Innholdsfortegnelse for Jan/Feb 2018 i Fine Art Connoisseur

EDITOR’S NOTE: Work is now progressing on the National World War I Memorial, to be sited in Pershing Park in downtown Washington, D.C. In 2016, its design commission selected the competition-winning team: Joseph Weishaar, Sabin Howard, and GWWO Architects, who had proposed the concept The Weight of Sacrifice. For two years, sculptor Sabin Howard (b. 1963) has been creating A Soldier’s Journey, the memorial’s 65-foot-long bronze relief, which depicts not only soldiers, but also nurses, wives, and children. The project has taken him often to New Zealand’s Weta Workshop, far from his wife, Traci L. Slatton, who has been inspirational in helping formulate his ideas around the memorial’s narrative element. The official groundbreaking occurred in 2017, and this February, Howard will make a formal presentation to the Commission of Fine…

In November, the field of contemporary realism took a big step forward when the first Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE) drew almost 350 people to Miami’s historic Biltmore Hotel for a lively celebration of art and ideas. Organized by Fine Art Connoisseur and hosted by publisher Eric Rhoads and myself, FACE offered a memorable combination of demonstrations by renowned masters, informal conversations among artists, and formal lectures by scholars. Participants gained technical skills and philosophical insights, all while getting to know each other personally in a friendly, un-stuffy atmosphere. Eric and I have long envisioned a forum like FACE: as we hoped, when like-minded people get together in person to share techniques and information, their sense of community and their passionate determination to excel grow exponentially. We all rely…

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…

The dictionary defines the word “frolic” (in its adjectival form) as cheerful, merry, or playful. These words certainly suited George Alexis Weymouth (1936–2016), who was nicknamed Frolic after his family’s pet dog. In boyhood it became clear that he was dyslexic, a condition that probably reinforced his decision to become a visual artist. His mother, Dulcinea du Pont, encouraged this interest and exposed him to art books and museums, instilling in him an early love for Old Master paintings, which he admired during travels abroad. He was also privy to the superb collections of decorative arts and paintings at Delaware’s Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, founded by his cousin Henry Francis du Pont. His mother’s famous family name certainly helped Frolic get admitted to Yale University, though he later joked…

When I was a teenager, I often received Holy Communion in the private chapel of a country estate 95 miles north of New York City, watched over by one of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s devotional paintings. The Spanish master’s Madonna and Child (1660–70) hung opposite the wooden altar, on which rested a large 16th-century Swabian crucifix. What has fixed itself in my memory, aside from the excruciating intimacy of this chapel, was how very young Murillo’s Virgin Mary looked. Robed in burnished red and brown, she didn’t look much older than me, and I was 13 at the time. What’s more, she looked a tiny bit defiant, surly even. The Christ child was a bonny baby, but he had a mature look and piercing eyes, brown like his mother’s — a…

 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.…

Fine art is especially enjoyable when seen in beautiful surroundings. In November, I was invited to experience both of them in southwestern Georgia, a region I had never really noticed on maps before. My hosts were the proprietors of Pebble Hill Plantation, an estate open to the public and located five miles south of Thomasville, Georgia, and 22 miles north of Florida’s capital, Tallahassee. I was intrigued to learn that Pebble Hill holds a superb collection of sporting art, and that it is currently exhibiting 22 masterworks of wildlife art loaned by the Genesee Country Village & Museum in upstate New York. My curiosity was piqued, so I headed south to see for myself. AN UNUSUAL HISTORY When northerners like me hear the word “plantation,” we instinctively think of Gone…

NATURE TAKES A BOW SOUTHEASTERN WILDLIFE EXPOSITION Charleston 843.723.1748 sewe.com  February 16–18 The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) is the largest gathering of its kind in America and South Carolina’s single largest annual event. On one weekend, more than 40,000 nature lovers will attend the 36th annual edition of this celebration of wildlife and environmental conservation. Held at venues throughout Charleston, it provides a platform for more than 500 artists, exhibitors, and wildlife experts from around the world. Of particular interest is the juried show of 94 artists who depict animals and sporting subjects. This year’s featured artist is Kathryn Mapes Turner, while the guest artist is Joseph Sulkowski. Turner notes, “Having been passionate about painting animals since I was a young girl, this is an unprecedented opportunity for…