Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2025/No.235 i American Art Collector

Welcome to the May issue of American Art Collector! Each month we highlight a destination and this month we bring you our Art Lovers Guide to Santa Fe. Santa Fe is just brimming with art. In fact, there are 200-plus galleries in the City Different and many more statewide. You can feel the presence of art everywhere in the Land of Enchantment. Our team is in Santa Fe multiple times a year because there is so much going on there in the art world. The state’s best of the best galleries for contemporary realism are inside these pages, waiting for you to discover, starting on Page 60. We have suggestions for everything to do in the area and if you have questions, email or call us—we’d be happy to provide…

Through June 1 Micah Cash: Waffle House Vistas Georgia Museum of Art • Athens, GA www.georgiamuseum.org Through June 1 The Pastel Society of New Mexico: Enchanted Colors Millicent Rogers Museum • Taos, NM www.pastelsnm.com Through July 20 Blur/Obscure/Distort: Photography and Perception Norton Museum of Art • West Palm Beach, FL www.norton.org Through August 17 Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors Denver Art Museum • Denver, CO www.denverartmuseum.org Through September 7 Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei Seattle Art Museum • Seattle, WA www.seattleartmuseum.org Through September 14 The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture Smithsonian American Art Museum • Washington D.C. americanart.si.edu…

With 250 galleries, more than a dozen museums and back-to-back world-class events throughout the year, Santa Fe is the crown jewel of art and culture in the Southwest. One of the leading art markets in the country, the City Different boasts four arts district brimming with galleries, boutiques, restaurants and artist studios. More than 80 such businesses line the easily walkable half-mile strip along Historic Canyon Road, also home to seasonal festivals throughout the year where artists create and mingle with collectors in the open air. The area around Santa Fe’s historic Plaza is also home to quite a few galleries where you can find traditional painting and sculpture, as well as Native arts, art jewelry, pottery and photography. There are also several museums around the Plaza, including the New…

Vincent Giarrano started painting New York City scenes around 25 years ago. Although Giarrano was living in Connecticut by then, he found he needed the distance to tap into the city as a source of artistic inspiration. “Living in the city day after day, it changes how you relate to it and how you see,” says Giarrano, who spent a decade after college in New York. “It’s great I had those experiences but not living there day in and day out, you can really feel the energy, and get excited and inspired by it. It also allows you to see it objectively, which is really important for me.” A two-hour train ride away, Giarrano goes down to the city a couple times a month, sometimes alone but often with a…

For their forthcoming show at Blue Rain Gallery, Nature & Emotion: Sculpting the Elements, Painting the Light, painter Matthew Sievers and sculptor Bryce Pettit create quite the emotional journey for collectors. In addition, they celebrate movement, texture and light—“an homage to the wilderness and the wondrous,” says gallery marketing director, Leah Garcia. Pettit shares that both he and Sievers use texture to convey emotion. “Hard and sharp lines create excitement or drama, and smoother edges and transitions to evoke peace or quietude,” says Pettit. “My ongoing goal with my art is to make you feel something. I am continually striving to refine this ability and create the connections that make us human.” Sievers shares that, for his latest series of landscape paintings, he’s using many transparent layers to create atmosphere…

An exciting multi-faceted exhibition is on view at LeQuire Gallery in Nashville. Inside/Out features two of the gallery’s award-winning artists, Juliette Aristides and Lori Putnam, who work in different genres and different styles, but decided to exchange subjects and inspiration for this particular show. Aristides, known for her exquisitely-refined realism, focuses on figurative scenes typically set inside her slightly mysterious house. Putnam, known primarily as a landscape painter, creates loose and colorful works in plein air, as well as larger-scale studio pieces. Gallery director Elizabeth Cave notes, “While typically I wouldn’t pair different genres within the same exhibition, the subject matter—Aristides’ interiors and Putnam’s exteriors—are considered signature themes for each artist, and combining them was an intriguing thought.” The artists started the exhibition with their usual subjects in mind however,…

The winner of the fourth round of the T $50,000 biennial Bennett Prize (and the recipient of an additional $10,000 award) will be announced at Michigan’s newly-expanded Muskegon Museum of Art on May 15, coinciding with the opening of two related exhibitions. Rising Voices 4: The Bennett Prize for Women Figurative Realist Painters will feature approximately 30 paintings by the 2025 Bennett Prize finalists; and will be accompanied by a solo show of eight paintings by 2023 winner, Shiqing (Demo) Deng. The Bennett Prize was established by philanthropists and art collectors Steven Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt to propel the careers of women painters and to promote figurative realism. On an individual level, the funding often enables the recipient to devote more time to their craft. Titled Shiqing Deng:…

Each spring, leading professional artists, aspiring artists, art suppliers, collectors and enthusiasts all flock to the Art of the Portrait Conference, hosted by the Portrait Society of America. This year’s conference, which takes place in the Washington, D.C. area, has a schedule packed with workshops, demonstrations and compelling panel discussions with esteemed Portrait Society faculty members like Michelle Dunaway, Robert Liberace, Oliver Sin, Paul Newton, Ruth Fitton, Adrienne Stein, Shane Wolf, Rose Frantzen and many others. The Portrait Society recently celebrated its 27th anniversary in February. “Since its formation, I have served as the CEO, and I take immense pride in what we’ve accomplished and remain deeply committed to the enduring importance of portraiture,” says Christine Egnoski, executive director. “In a world dominated by digital photography, I believe the tradition…

Huntsville, TX • lindamood@lindamoodart.com • www.lindamoodart.com Texas-based graphite artist Patsy Lindamood expertly captures the T perspectives and architectural elements of the buildings and city scenes she depicts. For instance, take a look at her drawing Shadow Play, which illustrates a bottom-up view of a fire escape on a brick building. A signature member of the International Guild of Realism, American Artists Professional League, Allied Artists of America, American Plains Artists, Artists for Conservation and Society of Animal Artists, Lindamood’s drawings have garnered her numerous awards and have been juried into exhibitions across the United States and Canada. While the artist has an extensive oeuvre in wildlife art, Lindamood’s focus has evolved in recent years to a passion for various subjects—everything from streetscapes and apartment buildings to grain silos and abandoned…

Collectors admire James Swanson’s work for its loose, fresh feel. “Up close, my paintings may look like a jumble of colorful brushstrokes, but from a distance, they come into focus beautifully,” says Swanson. “This magical transformation has been my goal since I left my illustration career to escape the rigid product renderings that felt like work.” Painting freely is now Swanson’s passion, building on skills he has developed over the last 30 years. “My evolving style perfectly captures the joy of my swimming dogs,” he shares. “My Water Dog series is simply about me and my beloved dogs enjoying the water together. Bjorn, our English cream golden, loves fetching balls and sticks, always competing with our other golden, Fenrir. The phrase “paint what you know” really resonates with the artist.…

Hello artists, galleries, collectors, art fair and exhibition organizers, and all of you who read this magazine because you want to know what’s happening in the art world, or simply because you appreciate the visual arts and the stories of those who make it. Or maybe it’s more specific—someone you know is featured in this issue and, excited for them, you are reading our magazine for the very first time (welcome!). I’m sure there are other reasons for reading American Art Collector, but whatever led you to be holding this magazine in your hands, we hope it goes beyond satisfying your initial purpose. Our goal is to stimulate you visually and intellectually, and provide the practical information you need to plan art-rich adventures and experiences, and fill your calendars all…

Dozens of artists working in every medium imaginable will show off their creative processes during the ninth annual Canyon Road Spring Art Festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Galleries will present a wide variety of original works in oil, acrylic, watercolors, pastels, charcoal, pen and ink and graphite. Also on view are three-dimensional mixed media works, collages, photography, bronze and metal sculpture, wood working, ceramics, pottery, glass fusion and glass art, handcrafted art jewelry, leather works and more. The event takes place on historic Canyon Road, Saturday May 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.…

The soul of nature is present in the forest depths of Southern Oregon’s mountains and valleys, like a breathing being emerging from the stillness of the land. An overflowing and embracing essence that radiates life, like incense mingling with the scent and resinous weight of ponderosa pines in the breeze, and winding through the madrone groves that cut the forest with straight edges of bright bark in red oxide, and the glossy greens of their leaves. Black squirrels skitter and snatch nuts, blue streaks of stellar jays scream alarm, and gold-eyed deer stare in ruminant calm. Tall and slight, Micah Ofstedahl wanders these trees and winding trails and senses the land, the living energy of Gaia. This is neither the colonial land of Emerson or Thoreau, nor the arcadia of…

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This spring, William Baczek Fine Arts in Northampton, Massachusetts, will present a group show featuring works in oil by Julie Beck, Larry Preston and Scott Prior. Each artist is a master of realism in their own right, but they bring diverse perspectives and techniques to their paintings, demonstrating the power of oil painting to capture the world around us. The three artists each provide a unique take on realism, offering viewers a journey through the tangible and the intangible, the familiar and the mysterious. Prior has painted the everyday moments of New England for more than 50 years, and Provincetown, Massachusetts, in particular holds special meaning for him. “In 1969, I quit my job as a dishwasher in a restaurant and hung my watercolor paintings on a fence on Commercial…

On display at Lily Pad Gallery West are stimulating visuals brought to life by painter Yana Movchan. Her solo show, Expression & Enchantment, is a carefully curated collection that explores the interplay between memory, nature and imagination. In approximately 12 new pieces, the artist builds her whimsical world by combining lush textures, vibrant botanicals and a sense of movement. “Movchan transports us to a realm where hyper realistic figures intertwine with nature, creating powerful symbolic narratives,” says gallery owner Alan Perlstein. “Her meticulously-crafted works combine classical techniques with surrealistic elements, inviting reflection on themes of innocence and transformation. A graduate of the Ukrainian Art Academy, Yana has exhibited her award-winning art across Europe and Canada, now residing in Halifax.” For the show, the artist shares that she’s using old techniques…

Jeff Bye’s paintings of graffiti-tagged city streets, wrecked commercial buildings and abandoned docks ask viewers to reckon with the permanence of the places they visit. He paints locations that are sometimes 50 or 100 years old, and yet it’s entirely possible his paintings will outlive them as cities grow, renovate and demolish. Bye’s newest show Frayed Edges will open May 29 at Cove Street Arts in Portland, Maine. The Pennsylvania painter will be showing as many as 15 new works, all of them depicting areas of major cities that are past their prime and yet still being used, for better or worse. While past shows have featured the interiors of cities, including in New York City, the new show also has works that venture to the water. Two examples are…

Featuring small works by member artists from around the country and globe, the National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society (NOAPS) presents the 8th annual Best of America Small Works International Juried Exhibition. This year, the juried show, comprising 120 paintings of 320 square inches or less, will be hosted by Eisele Gallery in Cincinnati. “Cincinnati has a thriving, exciting art community and we wanted to take advantage of this beautiful city,” says NOAPS president Pat Tribastone. “We have had exhibitions all around the U.S., from the East Coast to Montana, Florida to Santa Fe! We love moving our shows around the country to provide our artists with exhibition opportunities and find collectors all over the country.” The National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society is a growing organization of about 1,500…

What does it feel like when sunlight stretches across a marsh? How does color shimmer on the surface of drifting leaves? How do the lights of a city merge into a glowing symphony? Can a painting convey the luminance changes we experience in nature? These are the kinds of questions that inform artist David Dunlop’s work. “Radiance—revealing it, reveling in it, exploring it—that is my quest,” says Dunlop. Dunlop’s new solo show, Quest for Radiance, is a dynamic exploration of light, movement and perception. Dunlop layers semi-transparent pigments on reflective surfaces to create a spectrum of effects that evoke the way we visually immerse ourselves in nature. “I incorporate the Purkinje effect,” he explains, “where cooler colors intensify and warmer tones recede in dimmer light. Balanced with value contrasts, my…

1 A painting inspired by the extinction of a rare bird resonates with a Principle Gallery collector For Love or Vanity? by Laura E. Pritchett sold out of Principle Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina. The painting was inspired by a special species of parrot called the Carolina Parakeet that went extinct in 1918, largely because of the fashion industry’s high demand for their colorful plumage. “These birds were unique, explains Pritchett. “In addition to their vivid, tropical beauty, brightly contrasting most North American forests and fields, they had a rare instinct to stand by their flockmates at all costs…the moment a member of their flock was injured and unable to fly, the rest would change course, descend and cover the vulnerable bird in an attempt to protect it from further…

Dallas, Texas-based art space Dallas Contemporary presents the exhibition You Stretched Diagonally Across It: Contemporary Tapestry, featuring artists El Anatsui, Candice Lin, Diedrick Brackens, Sanam Khatabi and more. Curated by Mexico-based curator Su Wu, You Stretched Diagonally Across It offers a consideration of tactility and image in 21st-century tapestries, and the strategies by which artists interrogate haptic sense, material tension and narrative in weaving. The exhibition will be on view through October 12.…

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has officially appointed its newest director, after an intensive sixmonth international search. Christophe Cherix will assume the role of David Rockefeller Director in September, succeeding Glenn D. Lowry. Cherix originally joined the MoMA’s curatorial staff in 2007, and has served as the Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings and Prints since 2013. Christopher Cherix Prior to MoMA, Cherix served as curator of the Cabinet des Estampes at the Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva, Switzerland. At MoMA, Cherix’s exhibitions have included ED RUSCHA/NOW THEN (2024), Betye Saar: Legends of Black Girl’s Window (with Esther Adler, 2019), Adrian Piper: A Synthesis of Institutions, 1965-2016 (with Connie Butler and David Platzker, 2018), and many more.…

In Tyler Vouros’ Birds of Prey series, the Massachusetts artist paints owls and other predatory birds within classic landscape scenery made famous by 19th-century artists such as John Atkinson Grimshaw, Thomas Cole, Martin Johnson Heade, Albert Bierstadt and Asher B. Durand. The images are flat, but for Vouros the world is three dimensional. “It’s really all about world building for me as the landscape becomes a much stronger component in these images. These images offer deeper explorations of space and ideas,” he says. “They’re also sort of romantic because I can step into the settings being created. They are part imagination, part Old Master landscapes. I can step inside and look around and find new places to discover.” He continues: “I can manipulate anything. I can fast forward time, or…

Daniel Bilmes had an interesting youth, one that continues to shape his evolution as an artist today. The son of Azerbaijani American painter and teacher Semyon Bilmes, Daniel’s Russianborn parents impulsively left New York for a remote area near Ashland, Oregon, where he was homeschooled for much of his upbringing. After time abroad in Turkey and on the Mediterranean island of Cypress, the family returned to the Pacific Northwest, where Semyon Bilmes founded the Ashland Academy of Art. At 9 years old, Daniel was painting alongside his father’s adult students and, by 15, he was teaching them. Daniel thrived in the academy environment. It was the closest he had known to a traditional classroom experience and he found he enjoyed being in the company of adults. It also provided a…

Gray days and backlit city commutes. Details blown out as last light dips behind manmade horizons. Bodies and skylines, more composites of city life than a portrait of any one person or place. Perhaps best known for these spare street scenes, Geoffrey Johnson, in his upcoming show at Principle Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia, riffs off ideas familiar and new. Rendered with a push and pull of impasto and watercolor-like washes, Johnson explores luxe interiors and European landmarks alongside rodeos, and scenes from sidewalk to sea. “Subject matter for me is just pretty random,” Johnson explains, pointing to new work he created from a trip to California’s Central Coast. “I would have never thought I would have painted from California,” he says. “I didn’t think I would be inspired—I’m not painting…

John Roberts went west in a hippie school bus when he was a boy, traveled west in his mind for a series of paintings, and is driving west from Tennessee to deliver the paintings to Andrea Schwartz Gallery in San Francisco. Westward Through My Mind opens May 14 with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and reamains on view at the gallery through June 19. “I’ve always felt a strong pull to go west,” Roberts explains. “For decades it’s been my dream to load up my kids in our old 1987 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon and drive to the Grand Canyon. We would fill a big cooler with cans of ice-cold soda and sandwich supplies. We’d eat breakfast at roadside cafes and camp where the threat of bears…

Taichung, Taiwan • 980529@gmail.com Watercolorist Li Hsien Cheng was born and currently lives in Taiwan. A high school teacher who teaches advertising design, Cheng loves the effect that color and light have on people’s emotions. “I want to represent them through my painting,” she says. “When I engage in painting, it transcends mere copying. It’s a profound expression of my inner thoughts and emotions. It is a journey of self discovery, a means to find and truly see myself. Each artwork I create captures different facets of my life, conveyed through the interplay of light, colors, and the contrasts of brightness and darkness.” Cheng is particularly inspired by a poignant quote from the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara: “There are as many things I want to try as there are mountains,…