September 2013
Letter from ARC Scholarship Winner
September 30, 2013
 by Katy Hamilton 2nd Place 2013 Scholarship Competition | I was deeply moved to be awarded a second-place scholarship by the Art Renewal Center and am sending my sincerest thanks for the opportunity and encouragement this award provides. With your support, my fourth year at the Texas Academy of Figurative Art will certainly become my most ambitious and productive yet. I believe the Art Renewal Center will continue, as it has for me, to be a beacon and catalyst for artists who seek the most visionary and effective communication of ideals through the classical realist tradition. Sincerely, Katy Hamilton |
International 2013/2014 ARC Salon Prospectus is Live
September 27, 2013
| We are happy to announce the Art Renewal Center's 2013-2014 Salon. This will be our 10th annual competition in which some of the best contemporary realist artists in the world compete for recognition, cash prizes, and a chance to have their work seen by some of the more than 5,000,000 annual visitors to the ARC website, as well as in other reputable venues. | |
| This year we will have press coverage in six magazines; Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine will be publishing an article on the top winners of the 2012-2013 Salon. In addition, Plein Air Magazine will be giving out a special award to one artist to be featured in their magazine. Also, for the first year ever, American Art Collector Magazine, Western Art Collector Magazine, American Fine Art Magazine, and International Artist Magazine will all be giving out awards as well. ARC Director of Operations, Kara Lysandra Ross, will write an article on the top winners for the Epoch Times, a large international newspaper that publishes in 19 languages. |  |
| The Best in Show winner of the 2013/2014 ARC Salon competition, in addition to $8,000, will be awarded with a fully produced and released video DVD produced by Streamline Art Video showing a demonstration of their technique, an interview with the artist, and a profile of the artist's work as a key featured part of a DVD on the ARC Salon. This year we are offering $61,450 in cash awards, though with purchase awards sometimes being well above the minimum stated below, the total amount is often much higher. For example, in last year's competition paintings valued at over $200,000 were purchased. Participants can compete and win in 7 categories. To view the full prospectus, click here. | |
<i>Epoch Times</i> Goes Daily
September 26, 2013
| Epoch Times, a multi-national newspaper headquartered in New York, has extended its publication to five days a week, Monday through Friday, taking its place among the top daily broadsheets in New York. The newspaper can be found in yellow news boxes throughout Manhattan. Subscriptions are available through http://subscribe.theepochtimes.com/. | |
 | The Epoch Times is a strong supporter of the Contemporary Realist movement in America and abroad and often report on ARC Approved Atelier Schools as well as artists and events that are featured on the ARC Website. |
| This expansion marks an important step in the Epoch Times's journey. Freedom of the press and humanity are the foundation of the Epoch Times; their beginnings hailed from a great need to provide uncensored news to a people immersed in propaganda and censorship in China. You can read more about the beginnings of the Epoch Times by clicking here. | |
John Buxton enters the Eiteljorg Museum's Permanent Collection
September 25, 2013
| John Buxton was recently awarded the The Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Award, which is the addition of an artist's work into the museum's permanent collection. The award is given out once a year during the annual Quest For The West invitational show & sale, and this year it went to Buxton for his painting titled, A Secret Cache. | |
| About the award, Buxton said the following: "It is certainly the greatest of honor to have your work forever exhibited beside the greats of western art in the museum collection. Truly a proud moment for this old painter! The germ for this painting has been hanging around since I took a trip to Kentucky in 1989. Walking along the Cumberland River with several locals, we came upon a secluded small waterfall among the vegetation. I took several photos, but was told that another artist had plans to paint the scene. The slides of that scene sparked my interest every time I leafed through my binder from the Cumberland trip. I respected that other artist, and did not develop my idea for a painting...until early this year. I cannot remember who the other artist was and I don't recall seeing any painting of the waterfall. It was time! |  30 x 20 inches oil on linen |
| Just to be safe, I decided it would not be a waterfall in my painting, but a cave in which plunder might be secreted away. So, I developed how a few Native Americans may have tossed down things...working out my composition, slight light source and color values. As a waterfall, it may have been a nice composition...with a strong vertical. I chose to develop a zig-zag composition and use the vertical only for my figures. I believe that I achieved my goal of producing a painting unlike any that I have seen before." | |
ARC Living Master™ Erik Koeppel in <i>American Art Review</i>
September 24, 2013
 10 x 16 in. Oil on canvas | Erik Koeppel was recently featured in the American Art Review based on his recent commission from the Jackson Historical Society's Museum of White Mountain Art, commemorating the movement of the barn in recent years to a new site where it has become the new Jackson Public Library. The painting, View From The Trickey Barn, will be included in the museum's upcoming exhibit Frank Shapleigh from the Inside Out, celebrating that artist's paintings of landscapes from barn and kitchen interiors. |
History Lecture at Lavender Hill Studios
September 23, 2013
| Art historian Sandra de Laszlo joins ARC Aprroved Atelier™ Lavender Hill Studios to give a fascinating talk on the extraordinary career of Philip de Laszlo (1869-1937). The lecture titled, From Pests to Palaces, will take place on October 16, 2013. | |
| Laszlo's patrons awarded him numerous honors and medals. In 1909 he was named a Member of the Royal Victorian Order by King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and in 1912 he was ennobled by King Franz Joseph of Hungary. His work is of similar quality and paint handling to the Italian artist, Giovanni Boldini, though his name not as widely known by today's audience. Lavender Hill Studios - Unit 101 - Battersea Business Centre - 99-109 Lave London, England SW11 5QL United Kingdom For more information on this and other events, click here. |  by Philip de Laszlo |
Nine New Books Offered In ARC Store
September 20, 2013
| ARC has recently added nine new fine art books to the ARC store. All published by the Antique Collectors Club. The titles include: | |
 | Arthur Hughes A Catalogue Raisonné, Courts and Courtly Arts in Renaissance Italy Arts, Culture and Politics, 1395-1530, Dog Painting A History of the Dog in Art, Gaston La Touche A Painter of Belle Époque Dreams, Frederick Sandys 1829-1904 - A Catalogue Raisonné, History and Dictionary of British Flower Painters 1650-1950, Pre-Raphaelite Marriage The Lives of Marie Spartali Stillman and William Stillman, Suffolk Artists Of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Victorian Painters Vol. 1: The Text, and Victorian Painters Vol. 2. Historical Survey and Plates |
| To learn more about these impressive volumes or to order, click on the names above or visit the book section of the ARC store by clicking here. | |
Ron Cheek and the ARC Approved™ Texas Academy of Figurative Art featured in <i>Post-Modern Times</i>
September 19, 2013
| The below is a quote from the article titled Perhaps it is Time to Make Really Wonderful Paintings Again, by Dick Davison | |
| “It is very satisfying, therefore, to realize that throughout [the recent history of contemporary art], there have been artists who were never the servants of “hot” trends in the art world, who never relinquished their desire to make powerful, meaningful images despite very little mainstream attention, and who continued to pursue their very specific visions of reality. Texan Ron Cheek is one such artist...Ron Cheek has been involved in teaching since his student days...he founded the Texas Academy of Figurative Art (TAFA) in 2007. This is a bold move for an individual artist in a world of five-digit population universities, accreditation bureaus, and online degrees. |  Lazarus' Dream by Ron Cheek 48 x 40 inches oil on canvas |
| Cheek’s academy, situated in the old downtown area of Fort Worth, is the quintessential art school. The students are a remarkable mix of practicing professionals, disenchanted university students, and lay people who want to learn more about art. All are serious about being at Cheek’s school, and all are willing to work within the rigorous curriculum that is essential in developing a viable visual acuity. A visit to TAFA is indeed inspiring, and in this writer’s opinion it is this kind of learning culture that produces the most vibrant art.” | |
Studio Incamminati - A Group Exhibition
September 18, 2013
 Loni by Nelson Shanks |
More than 40 pieces of art from the instructors, fellows and alumni of Studio Incamminati will be making a collective national debut, when the prestigious SR Brennen Galleries presents an exhibition of their work at the gallery's newest site in "The Palace" in Santa Fe, NM.
October 4 - December 4, 2013 Champagne Opening Reception, October 4th, 6:30 – 8pm. S.R. Brennen Galleries- 124 West Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM, 87501 |
| To view more on this and other exhibitions, please click here. | |
Cesar Santos Wins GCA Portrait Competition
September 17, 2013
| Congratulations to ARC Living Master™ Cesar Santos for taking first place in the Grand Central Academy’s new annual three-day Portrait Sketch Competition where ten portrait painters competed for three days to paint six portraits. Second Place went to Joseph Todorovitch, and third place went to Daniel Bilmes. The painters who competed were selected from online applicants. Articles were published in both Fine Art Connoisseur's online magazine (click here to read) and in the Epoch Times (to view article, click here). |  Portrait by Cesar Santos |
Michael John Angel in the <i>Financial Times</i>
September 16, 2013
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Michael John Angel and the Angel Academy were recently mentioned in the Financial Times in an article on David Aspin. Angel had painted Mr. Aspin's portrait several years earlier. Mr Aspin also said "having one's portrait painted in Florence is a must." To read the article, click here. |
Articles in Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine
September 13, 2013
| The October issue of FAC has recently been released. The issue features Rediscovering Gustave Jean Jacquet, by ARC Director of Operations, Kara Lysandra Ross, as well as ARC Allied Organization, The Association of Fantastic Art's IlluXCon, which is taking place this weekend at the Allentown Museum, PA. The next issue will feature the winners of the 2012/2013 International ARC Salon. Also in their digital issue, they have featured an upcoming show by ARC Living Master™ Daniel Greene. To view this digital article, click here. |  Le Reve by Gustave Jean Jacquet |
New ARC Approved Atelier™
September 12, 2013
 The Little Mermaid by Arantzazu Martinez |
ARC Living Master Arantzazu Martinez™ and ARC Associate Living Master™ Mikel Olazabal have opened the first ARC Approved Atelier™ in Spain. Motivated by experience, the Atelier Madrid has provided a space dedicated to teaching the classical process of drawing and painting in the traditional manner. In this period of training each student will experience and learn step by step the academic process. No learning time limitations. Teaching is completely individualized and constantly adapts to the pace of learning and development of each student. To view their new page on ARC and to contact them about taking courses, please click here. |
Job Opportunity with ARC
September 11, 2013
| ARC is looking for an additional full time employee to fill the roll of an Art Renewal Center Website and Store Assistant Job Requirements: 1. Competent in Adobe Photoshop 2. Competent in Excel 3. Can read and write well 4. Willing to learn new things 5. Is a team player 6. Hard working 7. Good at multi tasking and time management (this is a high pace job). 8. Sociable and wiling to respond to e-mail and take and make phone calls, talk to customers. 9. Since we are a non-profit educational foundation dedicated to the re-appreciation of traditional art and the re-institution of traditional training methods and techniques in the visual arts, the employee should be somewhat passionate about our goals and has a wish to help us accomplish our mission. Please review the ARC mission statement by visiting http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/mission.php 10. The job will involve talking to customers and visitors on the phone and through e-mail, printing, packing and shipping orders that come through the ARC store as well as scanning images, preparing new images to go on the ARC website, and maintaining, updating and creating spreadsheets. The job is also likely to evolve and include other tasks not mentioned above. Location: Port Reading, NJ, USA If you are interested in the job, please contact kara.ross@artrenewal.org with your resume. |
The IlluXCon Starts Tomorrow
September 10, 2013
| The IlluXCon Main Show and Weekend Salon, as well as select programming throughout the length of the show will be held at The Allentown Art Museum (AAM), Wednesday, September 11th, through Sunday, September 15th. IlluXCon is the first, ground-breaking symposium dedicated solely to the art of the fantastic (imaginative realism)—bringing artists, students, collectors, and art fans together for an annual gathering intended to inspire and create further awareness and zeal for imaginative realism and all that's encompassed in the realm of the fantastic. Allentown Art Museum – 31 North Fifth Street, Allentown, PA 18101 |  by Anthony Palumbo |
To view more on this and other exhibitions, click here. | |
2013 Scholarship Competition Results
September 6, 2013
| The results of the 2013 Scholarship Competition will be announced to both the competitors and the public this Saturday, September 7th. Not even the winners know they have won, so come view the top submitted work of the many talented ARC Scholarship recipients by visiting the ARC Website. Each student needed to submit a grouping of their works, between 10 and 15 examples for the judges to review. We will be giving out over $30,000 in awards again this year to talented students attending ARC Approved Schools. To view the results check in on Saturday. The winners will be accessible by clicking the button to the far right of the yellow feature bar at the top of the home page. |
Two Exhibitions Open this Weekend
September 5, 2013
 Auctioneer and Remington's Pretty Mother of the Night by Daniel Greene - Oil, 40 x 50 inches | ARC Living Master™ Daniel Green will be featured in Living Legends which opens tomorrow, September 6th, and runs through the 15th at SR Brennen Galleries - 124 West Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM. |
| In addition, the Ani Art Academies' Capturing Realism opens this Saturday, September 7th. The celebrated biennial exhibition by the Ani Art Academies alumni and apprentices, has been gaining much attention as students from this school have won first place in the drawing category in the international ARC Salon two years in a row. Pauly Friedman Art Gallery - Misericordia University - 301 Lake St. Dallas, PA 18612 To view more on this and other exhibitions, click here. |  Just a Game by Jason Brady 1st Place Drawing, 2012-2013 ARC Salon |
International Guild of Realism 2013 Fall Exhibition
September 4, 2013
| This is IGOR's annual art show, which is a combination museum exhibition and selling event. This time it will be held at the Tempe Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, AZ. Of the 350 entries submitted by IGOR members, about a hundred were finally selected. The show is scheduled for October 4th – November 30th, 2013. The public opening reception will be Saturday, October 5, 2013. Also, for the first time ever, IGOR is coordinating a big VIP Private Opening Reception on Oct 4th from 6 to 8:30pm at the beautiful Tempe Center for the Arts. Ticket are available for sale now at $100 per person and will include: heavy hors d’oeuvres provided by Santa Barbara Catering, drinks at the full bar, red carpet opening to unveiling the masterpieces of 93 realist artists, award presentation, and sponsors Ganem Jewelers and Vala Ola will each give away silver jewelry to lucky winners. |  by Don Clapper |
To order tickets for the VIP Reception please write to info@realismguild.com October 4 - November 30, 2013 Tempe Center for the Arts - 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, AZ 85281 | |