Happening Next Week: Acrylic Live Online Art Conference

For artists, art lovers, and collectors: Watch and interact with world-renowned artists as they demonstrate their skills at the inaugural Acrylic Live online art conference, March 26-28, 2025, with an Essential Techniques Day on March 25.

Watch and interact with watercolor teachers such as Anne Blair Brown, Aimee Erickson, Jed Dorsey, Kevin Macpherson, and many more, hosted by Publisher Eric Rhoads, PleinAir Magazine Editor-in-Chief Kelly Kane, and Charlie Easton!

This is an experience this amazing event from the place where you are at your most comfortable and creative such as your own home or studio — no need to spend on travel, hotels. Each ticket tier includes several replay options so you can watch the demos again and again!

Artists, you’ll be able to ask questions, paint along, and quickly learn methods and techniques that took these painters decades to master — all thanks to their exceptional teaching skills.

PAINT ALONG & COCKTAIL HOURS!
Join Eric Rhoads, Charlie Easton, Faculty Members, & the other attendees each night for an intimate virtual paint along & cocktail hour… right over Zoom!

Learn more about Acrylic Live here and register today.

View fine art auctions and sales here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.

Happening Now: Watercolor Live – Art Auction and Online Conference

For artists, art lovers, and collectors: Watch and interact with world-renowned artists as they demonstrate their skills at Watercolor Live now through Friday. Included is an exclusive faculty art auction (live January 20-26).

On the popular Essential Techniques Day earlier this week, Publisher Eric Rhoads and Editor-in-Chief Kelly Kane welcomed us with encouragement and everything we needed to know to have a great week at Watercolor Live.

Artists from all over the world are together online through January 26th to learn, grow, be inspired, make friends, network, and – dare we say it – have fun!

The silent auction and sale takes place through January 26, 2025. View the artworks here.

Watch and interact with watercolor teachers such as Thomas Schaller, Alvaro Castagnet, Bjorn Bernstrom, Xi Guo, David Stickel, Kelly Eddington, Shelley Prior, and many more, hosted by Publisher Eric Rhoads and PleinAir Magazine and American Watercolor Weekly Editor-in-Chief Kelly Kane.

It’s not too late to join us at WatercolorLive.com now, and replays of the event are available. See you there!

Artists: We want to help you grow, become a better artist, learn new ideas and techniques, and give you some world-class painting instruction from master artists — all while introducing you to a community that will support you!

View more fine art auctions and sales here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.

The Winter Show in NYC, a benefit for East Side House, announces its highlights, including over 70 exhibitors of rare and exceptional art and antiques, taking place January 24 through February 2, 2025.

More from the organizers:

With dealers from across the Americas and Europe, the 2025 edition of The Winter Show will once again showcase the finest museum-quality works to an international audience of collectors, connoisseurs, and enthusiasts, alongside an acclaimed program of talks, panels, and events with leading experts in art, antiques, and design.

All ticket proceeds from the fair and its benefit events, including the Opening Night Party on January 23, sponsored by Bank of America, and Young Collectors Night on January 30, directly fund East Side House Settlement. Chubb returns as The Winter Show’s presenting sponsor, celebrating 29 years of partnership and support.

Executive Director Helen Allen said, “With every edition of The Winter Show, we look forward to sharing the world-class works our dealers bring to the fair. This year, we are particularly pleased with the exciting range of works across periods, styles, cultures, and makers. We are proud to uphold our extremely high standards of excellence among our exhibitors, ensuring a selection of truly unique and remarkable works for collectors and fairgoers of every variety. As always, the experience will be enhanced by complementary programming featuring panels and lectures by experts across the fields of art and design.”

For more details about The Winter Show benefit for East Side House, please visit www.thewintershow.org.

The 5th Annual Realism Live is a virtual art conference for artists, art lovers, and collectors. Watch and interact with world-renowned artists as they demonstrate their skills November 13-15, 2024, with an optional Essential Techniques Day on November 12.

Included is an exclusive faculty art auction, pre-event seminars, breakout rooms, a paint-along cocktail hour, and more.

This year’s faculty includes: Juliette Aristides, Suzie Baker, Ben Bauer, Yana Beylinson, Lyn Diefenbach, Michelle Dunaway, Steve Forster, Kristy Gordon, Thomas Jefferson Kitts, Angus McEwan, Kami Mendlik, Michael Mentler, Carol Peebles, Mary Pettis, Mark Pugh, Matt Ryder, Sarah Sedwick, Daniel Sprick, Anthony Waichulis, Dawn Whitelaw, Zhaoming Wu, Vincent Xeus, and Zane York, hosted by Eric Rhoads and Peter Trippi.

When you attend Realism Live, You Have The RARE Opportunity To…

• Learn from dozens of the World’s Top & Most Accomplished Realism Painters.
• Streamline your realist painting skills through in-depth painting demos. Learn in 3 days what normal students take over a decade and tens of thousands of dollars to study.
• Paint along with your favorite Realism Masters and connect with other artists from all over the world, right from the comfort of your own home… No travel, airfare, meals, or hotel needed!
• Receive premium Instruction in Figure, Portrait, Landscape, Still Life, Flowers, and more!
• Witness how your favorite Realism artists start, work through, and finish paintings and drawings.
• Discover the go-to materials and equipment that the World’s Greatest Realism Artists are using today –– Material list included!
• And Much, MUCH More!

Click here to visit RealismLive.com and register now!

Hello from PACE in the stunning Great Smoky Mountains! This week, we’re bringing you a few favorite moments from the 11th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo, held at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in North Carolina. The excitement has been building for weeks up to this moment, with hundreds of painters joining us from all over the world for a week of demonstrations, paint-outs, parties, and more.

This year, the Opening Ceremony included a special Lifetime Achievement Award presentation for Kenn Backhaus, who is a Signature Artist Member of the California Art Club, a Master Signature Member of both the Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society, a Signature member of the Plein Air Painters of America. He also served as President of the Plein Air Painters of America.

Kenn led a workshop on the Main Stage of PACE as well, where he explained that when he’s almost finished with a painting, he puts it into a frame to judge how it will affect the presentation of the painting and to help him see what may need further development.

We also welcomed student painters who came on scholarship, and Eric announced that next year we plan to bring 100 students under the age of 25 to PACE, investing $100,000 to support the next generation of plein air painters.

In a much-anticipated segment, we also announced the winners of this year’s PleinAir Salon, which had nearly 11,000 entries from almost 3,000 artists from 73 countries. The top prizes went to Camille Przewodek (Grand Prize, $15,000 cash and the cover of PleinAir Magazine); Steven Walker (Second Place, $3,000); and Charles Newman (Third Place, $1,500).

We wish you were here! Stay tuned for when we announce the location for next year’s PACE, and reserve your spot ASAP: PleinAirConvention.com.

And, read the full daily highlights from the Plein Air Convention & Expo at OutdoorPainter.com.

Join Us for a Rare Fine Art Trip to Venice

Venice is one of the most colorful and architecturally interesting cities in the world, with everyday life taking place on canals and most transportation occurring by boat. That’s why so many artists have been drawn to this inspirational city.

John Singer Sargent did an entire series of paintings in Venice over the course of several years, and the last time I was there, I stood in the same spots where Sargent would have stood to do his paintings. But it wasn’t just Sargent; there has been a procession of artists to Venice for generations. The city was documented most by Canaletto, who lived in Venice, and resident artists have also included Bellini, Carpaccio, Veronese, Giorgione, Titian, and Tintoretto.

Anders Zorn painted his famous portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice. In fact, he had stayed at her home, Palazzo Barbaro, for several weeks, struggling with the portrait, until one day she got up, walked to the balcony with arms spread wide, and Zorn shouted, “Don’t move! Hold that pose!” Other guests at the palazzo included Sargent and Henry James. Sargent first visited in the 1880s and then multiple times from 1898-1913. He loved the architecture, the water, and the characters around Venice and painted it all in both oils and watercolor.

Announcing Our Fine Art Connoisseur Trip to Venice

Each year, Fine Art Connoisseur Editor Peter Trippi and I lead a group of art enthusiasts, collectors, and artists through a region of Europe to go “behind the scenes” in the art world. Our next trip, October 20-29, 2024, includes six nights in Venice and three nights in Verona, a must-see art adventure not on many people’s radar.

Our trips are legendary. On a typical trip we visit art museums, often privately and behind the scenes with the help of curators and directors. It’s not unusual for us to find ourselves in private homes, visiting with artists or viewing private collections, touring the artwork in churches, or having gourmet meals, as well as enjoying multiple memory-creating unique experiences rarely available to those touring on their own.

Venice promises many special adventures in a city rich with culture, with art created across generations. Due to limitations on our scheduled events, seating is especially limited for this tour. It is recommended that reservations be booked now (also, this is the time to save by advance booking on flights).

This trip does not include airfare, but includes hotels, touring transportation, and most meals. This is a very high-end, VIP-level luxury trip. Art lovers and spouses are welcome.

To sign up for the trip, visit www.FineArtTrip.com.

Optional Painting Trip with Eric Rhoads

I’m going to take advantage of the chance to paint Venice one last time (in case it sinks), so I’m organizing an optional three-day painting trip (October 17-19) before the Fine Art Trip begins. This is only available to people in attendance on the full trip, and must be arranged separately through me, by contacting eric@streamlinepublishing.com.

London Art Week
December 1-8, 2023
More than 50 fine art dealers offering digital and in-gallery exhibitions and events, including the 2023 LAW Symposium.

Exhibitions and sales will take place online and in galleries across central London, offering Renaissance and Old Master rarities, modern and contemporary paintings, drawings, sculptures, and rare furniture, books, and manuscripts.

The 2023 LAW Symposium, The Art of Conservation – Preservation, Restoration, and Framing, takes place on Tuesday, December 5th, at the recently reopened National Portrait Gallery. In partnership with The Burlington Magazine, there will be three panel talks with leading curators, conservators, and LAW experts.

More from the organizers:

On “Still Life of Fish / Ingredients for a Bouillabaisse”

The Marseille-born Auguste Lauzet was one of the few mourners at Vincent van Gogh’s funeral and is mentioned in 16 of his letters sent between December 1889 and Vincent’s death in July 1890. Theo van Gogh suggested that the two artists share a studio in Paris. He also told him of Lauzet’s intentions to visit him in Provence. Lauzet never managed to visit Vincent at the asylum at Saint Remy (a letter from Theo suggests he couldn’t afford the trip) but he was among the first to see the visionary landscapes he painted there and was particularly taken by one with “a little thicket of dark trees against a crescent moon.”

“I hope that Mr. Lauzet will come, I very much want to make his acquaintance. I trust in his opinion when he says that it’s Provence…” Vincent to Theo van Gogh, 1st February 1890

On “View of the Piazza del Quirinale in Rome”

Provenance:
Caecilie Achenbach, Berlin, 1911.
Private collection, Lindau.
From 1983 on permanent loan to the Düsseldorf Kunstmuseum, inv. n. 1983/82.

Exhibitions: Andreas und Oswald Achenbach. Das “A und O der Landschaft,” Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf 1997/98, ill. p. 128/129, sch. p. 221.
There is a preparatory drawing for this view in the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf inv. n. C54.274.

The painting, shown here for the first time on the market, comes from an illustrious German family who had left it on permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum in Düsseldorf, in whose rooms it was displayed from 1983 onwards.

Oswald Achenbach was one of the leading German painters of his day and a prominent member, along with his brother Andreas, of the so-called “Düsseldorf school.” He traveled to Italy on eight separate occasions and his fondness for the peninsula grew with each one of his trips, the first in 1845 and the last in 1895. His trip in 1850 had a major impact on his work because while in Rome he met up with Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901) and Anselm Feuerbach (1829–80), both of whom he had known during his student days in Düsseldorf.

Achenbach developed a new way of looking at Italy, succeeding in combining an interest in the realistic portrayal of architecture and the landscape with an intense handling of light.

His reputation and his success went from strength to strength between 1860 and 1890. He focused on Italian views, thus meeting the growing demand from his clientele. He was a member of the Academies of Düsseldorf, St. Petersburg, Rotterdam, and Vienna. He painted pictures intended for both the national and international markets, showing his work in Berlin, Vienna, New York, Chicago, and Cincinnati. He was represented in New York by the Galerie Goupil of Paris, which had opened a branch in the city in 1848.

For full details including a list of exhibitors, please visit londonartweek.co.uk.

View more fine art auctions and sales here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.

Dear Fellow Travelers,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the season wherever you are.

Fortunately, our plans for autumn are well underway, so today I am writing to update you on Fine Art Connoisseur’s next Fine Art Trip. This October we will explore two extraordinary art capitals — Stockholm (Sweden) and Madrid (Spain). It’s a fun and rewarding combination because both cities are filled with world-class art and are easy to navigate, with lots of historical architecture and delicious food to savor along the way.

Fine Art Connoisseur’s
2023 Fine Art Trip: Stockholm and Madrid
October 20-29
FineArtTrip.com

I want to assure those of you who have seen Stockholm and Madrid with us before (in 2010 and 2014, respectively) that SO much has changed since then. We are particularly excited that the Prado has finally opened its incredible new wing in the historic Hall of Realms, and in Stockholm the National Museum has undergone a massive renovation.

I was just researching a few other sites we will visit and am getting very excited about two in particular. In Stockholm, the Thielska Galleriet (The Thiel Gallery) is a handsome villa on a heavily wooded island (Royal Djurgården) near the center of Stockholm. Inside the mansion are wonderful paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by a range of talented Scandinavian artists, all acquired by the industrialist Ernest Thiel in the years around 1900. Some of the artists represented are internationally famous today (like Edvard Munch), but many are known only in Sweden — and they really are worth discovering!

In Madrid, I am always excited to visit the Museo Sorolla (Portada – Museo Sorolla | Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte), the gorgeous studio-house created by the master painter Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) for his family and thriving artistic practice. The sprawling home is filled with outstanding examples of his luminous art, and also with intriguing antiques and props the Sorollas collected during their wide-ranging travels, especially around Spain.

While paging through my files from past Fine Art Trips, I was reminded of how many unique adventures our travelers have enjoyed over the years — from private viewings of the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica San Marco to intimate conversations with Alphonse Mucha’s daughter-in-law in her Prague home and the Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza at her museum in Málaga. Discovering art with kindred spirits like you has always been a joy, and now I am looking forward to more memorable experiences in Sweden and Spain!

All good wishes, and please feel free to send me a note about particular artworks and sites you would like to see. It’s not too late to tweak our itinerary a bit!

Find more information at https://finearttrip.com/stockholm-madrid.

In an exclusive panel discussion during the 4th Annual Plein Air Live, Kelly Kane, Editor-in-Chief of PleinAir Magazine, interviewed living legends Skip Whitcomb, Matt Smith, and Bill Anton on their experiences as plein air painters, including their “a-ha moments.”

“One of the biggest challenges of outdoor painting is not having control over your environment: light, wind, temperature, etc.,” said Matt in the Plein Air Live chat. “Once you learn to embrace that the focus moves back to the process.”

In addition to this exclusive and fascinating discussion, attendees were able to participate in a faculty art auction, including works by Anna Rose Bain, Mark Shasha, and more.

Here are some more favorite moments from this year’s Plein Air Live:

Pastel painter Jacob Aguiar led an outdoor demonstration on working through the challenges of quickly changing light when painting on location.

Christine Lashley showed us tips and techniques to create a dynamic night painting. “There are different ways to do this,” she said, “with sketches on location or even just working from photos and taking it back to your studio.”

“Critiquing is one of the most important things I do as an instructor,” said Kathleen Dunphy during her special plein air critique session. She added that it’s important to remember, however, that an art critique is just an (educated) opinion. She said to take a critique seriously, to listen to it, and then decide what aspects you want to apply to your painting.

Kathryn Stats also led us through a critique session that included a variety of painting levels. She said she uses her hand to cover different parts of a painting to help determine what composition elements work.

The next Plein Air Live takes place in one year, but you don’t have to wait that long to join many of your fellow painters, including today’s best teachers. Join us in person at the Plein Air Convention & Expo in Denver, Colorado, May 21-25, 2023. Celebrity guest Jane Seymour will be there, and Lori Putnam is leading the pre-convention workshop. There are 4 stages and over 80 instructors. Will you be there?

The 3rd Annual Watercolor Live came to an end Saturday, January 28, wrapping up with even more of today’s best watercolor artists sharing all of their secrets, explaining their materials, methods, and more.

The next Live event is March 9-11, 2023, with Plein Air Live. Join us then to be with fellow painters online for days of demonstrations, Q&A with your favorite artists, mingling during the breakout rooms and cocktail hours, and the incredible faculty painting auction.

“In watercolor, we can’t actually paint the light because the white paper is the light,” explained Hazel Soan in her Beginner’s Day workshop. “You cannot paint the light. You have to paint around the light by using tints and shades.”

Artist Thomas Schaller kicked off Day 1 of Watercolor Live on Thursday, January 26 with a live on-screen demo that included a conversational Q&A with Kelly Kane. Schaller shared not only his painting techniques but also generous words of wisdom about being an artist and learning to paint in general.

Stan Miller began his painting demo by going over how to use a photo reference; in this case, it was of his godson. After cropping the image, he showed us how to transfer the photo onto paper to have as a guide for the drawing. During the demo, he flipped the photo and painted it upside down as he continue adding detail.

Previously at Watercolor Live, Birgit O’Connor led a session on Beginner’s Day but this year she took us inside her personal painting process. She used a composition that demonstrated her techniques for underpainting, using harmonized color, creating flower petals without overlapping the edges, working with shadows and even negative painting in specific areas.

The next Live event is coming in March with Plein Air Live, so visit PleinAirLive.com now to register and be with fellow artists online for days of demonstrations, Q&A with your favorite artists, and mingling during the breakout rooms and cocktail hours.

Browse more fine art watercolor paintings here.