Cavalier Ebanks Galleries Blog: May 2015

Thursday, May 28, 2015

WORK OF THE WEEK: Ceremony by Daniel Greene


Daniel Greene Ceremony pastel on wood 32 x 50 inches

Daniel Greene's newest masterpiece, Ceremony, is a deeply personal piece for the 81 year old artist symbolizing his passing the torch to the talented younger artists of a new generation. In Ceremony the older woman, who is pictured in numerous other works by Greene, holds a standard 20 x 24 inch portrait size canvas stretcher above the head of the younger woman, framing her as the face of a new generation of artists. The numbers in the background signify the randomness often associated with today's digital age. The decorative frieze atop signifies the important presence of tradition and heritage in art and takes inspiration from 15th Century Flemish altarpieces. Ceremony will be featured in the upcoming fall edition of The Artist magazine.

The Encyclopedia Britannica considers Daniel Greene the foremost pastelist in the United States and in 1983, the Pastel Society of America elected him to the Pastel Hall of Fame. In 1989, his work represented the United States at the first International Biennial of Pastel in San Quentin, France. Greene is the recipient of American Artist's magazine's first Lifetime Achievement Award and the Oil Painters of America Society have named him to their Hall of Fame. He has also been awarded the American Society of Portrait Artists John Singer Sargent award for lifelong dedication to the achievement of excellence in portraiture.

Daniel Greene's paintings and pastels are in over 500 public and private collections in the United States and abroad. A retrospective exhibition of Greene's paintings and pastels was held at the Hammond Museum in New York. His recent exhibition "Subway Paintings" at the New York Transit Museum at Grand Central Terminal was the inaugural event in the centennial year of the New York subway.

Highly regarded as a portrait artist Greene's subjects include leaders of government, banking, education, and industry.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

WORK OF THE WEEK: East River Idyll by David Bareford

David Bareford
East River Idyll
oil on canvas
36 1/4 x 48 1/4 inches

Take a trip down the East River with award winning artist David Bareford in his newest painting, East River Idyll. The rich color harmonies and sense of the perfect moment captured in time are signatures of Bareford's highly sought after work. Best known for his New England maritime scenes East River Idyll is a rare subject for Bareford with its urban, New York, setting but is perhaps one of his most complex and accomplished paintings. East River Idyll skillfully instills the city with a sense of sparking calm and beautifully captures the New York skyline and surrounding landscape.

Born in New Jersey, David Bareford moved to the renown artist colony of Rockport, Massachusetts after college, where he remains a member of the Rockport Art Association. Fascinated by watercolor as a student, Bareford achieved early success and his work was regularly shown in exhibitions of the American Watercolor Society, Allied Artists of America and the National Academy of Design. Eventually, he turned his attention to oil painting seeking to expand his vision and artistic expression. Bareford has achieved international recognition and is an elected member of many professional art organizations including the Copley Society and the American Society of Marine Artists.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

WORK OF THE WEEK: Day to Night, Coney Island by Stephen Wilkes

Stephen Wilkes
Day to Night, Coney Island
digital C-print
20 x 40 inches
30 x 60 inches

For over 150 years Coney Island has stood as one of the great American playgrounds. Offering a dreamlike oasis in the middle of New York's dense urban landscape Coney Island inspires the child in all of us to come alive. In Stephen Wilkes artfully curated image, Day to Night, Coney Island, viewers are drawn in by the glow of the spinning Ferris wheel and colorful tents of the amusement park juxtaposed with the seemingly infinite stretch of white sand beach and azure blue ocean dotted with billowing sails. The magical quality of this work encapsulates the spirit of Coney Island and inspires the same childlike awe that can be felt standing on the boardwalk.

Wilkes is not the first artist to be inspired by Coney Island. The Wadsworth Atheneum has chosen the subject to celebrate the opening of their new special exhibition galleries with the show, Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland. As the museum explains, "this is the first major exhibition to use visual art as a lens to explore the lure that Coney Island exerted on American culture over a period of 150 years. An extraordinary array of artists viewed Coney Island as a microcosm of the American experience, from its beginnings as a watering hole for the wealthy, through its transformation into an entertainment mecca for the masses." The exhibition will be on view through May 31st.

For more than two decades Stephen Wilkes has been widely recognized for his fine art and commercial photography. His photographs have been featured in leading magazines and periodicals including the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair and Time. Wilkes’ awards and honors include the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Magazine Photography, Photographer of the Year from Adweek Magazine, Fine Art Photographer of the Year 2004 Lucie Award, and the Epson Creativity Award. His monograph, Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom was named one of Time Magazine’s 5 Best Photography Books of The Year in 2006. Wilkes’ work is in the permanent collection of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Dow Jones Collection, Griffin Museum of Photography, Jewish Museum of New York, Library of Congress, Snite Museum of Art, The Historic New Orleans Collection and numerous private collections.

Stephen Wilkes’ newest body of work, Day to Night, captures epic cityscapes, iconic landmarks, and magical human moments from day to the night. Wilkes explains, "I imagined changing time in a single photograph. I began to explore this fascination with time in a new series of photographs called: Day to Night. Photographing from one camera angle continuously for up to 15 hours, capturing the fleeting moments throughout the day and night. A select group of these images are then blended into one photograph, capturing the changing of time within a single frame."

Click to view a time lapse video from Stephen Wilkes of his Day to Night, Coney Island photographs used to create this unique piece.

As part of our celebration of Coney Island Cavalier Galleries is please to offer a collection of vintage Coney Island photographs now available for sale.

Morris Engel (1918-2005)
Coney Island Embrace, 1938
photograph
14 x 11 inches

Morris Engel (1918-2005)
Drying Off, Coney Island, NYC, 1938
Photography
14 X 11 inches

Morris Engel (1918-2005)
Inner Tube, Coney Island, NYC, 1938
Photography
14 X 11 inches

Morris Engel (1918-2005)
Woman on Beach, Coney Island, NYC, 1938
Photography
14 X 11 inches

Robert Farber (b. 1944)
Cyclone, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, Edition of 25, 1981
fine art paper pigment print
30 X 40 inches

Friday, May 8, 2015

Sculptor Carole Feuerman Exhibiting at 2015 Venice Biennale

Balance

Oil on Resin

36 x 32 x 18 inches

Carole Feuerman has been invited again to take part in the Venice Biennale, which is often dubbed “the Olympics of the art world”. Her monumental works DurgaMa and Leda and the Swan are part of the 2015 exhibit: Time –Space-Existence running from May 9th through November 22, 2015 in Palazzo Mora. Her selections for this year draw on the themes of birth/rebirth and existence.

Leda and the Swan

Oil on Resin with 24k Gold Leaf and Swarovski Crystal

42 H x 80 W x 90 D inches

Leda and the Swan draws on mythical context. It is based on the Greek myth in which Zeus, disguised as a swan, seduces Leda, resulting in the birth of Helen of Troy. The reclining female figure drapes her relaxed body across the back of the inflatable swan in an elegant curve that moves from the swan’s neck to its tail.

She is simultaneously strong and serene in a vintage women’s bathing suit and swim cap. When the Swan left Carole’s NYC studio the combined weight of the sculpture and its crate was over 1,000 pounds!

DurgaMa

Painted Bronze

101 H x 90 W x 91 D inches

DurgaMa is an ascending beauty that represents the cycles of existence. The lotus symbolizes rebirth and spiritual awakening. The meditative figure sitting atop the opened lotus flower speaks to the purity of the artist’s inner vision.

The lotus’ strong stem carries it up to twelve inches above dirty water to bloom. It represents the soul’s journey from the mud of materialism to the radiant light of enlightenment. DurgaMa basks in that light.

This will be the second Venice Biennale Carole Feuerman has participated in.

To view more sculpture by Carole Feuerman please click HERE to visit our website.

WORK OF THE WEEK: Essex Inbound by Nicholas Berger

Nicholas Berger

Essex Inbound

oil on board

25 1/4 x 37 inches

Essex Inbound depicts the most famous whaleship of all time, the Essex, from Nantucket, Massachusetts. The Essex captained by George Pollard, Jr. left Nantucket for its final voyage on August 12, 1819. In 1820 while sailing in the Southern Pacific Ocean the ship was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale, the only known attack of a whale on a ship. The surviving crew spent months at sea before the final eight survivors were rescued. First mate Owen Chase and cabin boy Thomas Nickerson wrote account of the ordeal that would later inspire Herman Melville to pen his 1851 classical American novel Moby-Dick. The story of the Essex also inspired the New York Times Best Seller, In the Heart of the Sea, written by Nantucket author Nathaniel Philbrick. In the Heart of the Sea is scheduled to be released this year as a feature film directed by Ron Howard.

In this historically accurate painting, artist Nicholas Berger, depicts the Essex entering Nantucket Harbor. Renown for his attention to detail Berger includes every detail of the legendary whaleship including the smokestack used for processing whale products during long voyages at sea.

Nicholas Berger holds BFA and MFA from Alfred University and teaches at the undergraduate level. Berger's career as an artist spans three decades and has brought him national and international acclaim. His work is sought by discriminating collectors and his paintings are found in the private collections of a former U.S. President and well-known entertainers. Considered one of the great American artists, Berger's work has been part of numerous prominent exhibitions and shows, including a sold-out two-man show with Andrew Wyeth in Tokyo.

Nicholas Berger's paintings have the power to draw the viewer into the heart of the scene, interacting with each individual in a personal way. Having worked for several decades in watercolor, his recent work is painted in oil. In this new medium, viewers will continue to find the sensitivity reminiscent of Berger's watercolors, the beauty of his signature detail work, and the subtlety and fine nuances that continue to place his work among the best.

Nicholas Berger lives in the Hudson Highlands, enjoying the natural beauty of an area that has inspired American artists since the earliest days.