Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2017 i American Art Collector

In preparing this October issue for press, we realized it was number 144. 12 issues. 12 years. And while we typically don’t bring to light our accomplishments or pat ourselves on the back, this one feels kind of special. There is something perfect in that number. And thinking upon it brings us back to the first issue of this magazine 12 years ago. As many of you know, I’ve been the Editor of this magazine since day one. I still remember my publisher, Vincent Miller, telling me on that first day that American Art Collector would bring artists, galleries and collectors together in a way that had never been done before. Fortunately, that is still the case. 12 years, 144 magazines later. As you know, of all the feedback we…

I first saw Ben Aronson’s cityscapes in an exhibition at Jenkins Johnson Gallery in 2004. The following year I displayed three 12-by-12-inch scenes of San Francisco next to one another in my last Re-presenting Representation exhibition at the Arnot Art Museum. At the opening and throughout the run of the exhibition I would observe artists gathered together, or alone, standing in front of his paintings. They marveled at his observational skills, his faithfulness to the subject and, at the same time, his abstraction of it. Prone to making pronouncements, I called Karen Jenkins Johnson and said, “Ben Aronson is a painter’s painter!” Prone to pigeonholing, I placed him neatly in a little box as a cityscape painter who also paints floral still lifes. But then he started painting figures—figures moving…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / LOS ANGELES, CA October 14-28, 2017 Maxwell Alexander Gallery Los Angeles, CA (310) 839-9242 | www.maxwellalexandergallery.com The paintings of Joseph Todorovitch are wrought with beauty of the human figure, striking compositions and a strong understanding of techniques and tools. They are pieces that reach beyond a narrative to the artist’s fascination with creating. Todorovitch finds the act of painting to be ceremonial or ritualistic, with this being reflected in some of his artwork such as Rain Maker and Guardian where the women are adorned with crowns of eucalyptus leaves. “The ceremonial works have a sense of ‘ritual’ that is somewhat absent in my life other than during the process of their creation. They manifest from my feelings about the ‘act of creating things’ that are important…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / GREENVILLE, DE October 19-November 11, 2017 Somerville Manning Gallery Breck’s Mill, 2nd Floor | 101 Stone Block Row | Greenville, DE 19807 (302) 652-0271 | www.somervillemanning.com Silver julep cups have a long tradition in the South. They hold bourbon, mint, sugar and ice at Kentucky Derby time, flowers or pencils at other times and, when engraved with a special inscription, they hold memories. A student of Jon Redmond’s gave him a pair because she thought he would like to paint them. Redmond says, “I keep going back to that cup. It’s such a wonderful thing to paint and always looks a little different. I usually pair it up with a natural thing to juxtapose the polished, machined surface with an organic object. They relate in an…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / CHICAGO, IL October 5-29, 2017 Lotton Gallery 900 N. Michigan Avenue, Level 6 | Chicago, IL 60611 (312) 664-6203 | www.lottongallery.com Italian artist Gianni Strino has always focused his artwork on feminine beauty. While many of his paintings are done in a contemporary portrait style, his newest series features women in environments. “The female figure is, for me, the sum of all the beauties,” says Strino. Among his latest pieces is Daylight, which depicts a blonde woman laying stomach-down in grass wearing a sunhat. The light and shadow that moves across the scene was the inspiration for the painting. Strino elaborates that the “loud and strong light tries to model itself after the figure.” When Strino is developing the ideas for his compositions, he will take…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / BRIDGEHAMPTON, NY October 7-30, 2017 RJD Gallery 2385 Main Street | Bridgehampton, NY 11932 631) 725-1161 | www.rjdgallery.com For the past four years, RJD Gallery in Bridgehampton, New York, has hosted its own Women Painting Women exhibition featuring distinct talents of female painters. October 7 through 30, the gallery will present its fifth iteration, A Voice with Vision. “Each year we embrace the opportunity to discover female artists and present a cumulative vision of the female voice through art. It is essential to continue to strive for equality in a male-dominated industry,” says Eve Gianni Corio, the gallery’s director. “These artists are recording and glorifying the women of today, in an effort to inspire and create the dialogue which will change tomorrow. We hope that readers…

NATIONAL OIL & ACRYLIC PAINTERS’ SOCIETY BEST OF AMERICA When: October 16-November 11, 2017; October 20, 5-9 p.m., opening reception Where: Castle Gallery Fine Art, 1202, W. Wayne Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Information: www.noaps.org This October, the National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society will host its 27th annual Best of America exhibition, featuring 125 paintings by some of the leading artists in these dynamic mediums. The show, which received more than 700 entries, will be on view at Castle Gallery Fine Art in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from October 16 through November 11. An opening reception will take place at the gallery on October 20 from 5 to 9 p.m., with hors d’oeuvres and wine, and culminates with the awards presentation. NOAPS Master Artist Jason Sacran, who often works in…

AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTS’ MASTER AND SIGNATURE MEMBERS SHOW AND NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION When: October 13-December 3, 2017; November 3, 5:30-8 p.m., artists’ reception and award ceremony Where: Tucson Desert Art Museum, 7000 E. Tanque Verde Road, Tucson, AZ 85715 Information: www.americanwomenartists.org In 1990, the American Women Artists held its inaugural exhibition with the sculptures and paintings of female artists on display in a museum setting. Since that time, the group has continued to grow its mission of bringing women artists to the attention of the art world. This year, the group’s annual Master and Signature Members Show and National Juried Exhibition, held October 13 through December 3 at the Tucson Desert Art Museum in Tucson, Arizona, will serve as the kick o. to its new 25 in 25 initiative. This…

Jordan Sokol is academic director of the U.S. branch of the Florence Academy of Art (FAA) located in the Mana Contemporary Art Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. The former tobacco warehouse is a far cry from the environment of the FAA in Florence, Italy, where he studied and taught for 10 years. “Florence is incredible,” he says. “There’s art and architecture around every corner. You absorb it by osmosis. Just walking to the studio you feel inspired, and it comes through in the work that you do. Mana is next to New York City and is a whole other world. There’s a lot of stu. going on that is inspiring in a di. erent way. Here it’s challenging seeing so many diverse types of art. You’re seeing the different…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / NEW YORK, NY Through September 30, 2017 George Billis Gallery 525 W. 26th Street, Ground Floor | New York, NY 10001 (212) 645-2621 | www.georgebillis.com Paul Schulenburg thinks of his paintings as a visual journal—they are documentation of the people and places that he interacts with on a day to day basis. They portray a narrative, but often leave things unsaid, and Schulenburg references the Edward Hopper quote, “If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” Schulenburg’s work will be on view at George Billis Gallery in New York through September 30. A recurring theme in this series is the effect of sunlight on the city landscape. In Along Broome Street, the sunlight glows on the upper floors of the…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / SAN FRANCISCO, CA October 5-31, 2017 Caldwell Snyder Gallery 341 Sutter Street | San Francisco, CA 94108 (415) 392-2299 | www.caldwellsnyder.com Siddharth Parasnis received his MFA in painting at Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California, where he also taught in the graduate program for four years. Northern California has been fertile ground for his imagination and his skill. From the colorful spice markets of his native India and the bright patterns of women’s saris, to the colors and patterns in the markets and crafts of Central America, his awareness and his memories of the world around him finds expression in his work. “The experiences of color in my life are both conscious and subconscious,” he says. “I’m drawn to places where the population is dense,…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / CHARLESTON, SC October 6-30, 2017 Robert Lange Studios 2 Queen Street | Charleston, SC 29401 (843) 805-8052 | www.robertlangestudios.com “Both Robert and Michelle tend to connect deeply with optimists. Their work is an emblem for the glass is half full type of person.” — Curry Ernst, gallery director, Robert Lange Studios Optimism is key in The Calling, a new two-artist show from Robert Lange and Michelle Jader at Robert Lange Studios. Paintings from both artists feature figures in motion, rousing themselves to new, positive circumstances. “There is a calling that comes from within. It may be a whisper for some or a shout for others. This calling asks us to live an authentic life. A life filled with purpose, love, joy and prosperity. My hope is to…

PASTEL SOCIETY OF NEW MEXICO SIGNATURE SHOW When: October 7-November 4, 2017; October 7, 2-4 p.m., opening reception Where: Los Lunas Museum of Heritage & Arts, 251 Main Street SE, Los Lunas, NM 87031 Information: www.pastelsnm.org In 1989 the Pastel Society of New Mexico was founded by a group of artists from the state looking for support and a gathering place for creatives working in pastel. Since its inception, hundreds of artists from across the state and beyond have joined the group. Today the organization boasts 77 Signature members and 11 Distinguished Pastelists that all earned their designation through a points system by being accepted into and receiving prizes at its annual National Show. To spotlight the artists who have received these membership statuses, the group holds the Pastel Society…

In February 1998, four Florida artists—Charlotte M. Dickinson, Marjorie I. Bradley, Pauline S. Ney and William Schultz—founded the American Impressionist Society. Over the years the group has become a respected national art organization, with membership open to all impressionists in the United States and U.S. citizens working abroad, as well as for anyone who enjoys and appreciates the style. The group offers learning and exhibition opportunities to its members, including paint outs, demos and seminars and discounted tuition on AIS sponsored workshops. Although there is a common thread of impressionism, the artists of the group paint a number of subject matters and have their own styles. Associate member Janet Grissom, for instance, paints works inspired by her life experiences, such as Village d’arbres that came about after seeing a group…

ToBeAnnounced EDITOR’S NOTE: Sarah will scour the country for the best and brightest emerging artists on the scene and then interview them about their work. Sarah has a wonderful eye, and I'm sure you will enjoy what she is able to discover. Artists, if you want your work considered, hashtag all your social media posts #tobeannounced #americanartcollector. NOWHERE & EVERYWHERE We’re all familiar with the legendary music of Tom Waits, so it should come as no surprise that there are other exceptionally talented people in the Waits family. Daughter Kellesimone Waits’ paintings first caught my attention several years ago when a friend was showing me her humble art collection. I was instantly pulled into the painting—examining the diminutive details on and surrounding this sexy, bikini wearing, half-human half-kitty figure. At…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / CHICAGO, IL On view now Galerie Fledermaus 2136 W. North Avenue | Chicago, IL 60622 (312) 617-8711 | www.galeriefledermaus.com Painters no doubt log many hours at the easel with a paintbrush in hand on behalf of their work. For Chicagobased painter Jason McPhillips, he’s also spending nearly as much time with the pen as he is with the paintbrush. “Part of my process is journaling through my ideas. To just sit down and put everything together to help me through my methods and to help process what I’ve been through,” he says. “A big part of what I’m trying to do is invite people to think about the deep history of mankind, from the most important discoveries in science to the ancient ways people would deal…

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / COLORADO SPRINGS, CO October 7-14, 2017 West Wind Fine Art 5520 Sky Meadow Drive | Colorado Springs, CO 80924 (508) 566-9463 | www.westwindfineart.com Messengers of Joy, a new group exhibition at West Wind Fine Art, opens October 7 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The show will feature new paintings from gallery artists Kathy Anderson, Daniel J. Keys, Nancy Guzik and Richard Schmid, as well as bronzes from painter and sculptor George Carlson. In addition to invited guests such as Scott Burdick, Susan Lyon, Stephanie Birdsall, Michelle Dunaway and Sean Jefferson, Messengers of Joy will also highlight oil and conte works by Timothy R. Thies, the late husband of gallery owner Kristen Thies. More than 25 works will be available, including Carlson’s bronze Woodland Nymph, Keys’ still life…

Cindy Sorley-Keichinger Cindy Sorley-Keichinger grew up on a farm in East Central Alberta, Canada, where her parents encouraged an interest in the world around her. She now lives on a grain farm in the Lloydminster, Alberta, area with her husband of 36 years. She has no formal art training, but has been taught by wildlife artists such as Bateman, Seerey-Lester, Brenders, Daniel Smith, Terry Isaac and Guy Combes. Sorley-Keichinger draws her inspiration from the natural world around her, which she finds to be a constant delight. She never grows bored with nature, as it is an ever-changing subject. Her approach to painting is to be as accurate to form and habitat as possible. She likes to have punch to her colors, which she gets using acrylic, gouache or oil paint.…