P R E V I E W S O F W O R K S F O R S A L E AT U P C O M I N G S H O W S C O A S T T O C O A S T
AMERICAN
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FEBRUARY 2019
ISSUE 160
CO L L E C TO R'S FO CU S WINTER LANDS
SNOW SCENES BY JOHN O’HERN
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ot everyone will agree with Robert Frost’s statement “You can’t get too much winter in the winter,” but Frost, a hardy New England type, knew that with its harshness, winter has space for beauty and frolic. Winslow Homer (1836-1910) portrayed the harshness of winter in Fox Hunt, 1893. The predator becomes prey as it becomes bogged down in deep snow. At first glance, the fox seems intent on its own prey until the dark forms of the crows become clear, ominously hovering above and converging from the distance. The dramatic, nearly 6-foot wide painting was purchased by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1894, the first
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of his paintings to enter a public collection. The scene is near his seaside studio in Maine where winter carries on while his little drama unfolds. The sun breaks through the clouds of the passing storm as the waves crash on the shore and a seagull looks for its next meal. Red berries from the past season hold the promise of spring. Timothy Barr depicts a less ominous scene in Fox in Squall. Barr is as immersed in the landscape of eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware as Homer was in the coast of Maine. He says, “As a landscape painter it’s important to know the soul of the landscape you are painting…I only hope I can someday do the material justice by getting closer to
the soul of it visually.” His paintings are often wonderfully detailed. In Fox in Squall, fallen snow covers the detail of the landscape and falling snow blurs and blends the scene into a soft, luminous whole. Lynn Boggess immerses himself in the landscape, as well—literally. He sets up a portable shelter and paints in plein air with oils in all seasons. Applying paint with a trowel, he captures the experience of being in the landscape rather than its detail. He presents a brief moment in time and titles his paintings with the date they were painted. His explorations of the qualities of the painting surface, a fascination of abstract expressionists, allow the viewer to
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is to reach for the specific feeling of a place, rather than just what it looks like. This is why I spend so many hours working with mood and light, rather than detail.” The
exuberance of skating on a city pond in winter is captured in his First Snow. McCaw, his expressionist painter father, Dan, and his modern abstract painter brother, John,
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go beyond the lush surface to experience the illusion of the space in nature. Danny McCaw says, “I paint with an emotion, and the viewer sees this. My goal
COLL E C TO R'S FO CU S: WI N TER L A N DS
1. M & M Fine Art, Glenwood Springs, oil on board, 22 x 28", by Daniel Sprick. 2. Somerville Manning Gallery, Fox in Squall, oil on panel, 12 x 24", by Timothy Barr. 3. Principle Gallery, 2 January 2018, oil on canvas, 40 x 35", by Lynn Boggess. 4. Trailside Galleries, First Snow, oil on canvas, 40 x 50", by Danny McCaw. 5. Trailside Galleries, Winter’s Welcome, oil on canvas, 30 x 40", by Robert Moore. 6. Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Fox Hunt, 1893, oil on canvas, 38 x 68½". Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA. Joseph E. Temple Fund.
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share a studio “in a dynamic atmosphere where curiosity, open mindedness and traditional wisdom co-mingle with experimentation, innovation and change.” In his own work, McCaw’s experimentation allows him to scrape a painting down and “rebuild” it. He says, “I always begin a work one way, but then it takes a wholly different direction at the end.” Throughout the pages of this special section are a number of snow-covered landscapes, wrought with the beauty and chill of the season. There are also insights and information from artists and dealers about these timely works of art. Along with McCaw, Trailside Galleries in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, represents a number of artists who paint winter scenes that show the terrain bathed in white or as it is melting at the end of winter. According to the gallery, “Artists use the unique quality of the gray winter light to capture the ethereal, almost spiritual season of winter.” On February 18, the gallery will open Winter’s Embrace with work by Michael Godfrey and Robert Moore. 086
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Godfrey translates his emotional and spiritual engagement with the landscape onto the canvas, as well as his interpretation of the many moods of light. Godfrey softens edges to imply detail rather than actively state it, which allows him to concentrate on the experience of the moment. Moore says, “Winter puts the wide spectrum of summer and fall hues and intensities to sleep for the year, leaving beautiful grays and neutral colors.” Lotton Gallery in Chicago features the works of Dutch artist Simon Balyon, who often depicts a more idyllic time and place. “Simon paints serene winter skies and snowy meadows with the mastery of the old Dutch painters,” says gallery director Christina Franzoso. “His paintings reminisce to the 16th and 17th centuries; ice skaters on the dykes of Holland and icy windmills bring the romance and sentimental feelings of the winter. The detail in Balyon’s paintings makes for something new every time you look.” At the recent exhibition Master Realists at M & M Fine Art in New York City
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were works on view by John Baeder, Bo Bartlett, David DeSimone, Andrew Wyeth and Daniel Sprick. One of the main pieces in the exhibition was Sprick’s Glenwood Springs, which depicts a snowcovered edge of a stream. The ethereal work is of the Colorado resort city known for its hot springs. An artist who has been enthralled by the season is Brooke Borcherding, who has found a particular interest in the challenges and excitement of painting using white. She says, “Over the past few years white has become an amazing color to me. It’s the only paint I have a gallon tub of so that I can scoop it right out of the bucket with my brush and smother it on the canvas with glee.” Borcherding adds that while winter may be a cold season, “a landscape painting depicting a snowy scene can still feel warm and invite you to walk along through the canvas. Winter scenes have a nostalgic quality for me, so I advise to pick a painting that provides a place you feel comfortable and warm getting lost in.”
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7. Trailside Galleries, Winter’s Embrace, oil on canvas, 20 x 20", by Michael Godfrey. 8. Trailside Galleries, Sunrise on the Gros Ventre, oil on board, 24 x 36", by James Morgan. 9. Trailside Galleries, Road Closed Ahead, oil on linen, 10 x 14", by Matt Smith. 10. Trailside Galleries, Winter’s Chill, oil on linen, 10 x 12", by Kathleen Dunphy. 11. Brooke Borcherding, Winter’s Meander, acrylic, 18 x 18" 12. Brooke Borcherding, Winter’s Light, acrylic, 12 x 12" 13. Lotton Gallery, Shepherdess, Winter, oil on canvas, 13 x 18", by Simon Balyon. 14. Lotton Gallery, Winter Events, oil on panel, 24 x 36", by Simon Balyon. 15. Lotton Gallery, Winter Windmill, oil on canvas, 36 x 24", by Simon Balyon.
Artists & Galleries BROOKE BORCHERDING
M & M FINE ART
4 N. Main Street, Southampton, NY 11968, (631) 259-2274 www.mmfineart.com
PRINCIPLE GALLERY
208 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, (703) 739-9326 www.principlegallery.com
SOMERVILLE MANNING GALLERY
Breck’s Mill, 2nd Floor, 101 Stone Block Row, Greenville, DE 19807 (302) 652-0271 www.somervillemanning.com
TRAILSIDE GALLERIES
130 E. Broadway Avenue Jackson Hole, WY 83001 (307) 733-3186 www.trailsidegalleries.com
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Seattle, WA (310) 259-5672 www.brookeborcherding.com
LOTTON GALLERY
900 N. Michigan Avenue, Level 6 Chicago, IL 60611, (312) 664-6203 www.lottongallery.com
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