England” will trace the transformation of the arts under their rule through more than 100 objects—including iconic portraits, spectacular tapestries, manuscripts, sculpture, and armor—from both the Museum collection and international lenders.
“This magnificent exhibition brings the stunning majesty and compelling drama of the Tudor dynasty to life,” said Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director of The Met. “By examining the wider political and societal context in which these sumptuous goods and
extraordinary portraits were made, we can appreciate both their exquisite beauty as works of art and the complex and often turbulent stories they tell.”
Exhibition co-curator Elizabeth Cleland, Curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, added: “The sense of majesty that the Tudors crafted around themselves was so successful that, even now, we need to take a step back and remind ourselves just how tenuous their claim to the throne actually was and how many challenges they were facing.”
“English Renaissance literature of this time, particularly the plays of William Shakespeare, continues to be world famous today,” added exhibition co-curator Adam Eaker, Associate Curator in the Department of European Paintings. “This exhibition gives us the opportunity to introduce The Met’s audiences to the stunning visual arts of the period and the ways that both artists and patrons used imagery to navigate the treacherous waters of court life. Rather than an illustrated history of the Tudor monarchy, it offers a fresh look at the incredible figurative and decorative arts made or acquired for the court.”
Exhibition Overview
England under the volatile Tudor dynasty was a thriving home for the arts. An international community of artists and merchants, many of them religious refugees from across Europe, navigated the high-stakes demands of royal patrons against the backdrop of shifting political relationships with mainland Europe.
The Tudor courts were truly cosmopolitan, boasting the work of Florentine sculptors, German painters, Flemish weavers, and Europe’s best armorers, goldsmiths, and printers, while also contributing to the emergence of a distinctly English style.
This exhibition features works of art made under the patronage of all five Tudor monarchs: Henry VII (reigned 1485–1509), Henry VIII (1509–47), Edward VI (1547–53), Mary I (1553–58), and Elizabeth I (1558–1603). It is organized thematically in five sections within an overall exhibition design that evokes the long galleries and intimate alcoves that defined Tudor palace architecture.
Deriving their power from Henry VII’s seizure of the throne in 1485, concluding the Wars of the Roses, all five monarchs of the Tudor dynasty grappled with crises of legitimacy and succession. Beginning with a spectacular group of Italian bronze sculptures (reunited here for the first time since the 17th century) from a never-completed tomb for Henry VIII, the exhibition’s first section, “Inventing a Dynasty,” shows how the Tudors devoted vast resources to crafting a public image as divinely ordained sovereigns, shoring up their tenuous claim to the throne.
A series of portraits will introduce visitors to the five Tudor monarchs; included here are the exceptional loans of Hans Holbein the Younger’s portrait of Henry VIII from the Museo Nacional Thyssen Bornemisza in Madrid and the “Sieve Portrait” of Elizabeth I by Quentin Metsys the Younger from the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena.
The next section, “Splendor” evokes the ornately layered interiors of Tudor palaces, filled with figurative plasterwork, tapestries, metalwork, and the lavishly dressed bodies of the courtiers themselves. As monarchs traveled between residences, portable furnishings transported their magnificence with them. Tapestries woven in richly dyed wools, silks, and metal-wrapped threads enveloped rooms. Private chapels offered devotional manuscripts and images. Games, music, and athletic tournaments provided opportunities for ostentatious displays.
This section highlights the Tudor monarchs’ taste for luxurious imports from the continent, but also the work of local artists and newly arrived Flemish and French immigrants. Examples include Henry VIII’s personal book of psalms (British Library), featuring handwritten annotations by the king himself; a rare French-made “Sea-Dog” Table with Italian marble inlay (National Trust, Hardwick Hall, The Devonshire Collection); and a dazzling London-made rock crystal vase mounted in gold with the devices of Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon (Museo delle Cappelle Medicee, on permanent loan to the Tesoro di San Lorenzo, Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence).
“Public and Private Faces” spotlights the dominance of portraiture in Tudor painting and the transformative impact that Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497–1543) had on the genre. In 16th-century England, portraits recorded status, lineage, piety, and political affiliation, as well as physical appearance. They allowed for physically distant relatives to keep in touch, or for royals to gauge the attractiveness and health of potential future spouses.
The emergence of the portrait miniature, intended to be held in the hand or worn on the body, heightened the association between portraiture and intimacy and portraiture’s role in bridging geographic separation. Highlights of this section include Holbein’s portrait of the royal falconer Robert Cheseman, on loan from the Mauritshuis, along with a group of the artist’s portrait drawings in the collection of HM Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.
Also featured is Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger’s elegant portrait of the Welsh aristocrat Ellen Maurice (recently acquired and conserved by The Met), and an unknown English artist’s portrait of the Moroccan ambassador, whose six-month stay at the English court was the subject of intense fascination (from the University of Birmingham).
“Languages of Ornament” illuminates how Tudor arts combined the classical, the natural, and the neo-medieval, forming a uniquely English Renaissance aesthetic. Like other elites of Renaissance Europe, the Tudors were interested in the artistic legacy of ancient Greece and Rome, as seen in the classical whimsy of “The Apotheosis of Henry VIII,” a drawing on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
In the decorative arts of 16th-century England, however, this classical tradition was also often blended with a new taste for motifs from the natural world. They drew upon both longstanding conventions of floral symbolism as well as a new fascination with untamed wilderness as a place of liberation. Meticulously woven vines of Tudor and Lancastrian roses, for example, decorate a velvet cope from a lavish suite of vestments commissioned by Henry VII, on loan from the British Jesuit Province.
Additionally, elaborate court performances and choreographed tournaments revealed a nostalgia for the Middle Ages—nodding to the Tudors’ shrewd appropriation of King Arthur as a legendary ancestor. Interlacing geometric straps evoking Celtic knotwork and Anglo-Saxon manuscripts flourished in patterning on everything from armor to textiles, like the boldly colored Luttrell Table Carpet from the Burrell Collection in Glasgow.
The exhibition culminates with “Allegories and Icons,” a collection of striking depictions of Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, including the celebrated “Ditchley” and “Rainbow” portraits, on loan from the National Portrait Gallery (London) and the Marquess of Salisbury, respectively.
Facing enormous pressure as an unmarried female ruler, the queen exerted tight control over her image. Her carefully vetted portraitists drew upon the elaborate allegories devised by court poets to pay tribute to the queen and her immense powers. As the Protestant Reformation had brought about the destruction or removal of religious images from English churches, most artists focused on investing the monarch—as newly proclaimed head of the church—with an enchanted and sacred authority. At the same time, printmakers created mass-produced images that celebrated Elizabeth as a protector of the Protestant cause.
The exhibition concludes with a portrait, from The Met collection, of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, a dynamic depiction of the Stuart dynasty that came to the throne after Elizabeth’s death in 1603, ushering in a new age of artistic styles.
The exhibition is made possible by Alice Cary Brown and W.L. Lyons Brown, Frank Richardson and Kimba Wood, Barbara A. Wolfe, the Diane Carol Brandt Fund, The Coby Foundation, Ltd., The Klesch Collection, Ann M. Spruill and Daniel H. Cantwell, and Sharon Wee and Tracy Fu. It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cleveland Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
For more details, please visit MetMuseum.org.
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter
> Subscribe to Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, so you never miss an issue
What is the most interesting thing you have painted/sculpted and why?
Laura Pollak: Laura Pollak is an internationally acclaimed Pastel Artist winning top awards and is represented in numerous venues, including Galleries and Museums across the nation. Most recently her work has been curated into the Hilbert Museum in Southern California and shown in the VEFA GALLERY also in California. Pollak’s landscapes inform her abstract paintings, that are in the genre of Abstract Realism. This last year she has become enthralled with embedding gem stones into her paintings, creating a glistening, translucent sense of space. Laura’s unique paintings have an ethereal glow, where the source of light emanates from within the painting like a flame.
“Creating art is only part of the process. Like a dialogue between friends, art must be shared and seen in order to close the circle and convey the idea. I invite you to join me on this journey of discovery.”
To see more of Laura’s work, visit:
www.laurapollak.com
The Old Master, British & European Paintings auction started with several collections of over 70 portrait miniatures, of which only three failed to sell during the recent Bellmans auction. They sold to both trade and private collectors. (Read “It’s Autumn Auction Season at Bellmans.”)
More from the organizers:
Top lot was rather unsurprisingly the portrait miniature of General Powney but John Smart (British, 1741-1811) which sold above low estimate for £3,500 (£4,424), while another one by the same artist of Mrs. Shippey of Sloane Street, Knightsbridge from 1784 sold for three times its low estimate at £3,000 (£3,792). A stunning portrait of a young Philip Button Esq. of Gifford, Essex by William Wood (British, 1769-1810) attracted much attention and sold online for £3,200 (£4,044) against an estimate of£1,500 – £2,500.
The real bidding war, however, was fought over two oval portraits of Colonel Arent DePeyster (1736-1822) and his wife Rebecca DePeyster (nee Blair, died 1827).
The portraits had been found by Bellmans in a cupboard in a house clearance in South London and catalogued as late 18th/early 19th Century English School with an estimate of £150 – £250. While DePeyster, the American-born British colonial military officer best known for his term as commandant of the British-controlled Fort Michilimackinac and Fort Detroit during the American Revolution, has been largely forgotten in the UK, he clearly still has his place in the US. Strong bidding between two US bidders meant that the relatively conservative commission bids were soon out and the bidding continued online and on the phone, the online bidder finally succeeded when the hammer came down at £38,000 (£48,032).
Just over a month short of the 200th anniversary of Arent DePeyster’s death, Bellmans is thrilled to hear that the portraits will return to the US, where following the capture of Lieutenant-Governor General Henry Hamilton, DePeyster is often credited as being the military leader of the British and Native American forces in the Western American and Canadian frontiers. The DePeysters actually moved to Dumfries after he retired in 1794, but when the United Kingdom was threatened by Napoleon, he became actively involved with the militia again, which included the prominent Scottish poet Robert Burns, who dedicated his poem on “Life” to him.
The second highest lot was part of the Shakenhurst Hall Collection – an impressive landscape with figures on horseback by a lake that has to be assumed to be by a follower of Richard Wilson. As such it was estimated at £800 – £1,200 and sold for £9,500 (£12,008).
Julian Dineen, head of pictures at Bellmans, said: “We were delighted with the sale which included some outstanding results, with competitive bidding coming from across the UK, Europe, and further afield. We look forward to following this up with what is sure to be a fantastic Modern British and 20th Century Art Sale on 15th November.”
90% of the auction sold with most lots achieving prices above expectations. With £225,000 it is one of the best totals of a Bellmans picture auction in recent years.
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter
> Subscribe to Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, so you never miss an issue
We’d like to congratulate Kimball Geisler for winning Overall First Place in the August 2022 PleinAir Salon, judged by Lori Putnam, 10th Annual PleinAir Salon Grand Prize winner.
“There was never any question that this piece was worthy of the top-most award,” Lori said. “Besides being immediately breathtaking, it has everything that all of us work to achieve: impeccable design, beautiful color harmony, and the drawing and edges are flawlessly executed. I am drawn in, right there, then travel about throughout the entire painting. I can feel the mist, and the power of the rushing water is so strong, that I want to step back from the edge to safety. Masterfully done.”
In the spirit of the French Salon created by the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, this annual online art competition, with 11 monthly cycles, leading to the annual Salon Grand Prize winners, is designed to stimulate artistic growth through competition. The competition rewards artists with over $33,000 in cash prizes and exposure of their work, with the winning painting featured on the cover of PleinAir Magazine.
Winners in each monthly competition may receive recognition and exposure through PleinAir Magazine’s print magazine, e-newsletters, websites, and social media. Winners of each competition will also be entered into the annual competition. The 12th Annual Awards will be presented live at the Plein Air Convention & Expo in May 2023.
The next round of the PleinAir Salon has begun so hurry, as this competition ends on the last day of the month. Enter your best art in the PleinAir Salon here.
.
Van Gogh Paintings On View: “Van Gogh in America”
Detroit Institute of Art (DIA), Michigan
Through January 22, 2023
“Van Gogh in America” celebrates the DIA’s status as the first public museum in the United States to purchase a painting by Vincent van Gogh, his “Self-Portrait” (1887). On the 100th anniversary of its acquisition, experience 74 authentic Van Gogh works from around the world and discover the fascinating story of America’s introduction to this iconic artist, in an exhibition only at the DIA.
A full-length, illustrated catalogue with essays by the exhibition curator and Van Gogh scholars will accompany the exhibition. The Detroit Institute of Arts is the exclusive venue for this exhibition.
The exhibition will explore the considerable efforts made by early promoters of modernism in the United States—including dealers, collectors, private art organizations, public institutions, and the artist’s family—to introduce the artist, his biography, and his artistic production into the American consciousness.
For more Van Gogh paintings and details on the exhibition: dia.org
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter
> Subscribe to Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, so you never miss an issue
