Fine Art Connoisseur Mar/Apr 2018

Whenever I can, I encourage art lovers to visit a commercial gallery to exercise their eyes and see what’s out there. Galleries are essential to a healthy art world, and they also contribute a great deal to the communities where they do business. Moreover, the best galleries are eager to help visitors understand what they are looking at, to learn about artists and techniques, to see behind and around the artworks. It’s not about one fast sale — it’s about relationships and sharing the passion for art, all of which usually lead to ongoing sales over many years. These are just some of the reasons I was so pleased to read the following note from proprietors Stephen and Elizabeth Harris in the Spring 2018 newsletter of InSight Gallery (Fredericksburg, Texas),…

In December I was thrilled to visit a superb exhibition at New York City’s Morgan Museum & Library. It featured 150 breathtaking drawings donated to the museum by the dealer-collector Eugene V. Thaw and his wife, Clare, covering five centuries and ranging from Mantegna and Rembrandt to Goya, Van Gogh, and even Pollock. The drawings are among the finest of their kind, offering an intimate look over each master’s shoulder. A few weeks later, “Gene” Thaw died, aged 90, six months after his wife. Their passing represents the end of an era because they were America’s ultimate connoisseurs, passionate about quality and an array of art forms, including Native American material. Fortunately, those visiting the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown can see the Thaws’ treasures until April 22; then they…

André Aciman doesn’t like the beach or the sun or even the city of Nice, and yet he remains captivated by a scene that depicts all of those elements in exquisite detail. The noted novelist and memoirist — one of whose books, Call Me by Your Name, was recently made into a movie nominated for an Oscar in that other famous city by the sea, Los Angeles — claims, “Ten minutes in the sun and I get a headache. My entire childhood I was fighting with my parents not to go to the beach. But I long now for cities by the sea, places like Barcelona, Naples, and Genoa.” Among Aciman’s favorite painted scenes are a series by Raoul Dufy (1877–1953) that depict the Nice waterfront through open windows. Versions…

RICHIE CARTER (b. 1988) is only 29, yet this Montana-based painter has already assimilated decades’ worth of education into his professional practice. While earning his B.F.A. from the University of Montana at Missoula, which focused on conveying concepts through various media, Carter simultaneously developed a love of realism through drawing and painting from life. After graduating, he sharpened his technical skills further by taking numerous workshops, and he continues to draw inspiration through frequent travel abroad — the observations and experiences of which become fodder for future paintings. Discussing the conceptual aspects of his work — notable for being at once simple and striking — Carter says he sees himself as a receiver of visions. Once he sees the scene or subject, he then composes each element with much care.…

Pies, cakes, hot dogs, and gumball machines are not usually considered suitable subjects for fine art. But when they are depicted by a master painter like Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920), they become sensory delights, glowing with rainbow-hued impasto. At 97, Thiebaud has lived long enough to enjoy critical acclaim and to be the focus of countless museum retrospectives worldwide. Now an exhibition mounted at the University of California at Davis, where he spent 42 years teaching, is the first anywhere to highlight a 10-year period when a series of important breakthroughs in subject and style set the course for Thiebaud’s long career. Wayne Thiebaud: 1958–1968 consists of more than 60 paintings and prints gathered from public and private collections throughout the U.S. On view until May 13, it has been…

There is much to be said about the recent success of the painter Michelle Jung (b. 1964), but what has mattered most to her is finding her artistic “voice.” Now that she has it, she feels totally liberated and enthused about expressing it as fully as she can. This is driven by both discipline and dedication, evidenced — for example — by the fact Jung spends half of her time in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and the other half in California (Santa Cruz and Atherton). It is particularly interesting to learn how her bi-coastal living and working arrangements have affected how and what she paints. Born and raised in Connecticut, Jung demonstrated artistic talent in both elementary and high schools. This led her to earn a B.A. in art history from Colorado…