WE LOVE NEW YORK!

It's a beautiful time of year in New York City, and that seems to have inspired many of our artists to get out and paint in The Big Apple! Over the last few weeks, stunning paintings inspired by New York City have been continuously arriving in the galleries, and we can't wait to share them!

John Terelak "Times Square Winter"

Joseph McGurl "Twilight, Hudson River"

Leonard Mizerek "Grand Central Terminal"

Leonard Mizerek "Night Mist, 59th Street Bridge"

Nina Maguire "Central Park Winter"

Additional works are available by each of these artists, you can view them on our website:
www.cavaliergalleries.com
Please contact the galleries for additional details about these paintings
art@cavaliergalleries.com - 203.869.3664

HOLIDAY AUCTION DECEMBER 3-7

Cavalier Auctions Annual Holiday Auction will be open for bidding from 3pm EST on Thursday, December 3 through 5pm EST on Monday, December 7.
Register and place your bids today! All works ship in time for Christmas!

Works included by Jan Pawlowski, Robert Stark, Lori Zummo, Louis Guarnaccia, Marla Korr, Nina Maguire, Debranne Cingari, Ruth Orkin.

www.cavalierauctions.com

Alan Eddy - Catboats

Louis Guarnaccia - Cruising Schooner, Nantucket

Nina Maguire - North Street, Veils of Fog

Leonard Mizerek - Night Lights

Jan Pawlowski - Horse & Buggy

Stephen Pitliuk - 20 Martinis is Plenty in Sconset

Bjørn Skaarup: Carnival of the Animals at the Bruce Museum

Cavalier Galleries is very pleased to announce Bjorn Skaarup’s First American Museum Exhibition, to take place at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT from October 31 - January 3. 

This video trailer to promote the Bruce Museum exhibition, is edited from Mads Fjeldsoe Christensen film on Danish sculptor, Bjørn Okholm Skaarup.

Carnival of the Animals is Danish sculptor Bjørn Okholm Skaarup’s first American museum exhibition, presenting a contemporary bestiary in bronze. Each of the twenty animal sculptures on view offers a whimsical story or allegory to decipher, inspired by ancient fables, art history, or modern animation.Visit the exhibit at 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT.  brucemuseum.org

Coinciding with the museum exhibit, additional works by Bjorn Skaarup will be on view at Cavalier Galleries locations in New York City, at 3 West 57 Street and in Greenwich, CT at 405 Greenwich Avenue.

WORK OF THE WEEK: Manhattan in the Moonlight by Jenness Cortez

Jenness Cortez, Manhattan in the Moonlight acrylic on mohogany panel, 36 x 30 in. “Manhattan in the Moonlight” is a brilliant example of Modern Traditional Realism by artist Jenness Cortez.  This vibrant and meticulously wrought masterpiece is an acrylic painting on mahogany panel, measuring 36 x 30 inches. The work is included in our American Realism: Past to Present exhibition, on view through November 30th in New York.  Jenness Cortez is a distinguished figure in the contemporary revival of classical realist painting. She was born in Indiana and exhibited profound talent for art at a very early age.  As a teenager, she took private lessons with Antonius Raemaekers, a well-trained Dutch-born painter and superb teacher whose early instruction continues to influence her work today.  She then went on to study at the Herron School of Art, one of the oldest independent professional schools of art in America. To add to development of her technical mastery, Cortez next went on to New York City to study at the Art Students League under another gifted teacher, Arnold Blanch - whose influence on the young art student was also profound. Throughout her remarkable career Cortez has become proficient in a variety of subject matter including sporting and wildlife art, landscape, portraiture, interiors and still-life. Early in her career she worked as an editorial illustrator and etcher, then returned to her love of painting, with animals as her primary subject matter. For twenty years she became world renown for skillfully portraying horses––most notably, thoroughbred racehorses.  In the mid-1990s, Cortez moved on to landscapes, then to cityscapes and at last to interiors and still life painting where her focus remains today. At the beginning of the 21st century, Cortez began concentrating on a form of still life painting inspired by the age-old tradition of “art in art.” This tradition was most notably employed by such 17th-century Dutch artists as Johannes Vermeer, usually to impart a hidden meaning to astute viewers.  Similarly, Cortez’s paintings offer layered meanings built on specific themes. Often starting with an iconic masterwork, she then surrounds it with meticulously rendered book covers, photographs, sculpture, antiques, and other objects with cultural or historic significance. Each intricate painting challenges the viewers’ intellectual curiosity. By depicting iconic artworks in her own paintings, Cortez underscores a classic paradox of realism: the painting as a “window” into an imagined space, and as a physical object; both a metaphysical presence and a material entity. "Manhattan in the Moonlight" features tributes to Childe Hassam's “The Avenue in the Rain” and “Up the Avenue from Thirty-Fourth Street, May 1917”; Jean-Leon Gérôme's “Arabs Crossing the Desert”; “The New Yorker” cover by Harry Bliss, June 3, 2002; an Embellished, hand-made edition of “The Rubaiyat” by Sangorski and Sutcliffe book bindery, London, 1911, destroyed in the sinking of the Titanic, 1912; and a Chinese Archaic bronze “Hu” vessel from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, early 5th century B.C., among other unique objects and decor. Jenness Cortez has been exhibiting her work since 1975, and has had more than 40 solo shows throughout the United States. Her work is in numerous public and private collections including those of President Ronald Reagan, President Bill Clinton, Governor George Pataki, Governor Hugh Carey, HM Queen Elizabeth II, Ambassador True Davis, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Congressman Gerald Solomon, Atlanta Braves General Manager John Schuerholz, Mr. Jerry Weintraub, the New York State Museum, Skidmore College and SUNY Empire State College, Fluor Corporation, Saratoga Harness, Inc., the Waterford Museum, Albany Institute of History and Art and many other collections.

Contact the gallery for additional information about this work: art@cavaliergalleries.com or 212.570.4696

In the Studio with Still-Life Painter Sarah Lamb

As part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's current still life exhibition "Audubon to Warhol: The Art of American Still Life" artist Sarah Lamb has been featured in this video demonstrating how to create a trompe l'oeil painting.  Several of Sarah Lamb's still life works are also now on exhibit in our "American Realism: Past to Present" exhibition, on view in our New York gallery through November 30.  Have a look!

WORK(S) OF THE WEEK: Featuring Andrew & Jamie Wyeth

Cavalier Galleries American Realism Exhibition features two beautiful watercolors by two of America’s most respected and well-known modern traditionalist painters - father and son artists, Andrew and Jamie Wyeth. 
 

Andrew Wyeth, Wash Basket, 1968
watercolor on paper, 19 3/4 x 14 in.

“Wash Basket”, a serene, but stunning watercolor painted by Andrew Wyeth in 1968, is a quiet masterpiece of light and shadow.  The painting emphasizes the beauty and tranquility of a peaceful laundry day in the country. Depicting the spareness and geometric austerity of a clapboard farmhouse on the Maine coast, the work is set among a group of locales of personal significance to the Wyeth family. The Wyeths began spending summers at Port Clyde in about 1927, and the serene views along this part of Maine’s Atlantic coast have provided subject matter for three generations of Wyeth artists. Wash Basket depicts the shore side of the Shore House at Broad Cove Farm in Cushing, which served as Andrew and Betsy Wyeth's summer house before they eventually moved further out to sea.

Andrew Newell Wyeth (July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) - the son of famed artist and illustrator N.C. Wyeth, was primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style.  He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century.  Andrew Wyeth's favorite subjects were the land and people around him, both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and at his summer home in Cushing, Maine.  Wyeth noted: "I paint my life." One of the best-known images in 20th-century American art is his painting “Christina’s World” currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  “Christina’s World” was painted in 1948, when Andrew Wyeth was just 31 years old.

Jamie Wyeth, Summer House (Zero House),
1970, watercolor on paper, 18 1/8 x 29 1/2 in. 

“Summer House”, a vibrant coastal watercolor painted by Jamie Wyeth in 1970, is much more dramatic – it features the bold and jagged rocks of the coastline against the backdrop of a sea-side house and sky. One of several paintings of Monhegan’s houses that Jamie Wyeth completed in the years after he moved into Rockwell Kent’s old home on the island in 1968, Summer House (Zero House) depicts the summer residence of the actor Zero Mostel. As the artist once noted: “My house paintings, on Monhegan in particular, really are portraits. I mean they're as much portraits of the island as the people are.” Because of Monhegan’s rugged terrain and exposure to the elements, its winter and summer houses possess different attributes, with winter (or year-round) houses able to be shuttered up against the elements, and summer houses built to maximize exposure to the sun and ocean breezes. With its expansive back porch and harbor views, Mostel’s house represents the summer variety, hence the title of this work.

Jamie (James) Wyeth (b. 1946) is the son of artist Andrew Wyeth and the grandson of N.C. Wyeth.  He was raised on his parents' farm "The Mill" in Chadds Ford, PA , much the same way as his father had been brought up and with much of the same influences.  He demonstrated the same remarkable skills in drawing as his father had done at comparable ages.  At age 12, Jamie started studying with his aunt Carolyn Wyeth, a well-known artist in her own right, and resident at that time of the N.C. Wyeth House and Studio – which was filled with the art work and props of his grandfather.  Through his aunt, Jamie developed an interest in working with oil paint.  Carolyn Wyeth and artist/illustrator Howard Pyle were Jamie Wyeth’s greatest early influences in developing his technique in working with oil paint.  While Jamie's work in watercolor was similar to his father's, his colors were more vivid.  At age 19 (about 1965) he traveled to New York City to better study the artistic resources of the city and to learn human anatomy.


Contact the gallery for additional information about these works: 

art@cavaliergalleries.com or 212.570.4696 

American Realism: Past to Present - Online Catalog

The Catalog for American Realism: Past to Present is now available online!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CATALOG ONLINE

On view at Cavalier Galleries' New York location: 3 West 57th Street, 4th Floor from October 15 through November 30.
You can also preview the exhibition on our website: www.cavaliergalleries.com

WORK OF THE WEEK: White Pumpkin by Sarah Lamb

SARAH LAMB
White Pumpkin
oil on linen, 17 x 24 in.

“White Pumpkin” is an exquisite classical still-life painting by artist, Sarah Lamb.  The painting is true to life in size measuring 17” x 24”.   Sarah Lamb is a talented and dynamic realist painter.  With classical skill she captures the minute details of everyday objects in her dramatic still life paintings and luminous landscapes.  She makes us love the familiar and see the beauty in the mundane.

Born is Petersburg, VA, with a passion for art and an appreciation for the past, Sarah received training at the Studio Art Center International in Florence, Italy before graduating from Brenau Women’s College with a degree in Studio Art in 1993.  She continued her studies at Ecole Albert Defois in the Loire Valley with classical realist artist Ted Seth Jacobs.  In 1997 she moved to New York and spent several years studying and painting under Jacob Collins at the Water Street Atelier.  Sarah Lamb has had several successful one-woman shows in major galleries in New York, Atlanta, Houston and San Francisco. 

Sarah Lamb has been featured in magazines such as American Artist, American Art Collector and Southwest Art as one of America’s most talented young painters.  Art critic, John A. Parks, wrote that “Sarah Lamb brings to her work a robustly sensual grasp of the world.  Her keenness of eye and joyful brush make the whole enterprise feel freshly alive as she reminds us what the really wonderful things in life are”.

Additional works by Sarah Lamb will be featured in our upcoming exhibit:
American Realism - Past to Present, on view October 15 - November 30 in New York. 


Contact us for pricing or additional information: 
art@cavaliergalleries.com or 203.869.3664

WORK OF THE WEEK: Stand by Me by Jane DeDecker

JANE DEDECKER
Stand by Me
bronze, Ed. 17, 55 x 40 x 25 in.
(Pictured in our Nantucket Sculpture Garden)

“Stand by Me” is a wonderful life size bronze sculpture by Colorado artist, Jane DeDecker. DeDecker states - "Stand by Me" represents the unity of all brothers, whether brought together by blood lines or life experience. This alliance continues on - into something deeper, beyond definition. Not until later in life do we fully realize the magnitude of how much has been shared and understood in this unity. The joined arms of camaraderie show trust, and love, they carry with them bags, packed with symbols of collected knowledge as they prepare themselves for their separate journeys through life. Upon being reunited, they return with bags, seasoned with stories and wisdom captured during their adventures. The togetherness of experience forms a brotherhood for all: it is a coded word for love.  Stand by Me - I am your brother for life.

Jane DeDecker’s energetic and dynamic bronze sculptures serve as a reflection of her own life experiences and those of her closely-knit family.  Her children, nieces, and nephews are her primary source of her inspiration - though DeDecker’s sculptures are not portraits.  Her loose style leaves her viewers with room for interpretation, so as to see their own lives within her sculptures. This imprecision, combined with her unique ability to capture specific moments to which each viewer can relate on a personal level, regardless of age, gives DeDecker’s work a timeless quality that spans generations. 


DeDecker began her artistic training as a painter at the University of Northern Colorado, until a professor, noticing her joy in the portrayal of shapes and forms, suggested she try her hand at sculpture.  Taking his advice, DeDecker went on to study at Gobelins School of Tapestry in Paris, and in returning to Colorado, spent five years as master craftsman to the notable bronze sculptor George Lundeen. DeDecker has gone on to receive many awards and prizes, including; the Critics Choice Award from the Kimball Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX, Best in Show and First Place in the Affair in the Garden Exhibitions of Beverly Hills, CA and several National Sculpture Society awards, prizes and mentions. DeDecker is also a member of both the National Sculptors’ Guild (1994-Present) and the National Sculpture Society (1998-Present). 

Major installations of DeDecker’s sculptures are located at the Presidential Library in Washington, DC; the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Benson Park, Loveland, Colorado; American Stores, Salt Lake City, Utah; Trammell Crow, St. Louis, Missouri, the Clinton Library, Little Rock, Arkansas - among others.   Her work is also included many prestigious public collections at corporate parks, libraries, state parks, medical centers, universities and other foundations – and numerous private collections including those of; Governor Arnold Schwarzenhager, Professional Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and Musician, Michael Jackson.

Contact us for pricing and inquiries about this work: 
203.869.3664 or art@cavaliergalleries.com

(also available in maquette size: 13 x 9 x 5 inches)

WORK OF THE WEEK: Rajasthan Stepwell by Steve McCurry

STEVE MCCURRY
Rajasthan Stepwell
FujiFlex Crystal Archive Print
20 x 24 inches

“Rajasthan Stepwell” is a captivating photograph of the historic Stepwell in India - brilliantly photographed by world renowned photographer, Steve McCurry.  This unique Fuji Crystal photograph, completely draws the viewer in – as if you were actually experiencing the Stepwell.  This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone familiar with Mr. McCurry’s work, his photos often take us to remote places in the world - beautiful but often forgotten places, where he finds hidden beauty in the landscape, architecture and people of his chosen location.    Stepwells, are wells or ponds in which water may be reached by descending a set of steps.  They were developed in India, mainly to cope with seasonal fluctuations in water availability.   They are often multi-storied having a bullock which may turn the water wheel (rehat) to raise the water in the well to the first or second floor.   The construction may be utilitarian, but often includes significant and intricate architectural embellishments.  Mr. McCurry’s unique and artistic perspective on the location makes it even more spectacular!

Steve McCurry attended Penn State University, where he originally planned to study cinematography and filmmaking, but ended up obtaining a degree in theater arts, graduating in 1974.  He became interested in photography while taking pictures for the Penn State newspaper, the Daily Collegian.  After working at Today's Post in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania for two years, he left for India to freelance.   His career was launched when, disguised in native garb, he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion. Since then McCurry has covered many areas of international and civil conflict, including the Iran-Iraq war, the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Gulf War and continuing coverage of Afghanistan.  He focuses on the human consequences of war, not only showing what war impresses on the landscape, but also on the human face – often creating stunning and colorful portraits. 

Best known for his evocative color photography, McCurry captures the essence of human struggle and joy in the finest documentary tradition.  Member of Magnum Photos since 1986, McCurry has searched and found the unforgettable. Many of his breathtaking images have become modern day icons.  His work has been featured in every major magazine in the world and frequently appears in National Geographic magazine.  His iconic photograph “Afghan Girl” which first appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in June of 1985, still remains one of the most recognizable photographs in the world today.  Now recognized universally as one of today's finest image makers, Steve McCurry continues to win many of the world’s top photography awards. 

 A new exhibition of photographs by Steve McCurry will open in our Greenwich, CT Gallery from September 14^th through October 4^th.  VIEW THE EXHIBITION ONLINE.

Contact us for pricing and inquiries about this work: 203.869.3664 or art@cavaliergalleries.com
(available in three sizes: 20 x 24, 30 x 40, or 40 x 60 inches)

WORK OF THE WEEK: Head First by Jim Rennert

JIM RENNERT
Head First
bronze & steel
19 x 34 x 9 1/2 inches

American sculptor Jim Rennert is a modern master of contemporary realism - his work is not only masterfully executed and visually beautiful - it is also clever, and at times humorous and direct.   Though his works will always be open to interpretation - one can’t help but notice that he’s making a broader commentary on human life, rather than just appreciating the human form.   His sculptures are relatable to most of us - as they document the history of modern human existence and the challenges of working life.

Rennert states - “For the last several years my work has focused on my past experiences in the competitive world of business.  Mixing the traditional medium of bronze and contemporary forms of flat laser cut steel, I have illustrated themes and concepts of every day work life.  Initially I had hoped to have depicted popular culture's ideas on achievement and success in an ironic and humorous fashion.  However, over the past years, the work has taken on a more serious tone as I illustrate more about the thoughts and ideas we all deal with in contemporary society.  While not everyone wears a suit, I feel the themes transcend to the everyman.”

Jim Rennert grew up in Las Vegas, NV and Salt Lake City, UT and attended Brigham Young University.  After 10 years of working in business Jim started sculpting in 1990. He began exhibiting in galleries in 1993 and has since gained significant recognition.  He continually exhibits at major art fairs in Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, and throughout the US.  His work is now included in numerous private and public collections including;  the Utah Governor's Mansion, Terra Industries, GSL Electric, The Church Museum of History and Art, Milrock Office Park, Utah Arts Council, National Museum of Ski History, Overstock.com, many LDS Offices and the Granite Education Foundation.  In 2014, his monumental sculpture, THINK BIG, was exhibited in New York's Union Square Park as part of a public installation project with the NYC Parks Department.  The artist has also been featured in publications such as Sculptural Review, American Art Collector, Sculptural Pursuit Magazine, Utah Home and Gardens, The Inquirer and Mirror and South West Art Magazine.

Contact us for pricing and inquiries about this work: 

203.869.3664 or art@cavaliergalleries.com

(also available in maquette size: 6 1/2 x 11 1/4 x 3 in.)

WORK OF THE WEEK: Hauling the Catch by John Terelak

JOHN TERELAK Hauling the Catch oil on canvas 30 x 40 in.  “Hauling the Catch” is an exquisite new work by John Charles Terelak, one of America’s leading Impressionist and Plein Air painters.  This masterfully painted oil captures a maritime moment in time that few people will ever experience or see.  “Hauling the Catch” is a colorful, action packed and timeless masterpiece that accurately depicts New England fisherman working just as they have for centuries - at sea.  John Telelak’s paintings have a way of transporting the viewer into the work as if they are part of the scenario or action.  Mr. Terelak’s work is historical, yet contemporary as he records his scenes as all great traditional painters do - with masterful use of light, color and atmosphere, and remarkable dexterity and technique. John Terelak is now recognized as one of America's finest living impressionists.  Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he received formal art instruction at the Vesper George School of Fine Art. His love of paint and canvas and his thorough understanding of color theory and paint technique eventually led him to become Headmaster of the Gloucester Academy of Fine Art.  In addition to his beautiful works in oil, Terelak is also a master in watercolor and pastel and he has served as a past President of The New England Watercolor Society. The subject matter of Terelak's paintings can be diverse but the “Terelak Touch” is unmistakable.  His intricate system of layered paint and glazing, incredible use of color and rich surface texture are all hallmarks of his paintings.  His paintings may capture the tranquility of an early spring morning in the Vermont, the beaches of Nantucket, the great harbors of New York, the hustle and bustle of Times Square or the serenity of the French countryside. John Terelak does a considerable amount of work on location. While exercising appropriate creative license, he documents the beauty of his surroundings for posterity.  He takes time with his paintings, working and reworking them, adding layer after layer of paint, glazing the surface again and again. The result is a canvas with a rich patina, with a depth and texture that is beautiful in its own right.  The artist states “Whether I'm painting Monet's garden at three in the afternoon, or Times Square at three in the morning, the real content of my work is color and light. What I'm really doing is playing off one color against another, creating color harmonies that evoke different moods and feelings”. John Terelak's high praise from serious art collectors is strong evidence that his paintings will be recognized as an important and permanent part of the best of American fine art created during this century.  His paintings are included in thousands of private and public collections throughout the United States including: the Andrew Mellon Foundation, Sheraton Corporation, Winthrop Financial Corporation, Prudential Insurance Company, Bank of Boston, Shawmut Bank, State Street Bank, Boston, and the Sterling-Regal Publishing Company.  His works have been included in exhibitions at The National Academy of Design, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, The Springfield Museum, and The Butler Museum among any others.

Contact us for pricing and inquiries about this work:  203.869.3664 or art@cavaliergalleries.com

WORK OF THE WEEK: Nantucket Afternoon by Donald Demers

Donald Demers
Nantucket Afternoon
oil on canvas
20 x 36 inches

Nantucket Afternoon by Donald Demers depicts one of the most iconic Nantucket scenes of the famous cat boats sailing past Brant Point Light on a perfect summer afternoon. Nantucket Afternoon is one of the featured works in Cavalier Galleries summer Maritime Masters exhibition closing on Monday, August 31st. Cavalier Galleries has assembled a fine exhibition of Maritime and Nautical themed art that will interest both art appreciators and Maritime history buffs. A wonderful collection of fine art paintings, photographs, sculpture and selected historical objects have been brought together to create a compelling online exhibition that celebrates the beauty and nostalgia of Maritime history, classic ships and all things nautical.  

Donald Demers was born in 1956 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. His interest in painting maritime subjects began while spending his summers on the coast of Maine. He attended the School of the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, and the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA. Demers maritime experience came as a crew member aboard many traditional sailing vessels including schooners and square-riggers. He continues to be an avid sailor. His professional career began as an illustrator and expanded into the field of fine art. His illustrations can be found on many book covers and in national publications such as Reader’s Digest, Sail Magazine, Field & Stream, Sports Afield, Yankee, and National Geographic. Demers’ paintings have been featured in a number of publications including American Artist magazine, Artist magazine, Plein Air magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur , Art and Antiques, Yachting magazine, Nautical Quarterly, Nautical World, Offshore magazine, and Maine Boats and Harbors. His work has also been featured and discussed in a number of texts including Concordia Yawls, The First Fifty Years, by Elizabeth Meyer, Marine Painting and Yachts on Canvas, both authored by James Taylor, of Greenwich, England. Yacht Portraits published by Sheridan House, A Gallery of Marine Art, Rockport Publishers, an instructional textbook titled Marine Painting, Techniques of Modern Masters published by Watson Guptill and Bound for Blue Water written by J. Russell Jinishian and published by Greenwich Workshop. Demers is a “Fellow” of the American Society of Marine Artists, an elected member of the Guild of Boston Artists, an elected member of the California Art Club, and a signature member of PAPA (Plein Air Painters of America).  He has won a record seventeen awards at the Mystic International Marine Art Exhibition, Mystic, CT. including the Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award in 2006.  Demers’ illustrations have been recognized by the Museum of American Illustration four times in their national competition representing the finest examples of work in the field. 

Contact us for pricing and inquiries about this work: 

203.869.3664 or art@cavaliergalleries.com

STATE OF THE ARTS with Ron Cavalier on WPKN-FM (89.5)

Richard Pheneger & Peggy Nelson take a look at the arts on "State of the Arts" WPKN-FM radio. Get the word on what's happening with Cavalier Galleries in this interview with owner Ron Cavalier!

Click the link to listen:

STATE OF THE ARTS with Ron Cavalier on WPKN-FM

WORK OF THE WEEK: Exuma Breeze by Stephen Scott Young

Stephen Scott Young
Exuma Breeze
watercolor on cotton rag
10 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches

In 1985 Stephen Scott Young won first prize in watercolor in American Artist's national art competition. Since then his career has flourished and his paintings have met with critical acclaim often being compared to the work of other realist masters such as Wyeth, Homer, and Eakins. Young's work has developed toward ever-increasing depth of space and ever-greater facility in handling the human figure. For his sense of dramatic design and luminous, clear color, Young perhaps owes most to Homer.Young has been said to draw with his watercolors meticulously constructing them with careful stippling. Young creates his images with careful accuracy and has the ability to create figures that are not simply flat but have volume and weight. A virtuoso realist in the classic tradition, Stephen Scott Young remains an anomaly on the modern scene. Young's paintings are not simply nostalgic but address the concerns of contemporary life. Visually, they possess an indisputably modern abstract power of design. Thematically, they deal with issues of race and human dignity that are particularly pertinent to the current American social condition.

Born in Hawaii, Stephen Scott Young spent most of his early life traveling around the United States. Eventually settling in Florida, where he attended the Ringling School of Art and Design. Young has devoted his career to depicting the southern United States and the Bahamas. Exhibited nationally and internationally, Young is one of the nation's premiere realist watercolorists and etchers. Young's work is on display at several major American museums, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Butler Institute of American Art, and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. He is featured in the permanent exhibits of the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and the Greenville County Museum in South Carolina. In May of 2012, Young began exhibiting a retrospective of the past twenty five years of his career painting the Bahamas. The opening at Christie's in New York City coincided with the publication of Once Upon an Island: Stephen Scott Young in the Bahamas, written by art historian William H. Gerdts.

Stephen Scott Young was recently featured in Garden & Gun magazine discussing his work and Bahamian influences. The article can be read HERE. 

Contact us for pricing and inquiries about this work 

203.869.3664 or art@cavaliergalleries.com

WORK OF THE WEEK: Portrait III by Zhang Li

Zhang Li
Portrait III
oil on linen
31 5/8 x 25 5/8 inches

Artist Zhang Li has been called "China's Rembrandt" and it's easy to see why. Zhang Li's chosen genre is portraiture, permeating with dark, moody amber hues. Using painting techniques borrowed from the past he creates a tableaux through an arduous process of wrinkling, washing, erasing and molding. Li is heavily influenced by Europe’s Old Masters, with a distinctively Chinese perspective that captures the grace of local tribal people in broad, striking strokes.

At the age of 30 Zhang Li emerged as one of China's most talented painters. His meticulously crafted portraits shown at the country's 2nd International Arts Exhibition were immediately admired by both academics and collectors. Zhang Li's European inspiration developed from China's opening to the world in the 1980s, which presented Li's generation of painters the ability to experience and study original European oil paintings. “Their understanding increased by leaps and bounds and many Chinese painters, including Zhang Li, started to believe that only through the history of oil painting could its mysteries be discovered.” explains renowned critic, Go Zheng Yu. This new ability to study European art more easily diverted painters such as Zhang Li from the influences of traditional Chinese schools of oil painting, which had remained entrenched since the 1930s. “Zhang Li has been attacking the ‘blind zone’ of China’s past oil painting with European style. His painting style is classically refined, but not in the familiar European way,” notes Go Zheng Yu. “Zhang Li worships works by Rembrandt, as well as Courbet and Degas, but his subjects are not the French ballet, the Italian opera or the British court. On the contrary, they convey the profound softness and purity of local tribes. His choice of subjects from Tibet and the hills of southwest China has become his trademark.

Born in Beijing in 1959, Zhang Li joined the army in 1976 and enrolled in the PLA Art Academy in 1979, where he became a teacher after graduation in 1983. He is a member of the Chinese Artists Association and Associate Professor of Fine Arts Department of the PLA Art Academy. His works have been exhibited at domestic and international exhibitions and received numerous prestigious prizes. His paintings are in the collections of top museums, private, and corporate collections. In 1988, after being presented at the "First Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition", his works were sent to Japan for further exhibition. In 1989, his works joined the "Third Asian Arts Exhibition" and were collected by Fukuoka Art Museum of Japan. He gained the top prize at the International Portrait Exhibition held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2000. Zhang Li's paintings continue to be among the most sought after of Chinese oil paintings by collectors both in China and internationally.

Contact us for pricing and inquiries about this work

203.869.3664 or art@cavaliergalleries.com

WORK OF THE WEEK: Syros by Louis Jaquet

LOUIS JAQUET
Syros
oil on canvas with 24 karat gold
31 7/16 x 39 5/16 inches

Syros is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea.This is the island where Greek tradition and western influence come to a harmonious marriage. Ermoúpoli (meaning “the city of Hermes”) is the island’s capital town and was the first important trade and industrial center of the country in the 19th century. Evidence of this glorious past can be seen in public buildings, neoclassical houses, and beautiful squares that have contributed to Ermoúpoli being declared a National Historic Landmark by the Greek government, ensuring that its architectural and cultural integrity are preserved. Examples of the island's stunning architecture and landscape can be seen in Louis Jaquet's painting, Syros.

Born in Paris in 1944, in a family of antique dealers and sculptors, Louis Jaquet started out as a wood sculptor in his family trade. His display of talent led to commissions to restore fine Boulle furniture and later the opportunity to restore paintings by masters such as Perugino and Tintoretto. In 1967 Louis painted and sculpted in Central Italy, where he also worked on restoring works by Perugino and Tintoretto. He did extensive fresco work in several chapels in Italy and Switzerland. Louis was later accepted to the prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts. While in Paris, he met surrealist innovator Salvador Dali and was moved by his ingenious ability to transmit his wild imagination into paintings. Although influenced by Dali, an early friendship with William Congdon, a member of New York's "Action Painting" school of the 1940s (of which Jackson Pollack was also a member) was Louis' principal inspiration. This was a break from abstract expressionism to the process itself of painting freely. Jaquet was later recognized in important Italian art catalogues for his "Homage to Jackson Pollock". In 1972 Louis graduated from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts which marked the beginning of his world traveling and painting. Louis feels, for himself, travels are a necessity. Traveling feeds his creativity and provides answers to his inner questions.

The seventies saw him through the Middle East, Afghanistan, Turkey, and India. The richness of the experiences acquired in these countries and Israel gave him a deep faith in human resilience and the essential beauty of humanity. In India he learned to create his own oil paint by mixing in organic pigments and natural elements, adding life to his subjects. His paintings are tapestries of color ranging from the soft luminescence of dream-like pastels to richly layered jewel tones embedded with quartz and gold. The myriad of experience and creative focus lends innocence to Louis' painting that comes only from mature introspection. Louis Jaquet continues to travel extensively. He maintains a studio in Italy, Southern France and Paris. He is listed in the prestigious Benezit, the encyclopedic directory of artists.

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WORK OF THE WEEK: Peonies by Sarah Lamb

Sarah Lamb
Peonies
oil on canvas
22 x 23 inches

Throughout history peonies have been highly sought after for their beauty and symbolism. With their full, rounded bloom, peonies embody romance and prosperity and are regarded as an omen of good fortune and a happy marriage. Traditionally couples that are celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary are given peonies as present. In China, peonies symbolize nobility. During the Sui and Tang dynasty peonies were planted at the imperial palace and were considered a symbol for nobility and honor refereed to as, "flower of riches and honor" and "the king of flowers," only the emperor was allowed to own them. Peonies have since become the traditional flower symbol of China.

Sarah Lamb, a highly skilled realist painter, was born in Petersburg, Virginia. She graduated from the Brenau Women’s College in 1993 with a degree in Studio Art. During college she studied at the Studio Art Center in Florence, Italy. Following her graduation, she spent two years painting at the Ecole Albert Defois in France with artist Ted Seth Jacobs. Lamb moved to New York in 1997 and spent six years studying under Jacob Collins at the Water Street Atelier. Her painting style is very classical, she uses her sharp attention to detail to create exquisite still life, landscape, and trompe l’oeil paintings. She has had several solo shows and has exhibited in major galleries in Atlanta, Houston, San Francisco, Alexandria, New York, and Connecticut.

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VIRTUAL TOUR: Nantucket Sculpture Garden

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WORK OF THE WEEK: At The Royal Livingstone Hotel by Paul Oxborough

Paul Oxborough
At The Royal Livingstone Hotel
oil on canvas
30 x 60 inches 

At the Royal Livingstone Hotel presents an impressionistic glimpse of The Travelers Bar at the famous Royal Livingstone Hotel in Livingstone, Zambia. Located on the Zambian side of World Heritage Site, Victoria Falls, the hotel's colonial-style buildings stretch along the banks of the Zambezi River. Named in honor of the explorer David Livingstone, the hotel's design reflects the elegance of days gone by. Born in Scotland, David Livingstone arrived in Africa in 1840 at the age of 27 as a missionary and physician. He spent most of the remainder of his life on the continent, his exploits making him the most famous explorer of the century. Livingstone was particularly interested in the Zambezi River area and it was during this expedition there that he became the first European to witness the magnificence of Victoria Falls. Paul Oxborough was greatly inspired by Livingstone, its history, people, and hotel and documented his travels there in studies and photographs that serve as inspiration for his paintings. 

Paul Oxborough studied at Minneapolis College of Art and Design and Atelier Lesueur. He has exhibited numerous times at both the British and Scottish National Portrait Galleries, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, as well as several other notable museums. Paul has had over a dozen solo shows and his work is included in collections world-wide. Known for his bravura brushwork and his ability to capture light, Oxborough's frequent travels provide inspiration for his work, allowing him to paint a seemingly unlimited variety of subjects from intimate portraits and interiors to outdoor figures and landscapes. He has received prestigious awards from organizations such as the British National Portrait Gallery, American Society of Portrait Artists, and the Smithsonian. His work has been featured in ARTNews Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, and CNN, to name a few. 

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WORK OF THE WEEK: "Blue Blanket" by Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth
Blue Blanket
Watercolor on paper
11 1/2 x 17 1/2 inches

Blue Blanket depicts a group of horses turned out in the pasture of Kuerner Farm one of the few remaining working farms in the region surrounding the artist’s Pennsylvania home. Andrew Wyeth’s Chadds Ford neighbors, Karl and Anna Kuerner, as well as the buildings and landscape of their farm, have served as subject matter for some of the artist’s most recognizable works. Though all of Wyeth’s art is drawn from his life experiences, his images of the Kuerner farm have particular personal resonance. Scholars have suggested that Wyeth found a father figure in Karl, his German-born neighbor who owned the property the artist had been fascinated with since childhood. In this engaging view of one of Wyeth’s most noteworthy subjects, a group of blanketed horses enjoy a bit of hay and some winter sunshine as they meander peacefully around the field. The blue-blanketed horse, Dentzel (apparently a particular favorite of the artist), stands out against the pale blue of the winter sky. In Wyeth’s signature style, this watercolor evokes the austerity of the wintry farm landscape, while also conveying a sense of the rolling Pennsylvania countryside in which it is located.

Andrew Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known American artists of the mid 20th century, and was sometimes referred to as the “Painter of the People,” due to his work’s popularity with the American public. Wyeth’s favorite subjects were the land and the people around him, both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and at his summer home in Cushing, Maine. Andrew Wyeth was born in 1917 and was the youngest of five children of illustrator and artist Newell Convers (N.C.) Wyeth and Carolyn Bockius Wyeth. Andrew was home-tutored due to his frail health, and learned art from his father, who inspired his son’s love of rural landscapes, and a sense of romance. Wyeth started drawing at a young age, and with his father’s guidance, he mastered figure study and watercolor, and later learned egg tempera from brother-in-law Peter Hurd. He studied art history on his own, admiring many masters of Renaissance and American painting, especially Winslow Homer. In 1937, at age twenty, Wyeth had his first one-man exhibition of paintings at the Macbeth Gallery in New York City. The entire inventory of his works sold out. Wyeth became famed for the quality of realism and detail found in his art, often creating moody pastorals. Exhibitions of his art, which were shown internationally, often brought in record numbers of museum visitors. Wyeth also went on to receive many honors. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and later received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990 from President George H.W. Bush, the first artist to receive the award. Wyeth died on January 16, 2009, at the age of 91, in the town of his birth.

This painting will be included in Betsy James Wyeth's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.

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WORK OF THE WEEK: "Captain Manter" by Eastman Johnson

Eastman Johnson
Captain Manter, 1873
oil on panel
13 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches

Nathan H. Manter (1819-1897) was the beloved captain of the Nantucket steamboat Island Home from 1860 to 1891. Manter was one of the retired mariners whom Eastman Johnson befriended and painted repeatedly in his Nantucket scenes. Born on Nantucket, he went to sea at the age of seventeen on the Nantucket whaleship Congress (1835-1838), and later commanded the Nantucket whaling schooner William P. Dolliver (1854). During his service as mate of the 1848-1852 cruise of the New Bedford ship Java, he was mistakenly reported as killed by a whale. He retired from whaling and joined the Nantucket Steamboat Company as first officer of the steamer Massachusetts and subsequently as captain of the Telegraph during the laying of cable from Cape Cod to Nantucket on April 19, 1856. He soon took command of the steamship Island Home, aboard which he would serve for the remainder of his career, with a remarkable record of safety, retiring in 1891. Captain Manter's funeral service was held at his home on Federal Street. Many businesses and stores were closed, flags throughout town were flown at half-mast, and the steamer Island Home's bell tolled as a token of respect for her departed captain of thirty-one years. His photographic portrait circa October 1883 may be viewed in the Nantucket Historical Association's collection.

Eastman Johnson was best known for his genre paintings and his portraits both of everyday people and prominent Americans such as Abraham Lincoln, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His later works often show the influence of the 17th-century Dutch masters, whom he studied in The Hague in the 1850s. Johnson was known as "The American Rembrandt" in his day. He first visited Nantucket in 1869, and soon took up seasonal residence on the island, purchasing a home and artists studio on North Street (now Cliff Road). The artist's island sojourns would inspire some of his most enduring works. Following the completion of his masterpiece Nantucket landscape The Cranberry Harvest, Johnson turned his attention to portraiture, taking advantage of the community of grizzled veterans of the sea who haunted Nantucket in the twilight of the nineteenth century, as well as his new neighbors who included retired mariners, civic officials, and practicing artists.

Johnson was one of the original founders of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's earliest roots date back to 1866 in Paris, France, when a group of Americans agreed to create a "national institution and gallery of art" to bring art and art education to the American people. The lawyer John Jay, who proposed the idea, swiftly moved forward with the project upon his return to the United States from France. Under Jay's presidency, the Union League Club in New York rallied civic leaders, businessmen, artists, art collectors, and philanthropists to the cause. On April 13, 1870, The Metropolitan Museum of Art was incorporated, opening to the public in the Dodworth Building at 681 Fifth Avenue.

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NEWS: Bruno Lucchesi featured in International Artist Magazine

Cavalier Galleries artist, Bruno Lucchesi, is the subject of a four page article titled, The Art of the Portrait: BRUNO LUCCHESI Reflections of a Sculptor, in International Artist Magazine June/July 2015 Issue 103 on Pages 32-35.

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You can also visit us on 1stdibs to purchase selected works online.

WORK OF THE WEEK: "Far and Wide" by Joseph McGurl

Joseph McGurl
Far and Wide
oil on canvas
28 x 46 inches

As artist Joseph McGurl explains, "Far and Wide was inspired after spending a couple of weeks on my boat anchored in Nantucket Harbor. I spent several days exploring and sketching on land and from an inflatable dinghy the dunes and marshes of Coatue. There is no exact location for this scene as it is composed from a synthesis of different sketches and impressions. What I was interested in was conveying the great sense of space, freedom, and desolation I experienced while there. In addition to these features, the painting also considers time because we often link time and space.  Speed x distance equals time. How long will it take me to walk to that distant dune? Unique places such as Coatue always give me an opportunity to contemplate the more sublet aspects of our existence and incorporate them into a work of art that goes beyond a literal transcription of the scene."

Joseph McGurl was born in Massachusetts in 1958. He graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and studied in England and Italy. McGurl synthesizes academic figure drawing skills with sight-size landscape painting resulting in a new and unique approach to addressing the landscape. McGurl’s paintings may be considered philosophically modernist extensions of the 19th century Luminist painters. His interest in physics and the nature of reality has resulted in a thoroughly modern approach to style and subject. While retaining the modernist’s graphic design sensibility and individuality of message, he departs from post contemporary modernist forms by subverting the ego of the artist to achieve greater fidelity to nature. He is one of the few contemporary realists who does not include the use of photography in his art. McGurl is a devoted plein air painter which allows him to connect with the landscape on a profound level and gain a deeper understanding of his subject. Although the objects depicted in the paintings are elements of the landscape and have a deep, personal meaning to him, of equal importance is an exploration of light, form, space, and color interpreted through paint.

McGurl’s paintings have been included in several museum exhibitions in Massachusetts, New York, California, and Rhode Island as well as being exhibited in numerous group museum exhibitions which traveled throughout the country. He has had retrospective solo shows at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, The Cahoon Museum of American Art, and the Saint Botolph Club of Boston. The Arnot Art Museum’s Representing Representation, a survey of the most significant representational work being done today, included his work as an example of contemporary landscape painting. He is in the collections of the New Britain Museum of American Art, The Cape Cod Museum of Art, The Mellon Collection, The Forbes Collection, Sen. John Kerry, and the Cahoon Museum of American Art. McGurl has been designated a Living Master by the Art Renewal Center in New York. He has been elected to the Guild of Boston Artists, was a Copley Master with the Copley Society of Boston, and is a signature member of the prestigious Plein Air Painters of America. His many awards include the Guild of Boston Artists Gold Medallion, The Art Renewal Center’s International Salon First Place in Landscape, American Fine Art Magazine Award of Excellence, The Rehs Award, a Purchase Award, and the John Singleton Copley Award for Artistic Achievement.

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