Fredericton Collects

My painting, ''Car Jam'' is currently on exhibition in The Story Behind It at Government House in Fredericton, NB.

The Fredericton Art Club presents The Story Behind It, an exhibit of selected works from the collections of members, at Government House (Gallery inside the New Brunswick Lieutenant Governor General's House) located at 51 Woodstock Road. The exhibit features paintings, photographs, pottery and other treasures. The exhibit will run, and be open to the public, weekdays and by appointment when possible from June 16 until July 31, 2016.

The Fredericton Art Club is in its 80th year. The club brings art and the community together by advocating visual literacy, promoting art education, and the appreciation of art.

Very thankful to the owner of the painting for submitting it into the show. The Government House Gallery was certainly on my wish list of places to exhibit at least once during my lifetime. 

Car Jam, 16 x 12'', acrylic on hardboard

painting #211,  2012 

Private collection 

2015 Small Works Invitational

New group show opening this coming Friday, November 6, 2015 at the Ober Anderson Gallery in Kirkwood, MO, a suburb of the Greater St Louis, MO. Many thanks to Lisa Ober for this unique invitation and the opportunity to show my artwork in the Mid-West for the first time.  The exhibition includes some very talented artists, several I have been acquainted with through this Blog or Facebook. These would include Lisa Ober, Joyce K. Jenson, John Salozzo and Carrie Waller.  

Marbles over Warhol

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 8 x 10''

painting #233, 2015

Yet another instalment and tribute to Andy Warhol. This composition superimposes a postcard of Marilyn Monroe over ''Flowers, 1970'', serigraph print portfolio shown upside down from the art book, POP ART by Tilman Osterwold, published by Taschen (1990/2007).

I've just returned from a 5-day trip from Philadelphia, PA.  A beautiful city rich in architectural wonders, history, culture and art. Also, the cradle and birthplace of the United States as an independent country. I had been wanting to visit the city's impressive art institutions for the longest time and was not disappointed. Au contraire, I was awestruck by it all. A combination of wealth, philanthropy and good guidance has amassed such wonderful collections spread across four major art museums that I've had the privilege to visit. 

The Barnes Foundation alone is so impressive and has the greatest private collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early modern art amassed by one individual, Dr. Albert C. Barnes. A total of 3000 works that include 181 Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the single largest collection of the artist in the world. Holdings also include 69 Paul Cézanne, 59 Henri Matisse, 46 Pablo Picasso, 16 Amadeo Modigliani, 7 Vincent Van Gogh, 4 Claude Monet and at least 3 Georges Seurat. 

The Rodin Museum is also the single largest collection of sculptor by Auguste Rodin's work outside of Paris, all amassed by movie theater mogul Jules Mastbaum. The museum opened in 1929, three years after Masterbaum's death. I have visited the Rodin Museum in Paris back in 1989. This was a beautiful re-acquaintance with is work. 

The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Museum and Art School was founded in 1805 and is considered the first and oldest of both in the United States. The museum only had a few people when we visited on a Sunday afternoon to witness an outstanding collection. Mostly American master painters with the likes of the Peale family, trompe l'oeil master William Harnett, Rideway Knight, Thomas Eakins, Robert Vonnoh, Cecilia Beaux, Edward Hopper, Peter Bloom, Childe Hassem, Karl Anderson to name just a few. Also on view was a magnificent solo show of recent alumni James Toogood, who's hyperrealist watercolours and pastels were new to me but did not leave me indifferent.

Last but not least the Philadelphia Museum of Art which opened it's doors in 1877, a year after the United States held it's first World Fair. It is a World Class Museum and one of the largest in the country. I ended up spending more than 3 hours but could have spent a few days easily. Opening on the day of our visit was ''Aububon to Warhol: The Art of American Still Life''. The first survey of it's kind in the past three decades. Click HERE for details. Outside the main entrance was Robert Indiana's 1998 AMOR, on view especially to honour Pope Francis on the occasion of his visit to the United States. The iconic, six-foot-high sculpture overlooking the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, site of the public papal mass which took place on September 27 in front of hundreds of thousands during the world meeting of families. 

To be exhibited in the 2015 Small Works Invitational at the 

Ober Anderson Gallery

101A West Argonne Drive, 

Kirkwood, Missouri

(St Louis, MO)

Exhibition Dates: November 6-December 31, 2015 

Public Reception: November 20, 2015

-SOLD

  

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

The three paintings that I have most recently completed will all be shown in the ''PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES'' Invitational exhibition that opens today at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacamento, CA. Nostalgia is one thread that links all the imagery together. I have the honor to hang my work along side a very select group of artist that includes the likes of Alan Gorman, Brian O'Neill, Bryan David Snuffer, Bryan Mark Taylor, Dianne Gall, James Crandall, Janet Ternoff, Jelaine Faunce, Joe Santos, Kari Tirrell, Mark Oberndorf, Robert LaDuke, and Vic Vicini. To preview the show, click on this EFG link.

Click on image for a closer view

I was advised by the gallery that ''Lucky Lindy flies the Air Mail'' and ''Caboose on Pennsylvania Railroad '' both sold yesterday. Many thanks to the patron who acquired them and to the gallery for hosting and their promotional work. The opening reception will be held next Saturday, March 10, 6-9 pm. If distance was not part of the equation, I would surely attend.

Group Exhibitions

I live on the Atlantic coast of Canada. During the month of October, I am participating in three group exhibitions. One on the west coast of Canada and two others on both coasts of continental United States. Not so long ago, this occurrence would have been only possible in a dream.

The Still Life, an invitational group show at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento California opened on October 1 and runs through November 2. The opening reception was held last Saturday on October 8. I have three paintings in this exhibition, and am currently working on a fourth that will be a late entry. I've been very busy of late with other aspect of my life and could not make the deadline in time. I am fortunate to be included in a very select group of artists that includes- Jeff Cohen, Jelaine Faunce, Teresa N. Fisher, Todd Ford, Russel Harris, James Neil Hollingsworth, Mary Ellen Johnson, Judy Nunes & Christopher Stott. 

The Elliott Fouts Gallery has done a phenomenal job in promoting the show. I am grateful and fortunate to have more than my share of exposure. Held over Klimt is currently the image on the gallery's website home page. Red Velvet Cup Cake, an homage to Thiebaud was printed in full color in the Sacramento Bee (newspaper) in the Arts & Museum section and Black Forest Cup Cake, an homage to Thiebaud appeared along with an artist's statement on pages 164 & 165 of the October 2011 issue of American Art Collector. This last painting sold even before I shipped it.

To inquire about the artwork please contact:

Elliott Fouts Gallery
4749 J. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95819
Phone (916) 736-1429
e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net

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photo on left- opening reception photo taken my Neil Hollingsworth, also featured - Andrei Palmer

In Atlanta Georgia, ''The Real Thing'', an invitational group exhibition celebrating the 125th Anniversary of Coca-Cola opened on September 16 and runs through the month of October at the Mason Murer Fine Art.  Among the artists taking part are Jelaine Faunce, Teresa N. Fisher, Todd Ford, Neil Hollingsworth, Kim Karlson, Otto Lange, David Malan, Rick McClury, Burton Morris, Michael Naples, Andrei Palmer, Christopher Stott, Sally Tharp, and Vic Vicini .

Mason Murer Fine Art
199 Armour Drive
Atlanta, GA 30324
404.879.1500
info@masonmurer.com

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Last but not least, my painting ''May Blooms in a Mason Jar'' was juried into the Annual International Representational Show - AIRS (2nd edition) hosted by The Federation of Canadian Artists that is based out of Vancouver. I've was elected as an active member in the fall of 2004. Several of my past submissions into their juried thematic exhibitions were rejected, so I am especially thrilled to have a chance to exhibit among a exceptionnal group of artists on a larger platform. The exhibtion opened on October 4 and runs through October 23.

The Federation of Canadian Artists was founded in 1941 by a group of influential artists, including Group of Seven luminary, Lawren Harris, it continues to operate as a non-profit organization with chapters throughout Canada.  Dedicated to its aim of gradually raising the artists’ standards by stimulating participants to greater heights of achievement.