TOM PALMORE BEST IN SHOW
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Tom Palmore Best in Show
August 30 - October 12, 2019
Railyard Arts District | 1613 Paseo de Peralta | Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 | tel 505.988.3250 www.lewallengalleries.com | contact@lewallengalleries.com cover: Best in Show (detail), 2019, graphite on paper, 19 x 24 inches
Tom Palmore: Best in Show Tom Palmore has enjoyed a much-admired career as an extraordinary hyperrealist painter for more than 45 years. Celebrated for his magical-realist paintings of portraits of animals, Palmore unveils in this exhibition a breathtaking series of drawings that reflect his remarkable technique as a draughtsman and his ability to captivate his viewer through incredible detail, clever titles, and playful allusions to art history. Rendering rabbits, bobcats, tropical birds, horses, and other creatures with a sense of nobility and refinement, Palmore reminds his audience that these remarkable beings can be regarded as partners alongside their human counterparts. Picking up where the Old Masters left off in the tradition of portraiture, Palmore is regarded for representing his animals in the style of works commissioned by royals and celebrities. Whether rendering in graphite a lion or a housecat, Palmore reveals in his images a sense of identity, pride, and personality, in a manner similar to that of the finest portraits painted of people in art history. Displaying a whimsical imagination, masterful technical expertise with drawing media, and a gifted eye for detail, Palmore’s hyper-realistic portraits offer a uniquely charming and cleverly witty confluence of skillful literalism and a magical-realist narrative. Palmore pays pronounced attention to detail when rendering his portraits. His visual puns and creative backdrops lend his portraits a sense of humor that serves to draw viewers closer to the subject. His sensitive and reverential work to express the individual personalities of the animals he depicts serves as a catalyst for profound consideration that animals and humans are deserving of the same dignity and honor.
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Southern Plains, 2019, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 10.5 x 7.75 inches 3
Gentle Giant, 2019, graphite on paper, 19 x 24 inches 4
Golden Eagle, 2019 graphite on paper, 15 x 11 inches 5
Good Morning to the Gambels, 2019, graphite on paper, 19 x 24 inches
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Humpty Trumpty Sat on a Wall, 2019, graphite on paper, 24 x 19 inches 7
Tropical Heatwave, 2019, graphite on paper, 24 x 19 inches
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Cougar, 2019, graphite on paper, 22 x 19 inches 9
Unexpected Visitor, 2019, graphite on paper, 19 x 24 inches
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Good Day Mister Blue Bird, 2019, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 8.25 x 10.5 inches
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Putin Takes a Ride, 2019, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches 12
Welcome to the Wild West, 2019, graphite on paper, 24 x 19 inches 13
Rare Australian Hoopoe, 2019, graphite on paper, 20.75 x 18 inches 14
Black Satin, 2019, graphite on paper, 19 x 21 inches 15
Best Frenemies, 2019, graphite on paper, 19 x 24 inches 16
T.C.'s Bobcat, 2019, graphite on paper, 24 x 19 inches
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Angel Face, 2019, graphite on paper, 14 x 11 inches 18
Mr. Tooters, 2019, graphite on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches 19
Two Birds on One Branch, 2019, graphite on paper, 10.5 x 8 inches
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Are You Looking At Me? 2019, graphite on paper, 19.75 x 18.38 inches
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It is Good to Be King, 2019, graphite on paper, 18.75 x 18.75 inches 22
My Cottontail Friend, 2019, graphite on paper, 19 x 24 inches 23
Mister Hummer, 2019, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 10.75 x 7.75 inches
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Best in Show, 2019, graphite on paper, 19 x 24 inches
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Where's My Mommy?, 2019, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 8 x 10 inches
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Tom Palmore
(b. 1945: Ada, OK)
EDUCATION
1977 Paint By Numbers, Janet Fleischer,
1967-69 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
1965-66 North Texas State University, Denton, TX
1976 Marion Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1963-65 University of Nevada, Reno, NV
1975 Louis K. Miesel Gallery, New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA
1973 Trophies, Bernard Dannenberg Galleries, SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Best in Show, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
1971 Gorillas, Midgets, & a Couple of Dogs, Marion
2016
My Menagerie, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe,
NM (also Cats, Birds and a Couple of Monkeys,
2012; Animal Farm, 2010; Tom Palmore, 2008;
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Portraits of the Animal World, 2006; and Tom
2014-16 Cowboy Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City, OK
Philadelphia, PA Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Palmore, 2004) 2013
Astoria Gallery, Jackson, WY
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
2011
Sorrel Sky Gallery, Durango, CO (also 2009)
Albuquerque Museum of Art
2007
Astoria Gallery, Jackson, WY
Allentown Museum of Art
1999
US Artist 99, Philadelphia, PA
Brooklyn Museum
The Academy Show, J. Cacciola Galleries,
Denver Art Museum
New York, NY; also Other Earthlings (also
Everson Museum of Art
1998 and 1994)
Indianapolis Museum of Art
1995 Roland Betts Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
National Museum of Wildlife Art
1993 Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Santa Fe, NM (also
New Mexico Music of Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
1992, 1981 and 1979)
1991 Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
1989 Birds, Bulls, and a Couple of Monkeys,
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Phoenix Art Museum
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1986 Recent Paintings, Gerald Peters Gallery,
Princeton University
Smithsonian Institute
Dallas, TX
1985 Performing Animals, Route 66,
St. Louis Art Museum
Whitney Gallery of Western Art
Philadelphia, PA
1983 Texas Wildlife, F.C.I., Fort Worth, TX
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Whitney Museum of American Art
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Railyard Arts District | 1613 Paseo de Peralta | Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 | tel 505.988.3250 www.lewallengalleries.com | contact@lewallengalleries.com Š 2019 LewAllen Contemporary, LLC 30 Artwork Š Tom Palmore