Fine Art Connoisseur Jan/Feb 2018

As a child I was hauled to the principal’s office and scolded for my “bad” habit of daydreaming. That habit may not have served me well in the school system, but dreaming has proved to be the foundation of my existence throughout my life and career. Perhaps the most satisfying thing in the world is to have a dream, have others tell you it won’t work, do it anyway, see it become a reality, then have it embraced and successful. For 14 years I’ve written stories in these pages about the importance of the realism movement and of finding ways to build awareness to help others discover it. I’ve also spoken about the necessity of collaboration among the players within that movement so that together we lift ourselves using the…

I was hoping to avoid it, but everyone keeps bringing up the record-shattering $450 million sale of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi this autumn. Let’s set aside ongoing debates about the painting’s authenticity and condition, anxieties about what $450 million could have done to help people in need, or suspicions about the intentions of the buyer, apparently a Saudi prince. (It seems he will lend it to the new Louvre Abu Dhabi.) Let’s focus instead on the fact that people interested in art — deeply or mildly — have discussed almost nothing else since mid-November. Heck, even I am discussing it. So what does this sale really imply to “regular” people interested in art? That great art is only for the rich; that the art-buying system is terrifyingly complex; that it’s best…

TIED TO THE PAST When most of us reach down to tie a shoe, we don’t worry about a mountain lion attacking us from behind. But when the artist Charles Ray (b. 1953) was conceiving the idea for his stainless-steel sculpture Shoe Tie, he was keenly aware of that risk. In a video he made for the Art Institute of Chicago explaining the origin of this sculpture, Ray says that hikers in the Santa Monica Mountains, near his Los Angeles home, know it is unwise to bend down to tie a shoe because it could result in a bite on the neck. While tying his own sneaker on a mountainous trail one morning, Ray got the idea to make the sculpture, with himself as the subject. A few years after…

Strictly speaking, a museum is a place dedicated to the muses — the nine (female) divinities of the arts, history, science, and literature who were revered by the ancient Greeks. Though most of us don’t worship those goddesses anymore, the subjects they symbolized live on and are still brought to life daily in the vast array of museums found all over the world. Like so many good things, museums emerged during the Italian Renaissance, specifically in 1471 when Pope Sixtus IV opened the Capitoline Museums in Rome to show off the ancient sculptures he owned. His successor Julius II launched what we know as the Vatican Museums in 1506, but it must be noted that only invited guests — usually of the higher and artistic classes — could enter such…

Capturing moments in nature that move swiftly out of sight but leave a brilliant memory is the specialty of Bend, Oregon, artist BARBARA JAENICKE (b. 1964). Working in both oils and pastels, the artist imbues her landscapes with delicate and sensitively observed light, often representing sunset, dusk, and twilight hours. Re-creating the shifting light and shadows of these particular times of day requires a sharp eye and plenty of plein air painting experience. Jaenicke has been developing her landscape skills with near-obsessive devotion since she decided to pursue painting full-time in 2002. Although Jaenicke was always artistic, she admits she was never applauded for her youthful talent and therefore had to work twice as hard to get to where she is today. After graduating with a B.A. in art from…

 Because the arts have always been interconnected, it makes perfect sense that painters and sculptors continue to depict musicians and dancers at work. Among the best-known chroniclers of these sister arts is Edgar Degas (1834–1917), who haunted the stages and rehearsal rooms of Belle-Epoque Paris drawing what he witnessed. Hailing from across North America, most of the artists highlighted here work in modes quite different from Degas’s, yet their overall objectives are similar: to underscore the intense effort necessary to pursue these disciplines, and also to convey the exhilaration performers and audiences feel when everything comes together. KELLY COMPTON is a contributing writer to Fine Art Connoisseur.…