category_outlined / Art & Architecture
IN THIS ISSUE
fine art connoisseur
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669), Self-Portrait with Tousled Hair, c. 1628–29, pen and brown ink with gray wash on paper, 5 x 3 3/4 in., De Bruijnvan der Leeuw Bequest, Muri, Switzerland; on view in the exhibition All the Rembrandts at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum through June 10 And so what Rembrandt has alone or almost alone among painters [is] that tenderness in the gaze … that heartbroken tenderness, that glimpse of a superhuman infinite that there seems so natural… — Vincent van Gogh, 1888 ■…
a mission bigger than all of us
KERRY DUNN (b. 1976), Portrait of Publisher Eric B. Rhoads , 2018, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in. You and I are art people. We love and respect art. We read about it, we have collections of art books and magazines, we visit exhibitions, and we buy an artwork from time to time, sometimes frequently. If we’re fortunate, we have a collection, perhaps just a few pieces, or many pieces covering many walls. We have the art flu.Though some of us possess art-making skills, most of us are simply amazed at what another person can produce with a brush or chisel. When we glimpse real quality, we want to own it, or at least to admire it in person. We may or may…
celebrating collectors
(TRIPPI PHOTO: FRANCIS HILLS) What an inspiring experience! For the past few months, our editorial team has been engrossed in learning about real-life individuals who are collecting superb contemporary realist art. Our conversations with these enthusiastic patrons — conducted via telephone, e-mail, and in person — have confirmed our belief that much energy, and considerable cash, are being expended in support of the ever-growing number of talented realist artists working among us. We are particularly delighted that these visionaries live all over the country, and that each fell in love with this field in a different way.In preparing the profiles here, we learned that many of these collectors — sophisticated and well-connected as they are — are not accustomed to being in the spotlight. Knowing how much they value their…
auction
BRAD RICHARDSON Partner, Scottsdale Art Auction SUNSET, SALT LAKE Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) 1863, oil on board, 5 5/8 x 8 7/8 in. Scottsdale Art Auction, Legacy Gallery, April 6 Estimate: $150,000–$250,000 Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) saw nature as a big theatrical performance. He attended its shows throughout his life and was one of its most enthusiastic patrons. For his depictions of the Hudson River Valley, the Rockies, and California’s Sierra Nevada, he studied their terrain and added a bit of drama for painterly effect. Suddenly storms, clouds, broad rays of sunshine, or the approach of twilight assumed greater power, assuming it’s even possible to enhance the forces of nature.After he was born in what was then Prussia, Bierstadt’s family settled in Massachusetts. As a…
favorite
ROBIN KARSON Founder and director, Library of American Landscape History Photo: Carol Betsch Turn in the Road PAUL CÉZANNE (1839–1906) c. 1881, oil on canvas, 23 7/8 x 28 7/8 in. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; bequest of John T. Spaulding In a quiet French village painted by Paul Cézanne, no people are visible in the houses’ windows and no wind stirs the trees. Nonetheless, Robin Karson, founder and director of the Library of American Landscape History (LALH), senses a pronounced animation here. “I’m a dancer by training and a choreographer, as well as a landscape historian. For me, there is something about the shape and curve of the road that implies movement,” Karson says of the sinuous detail that gives…
three to watch
MORGAN IRONS (b. 1991), Evening Hands , 2018, oil on linen, 16 x 20 in., private collection The irony in the art of MORGAN IRONS (b. 1991) is that she paints with the sensitivity and skill of someone twice her age. While her timeless subjects might convey the impression that she is an old soul, or that they were painted long ago, Irons is very much a young woman of her time, benefit-ting from all of her generation’s technological advantages while increasing her visibility before an expanding audience.Primarily self-taught, Irons began painting in 2015 after moving from Alaska to the Montana countryside. By studying past masters and participating in workshops with Jeremy Lipking and Joshua LaRock, she learned to create nuanced portraits and figures…
