Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i American Art Collector

Welcome to the February issue of American Art Collector! This issue is very special because we bring you our Art Lover’s Guides for the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the country all in one beautiful place. That’s right—you’ll find both our Art Lover’s Guide to California and our Art Lover’s Guide to Florida inside the February issue. We have not done this before and we would love your feedback after you peruse this issue. Both California and Florida are beach states and artists have been inspired by their natural beauty, vibrancy and light across genres and mediums, for centuries. Our Art Lover’s Guides are designed to cultivate a desire to travel by showing you not only great galleries, museums and artists but also where to go, where to stay, the…

Dallas-based artist Hugh Hayden has made a name for himself in the art world through his dream-like sculptures inspired by regional craft-based furniture and objects. Currently on view through June 1, the Rose Art Museum presents Hugh Hayden: Home Work, showcasing Hayden’s substantial body of work over the last decade. “Home Work focuses on the artist’s exploration of the ‘American Dream,’ its pathways and architecture,” says Hayden. “All of my work is about the American dream, whether it’s a table that’s hard to sit at or a thorny school desk. It’s a dream that is seductive but difficult to inhabit.”…

In Angela Gram’s visions, mutation distorts the limits of conventional ecological stability, and unusual new orientations challenge the old order, birthing hybrid creatures with strange shapes and stories, emerging in discomfort as alien and unfamiliar forms. Nature is awry. “As a society we impose our own narrative onto what animals are, and it’s really distorted and strange,” she says, so she cuts a unique path through mysteries and monsters, painting genetically-altered animals entangled with wrecked war machines. She paints images mirroring the conflict between technology and nature, creating modern mutations seemingly inspired by the threats of uncontrolled DNA manipulation and sci-fi fantasies about nuclear disasters. But in her art, the living fusions of the future meet the creatures of medieval mythology and classical metamorphoses, which are equally as weird as…

Subscribe today to get the best contemporary American art magazine in the country, and the only monthly magazine that highlights the top artists, galleries, museums and fairs throughout the art market. Need proof? The proof is in your hands. Flip through this stunning issue to find the most thorough coverage of the contemporary realism genre through: » Previews of all the biggest gallery shows, art events and sales. » Destination guides for the hottest art markets. » Special genre sections to expand your collecting power. » 12 issues a year, each one presenting work from the top artists and the rising newcomers… and everyone in between! Join our huge community of subscribers who have chosen American Art Collector as their go-to trusted source for everything they need to know about…

Albert Ernest “A.E.” Backus (1906-1990) was a prominent Florida landscape artist known not only for his creative legacy but for his altruistic spirit and fostering the arts in his community, regardless of class and race. Upon his return from World War II, he purchased a home in Fort Pierce, Florida, where he established a studio, and cultivated a bohemian, salon-style environment where all were welcome. Despite the punishing segregation laws of Jim Crow era South, in 1955, he took the 19-year-old African American artist Harold Newton under his wing, and encouraged him to paint landscapes instead of religious scenes. At the time, galleries in South Florida did not represent Black artists, so Newton took to selling his paintings out of the trunk of his car. The following year, 14-year-old Alfred…

Inspired by the natural world and influenced by Georgia O’Keeffe, artist Alex Sax presents new work exploring her fascination with the flora and fauna found along the woodlands and coastline of her home in Maine. For her upcoming show, Finding Color, Sax features close to 20 mixed media drawings. As the title suggests, the artist discovers a burgeoning interest in color, after a decade of only creating in black and white. “My aim was to capture the beauty of the flowers without color,” explains Sax of her early years of making small, close up and detailed black ink drawings. “The drawings were made of layers and layers of lines, [where] the images were pushed and pulled into existence. And through this process, I aimed to create works that had the…

When Christie Younger finally heeded the inner voice urging her to “just paint,” she found her attempts to work in a traditional style restrictive and confining. One day, so frustrated by the process, she put down her brushes and grabbed a cake spatula from the kitchen—and created her first painting using solely that tool. Since then her work has evolved into a distinctive, almost sculptural, impasto style that that she applies to florals, still lifes, landscapes and abstracts. Her palette knife oils also incorporate traditional brushwork, charcoal and the detractive technique of sgraffito, creating what she calls her “scribbles and scrapes.” These added elements are meant to reveal the entire creative process, with the originating thought or idea that took the form of a sketch on the canvas peeking through…

One beautiful afternoon at the pool in 2011, Michele Poirier Mozzone was struck by the effects of the ribbons of sunlight on her daughter through the moving water. “I was also keenly aware of catching this lovely, brief moment with her before it flickered by,” says the artist. “I grabbed the camera and took numerous photos in hopes of finding inspiration for a new painting.” That was the beginning of her Fractured Light series, a subject that still excites and fascinates Poirier Mozzone to this day. “I am inspired to capture the unique feelings and distinct associations of the body suspended in water and time,” she says. “This series allows me to paint what I love—the figure—while exploring areas of fluid abstraction that exist naturally in turbulent, sunlight-drenched water. As…

I don’t know about you, but by January 2 I am ready for the holidays to be behind us so we can turn our full attention to the excitement of the year ahead. Now that it’s February, I feel like we’re finally regaining the momentum we lose at the end of every year—and it’s only going to build from here. We may be in the heart of winter, but in the art world things are already heating up, and nowhere is it more clear than in the February issue. Galleries have their 2025 shows dialed in (if you haven’t already, send me your exhibition schedules so we can cover them in the magazine!), and we remain committed to bringing you the freshest contemporary realism on the market. You get to…

Kristin Anchors is an emergency medicine doctor in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before medical school she studied life sciences and philosophy. The scientific advances that underlie her medical practice have also occasioned a split among body, mind and spirit, their historic unity and crucial interconnectedness. She is also an analog collage artist, intricately cutting and combining images from outdated textbooks to illustrate the interconnectedness of all things and reuniting her own body, mind and spirit that had become disconnected during the long hours and years of residency and hospital practice. It also brought back the art practice of her childhood. She wondered how she might repurpose the textbooks and began cutting and combining images onto blank pages torn from her childhood drawing pads. I first saw her work in an…

The state of California has a deeply rooted history within fine art. Many of the most prominent names in American art called the Golden State home or spent large swaths of their lives there, capturing the state’s far-reaching beauty. California has some of the most gorgeous natural areas in the country, from crystal beaches and coastal mountain ranges to stunning national parks like Yosemite and Redwood. One of the biggest art movements to emerge from the state was California impressionism, in which revered 20th-century artists like Edgar Alwin Payne, Granville Redmond, Anna Althea Hills and John Marshall Gamble painted outdoor scenes in plein air. These artists and many others immersed themselves directly in the nature they depicted, creating a unique interpretation of the West Coast that grew into its own…

Malcolm Liepke has decades of painting experience, emerging from a career in illustration in the 1980s to become a fine artist whose distinct style is often emulated but never matched. Collected at a high level, you can spot a Liepke from across the room. There is no mistaking his dynamic, buttery brushstrokes, his bold—one might say fearless—use of color, and the intensity his figures exude, whether in a moment of tranquility or engaging the viewer with a penetrating gaze. Liepke’s work is deeply informed by the master figurative painters of the 19th century, notably John Singer Sargent, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Diego Velázquez and James McNeill Whistler, and has assimilated elements of each artist’s particular genius into his own paintings, while making them completely his own. “I connect to…

Ben Steele likes crayons. His mentor and friend, fellow artist David Dornan, told him, among many other things, “Paint things you like.” “I like crayons,” he realized, “and they’re colorful. Nearly everybody did art as a kid, and they relate to crayons and mark making. So, I did still lifes of crayons.” His work appears in monumental boxes on canvases that are sometimes 6 by 4 feet. “Anything over about 5 by 5 feet becomes awkward to move around,” he admits. The crayon boxes take on references to other artists from art history and, often, the cities where they would be first exhibited. A box of “Isabella Stewart Gardner Drawing Crayons” dwarfs John Singer Sargent’s El Jaleo at the Gardner Museum in Boston. Painted for his exhibition at Altamira Fine…

Like many others, Taos, New Mexico-based painter Jivan Lee is captivated by the mysticism of the Southwest. “I love the area in which I live,” he says, “and there is a 15-year history for me in heading out into the landscape here to paint. Taos is special because it’s an interface between semi-arid steppe and high alpine—between vast Western spaces and intimate forests. It’s a place where I can go 20 minutes in any direction and end up in a completely novel microclimate. So there is a wonderful variety available here.” More than anything, however, Lee is inspired by humanity’s unique relationship with the land. “For me, the magic is in what arises anywhere that we feel called to be, or from any moment we feel called to engage. And…

Returning to the historic village of Tubac, Arizona, and considered a timeless celebration of art, culture and community, is Tubac Festival of the Arts. The 2025 event features 200 artists displaying various mediums of art and crafts throughout the town—along scenic roadways, in local plazas, and more than 125 art galleries, boutiques, specialty shops and restaurants. “The result is an immersive artistic environment, making Tubac one of Arizona’s most captivating cultural destinations,” says festival director Candy Vermillion. “Since its debut in 1959, the Tubac Festival of the Arts has become a cherished tradition in the historic village of Tubac. As Southern Arizona’s longest-running art festival, it has earned its reputation as a premier cultural event, ranked among the top art festivals in the country.” Participating artists this year include David…

This spring, the Andy Warhol Museum will present an exhibition focused on the iconic artist’s screenprints. “Andy Warhol embraced mechanical processes early in his career and found in screenprinting the perfect vehicle for image repetition, both for his works on canvas and for portfolios of prints on paper. Through collaborations with his studio assistants and established print publishers, Warhol generated nearly 20,000 prints throughout his career. Screenprinting techniques allowed Warhol to create series of images in an assortment of color variations, resulting in one of his most recognizable signatures,” the museum notes. Good Business: Andy Warhol’s Screenprints will be on view May 23 to September 1.…

Recently, Pavel Sokov has been in Bahrain working on a series of commissioned paintings relating to the country’s history. Over the past few years, Sokov has completed six paintings for the Bahrain royal family, including this portrait of Shaikh Salman ll bin Hamad Al-Khalifa. “In 2020, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, son of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister approached me to paint a wedding portrait,” Sokov explains. “This was done to his highness’ satisfaction which caused him to trust me with a very important series he had in mind. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa wanted me to paint the entire history of Bahrain’s rulers, from Shaikh Isa bin Ali (1848),…

Over 800 artists competed for this year’s iteration of the Bennett Prize—the $50,000 biennial award for women painters of figurative realism. An all-female jury was tasked with whittling down the applicants to 10 finalists who met the criteria of technical skill, and the ability to make a statement or evoke emotion. The honors went to Olivia Chigas, Nimah Gobir, Ambrin Ling, Jane Philips, Audrey Rodriguez, Abbey Rosko, Nicole M. Santiago, Amy Werntz, Helena Wurzel and Rei Xiao. Established by art collectors Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt in 2018, and now in its fourth cycle, the prize is designed to propel the careers of women artists and help them reach their full creative potential. “As in the prior three cycles, we’ve been very fortunate to have a diverse…

In Phillip Thomas’ new show at RJD Gallery, Currents: Threads of Black History, the artist explores faces from the past, and how those faces have moved through history. “I started working on these small portraits in groups as opposed to individual subjects. I’m thinking of them in a similar way to the structure of a family tree, as interlocking in some way,” Thomas says. “These are not necessarily specific people. Many of them are invented and contextualized in different periods. Many of the portraits could be from the 19th century based on dress, or as current as today. I’m using these figures as representatives of an idea as opposed to simply posing figures or models. In this way, I don’t really consider them as mere portraits.” Among the grouping of…

Tony De Luz’s paintings call back to the past, when neon signs would shine down on road-weary motorists traveling on Route 66. Other subjects include old train engines and classic cars from the mid-20th century. “Some people call it nostalgia, and others might call it Americana. These things are like comfort food for your soul. Seeing old things and remembering when you were younger and life was simpler, that’s what it’s all about. Life was less complicated,” De Luz says. “I didn’t grow up with all these things, but plenty of people did and these images allow them to think about the past.” Remnants of the past, and how they look today, are everywhere in his work, which ties directly into De Luz’s own, and still ongoing, history as an…

Figures, portraits, still lifes…artist Kathy Coe is a talented painter of them all, but an upcoming show at George Billis Gallery will showcase her small-scale teacup paintings, a subject that has been part of her repertoire for roughly 20 years. She was surprised to find that her teacup paintings also had the story element that had drawn her to portraiture early on. They also allowed her to paint solely from life, which she prefers. People responded to the small works, sharing their own stories about their favorite cups and loaning them to her to paint. She even received commissions. One of the most significant commissions of her career came from the late, media personality Joan Rivers. People Magazine had enlisted Coe to paint a portrait of one of Rivers’ (many)…

More than 150 works of art in oil, watercolor, pastel, gouache and acrylic will be featured during the American Impressionist Society’s 9th annual AIS Impressions Small Works Showcase at Fallbrook Art Center in sunny Fallbrook, California. Works in the show were selected by a five-member jury in a blind process; also included as part of the event is an additional 20 paintings from AIS Masters, board members, officers and founders. “AIS is pleased to present our annual event in southern California near the mountains and vineyards,” says executive director Liz Ahrens. The show opens February 14 and runs through March 29. Opening week events, which begin on February 11, include the always anticipated Paint Out, which features more than 50 artists painting in plein air throughout the region. “Their paintings…

City Lights McDermott was the Grand Prize Winner in International Artist magazine’s Challenge No. 143, Cityscapes. “It is better to paint for one minute a day than to think about it for 24 hours a day,” says Canadian artist Andrew McDermott. “One learns more in that one minute of painting than in thinking about it for 24 hours.” The Vancouver-based painter wanders city streets, soaking up the inspiration around him in the people, places and architecture he observes. He’s been painting urban scenes for years, particularly rainy evening and night scenes, which lend a signature shiny glow to his paintings. “I love color and clashing with low-key hues against moments of vibrancy,” says the artist, who works in both pastel and acrylic. “I also love layering over bright colors and…