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August 20, 2015

David A Leffel

David-Head-Shot-with-HandHRsmBorn in New York City, David A Leffel graduated from Parson’s School of Design while also attending Fordham University at night. Between 1959 and1960, with the help of a Merit Scholarship, he learned the fundamentals of chiaroscuro painting at the Art Students League of New York in Frank Mason’s class. Only a few years later, he returned to the League as an instructor and in the next 25 years left an important legacy of influence with the thousands of students whose lives he touched while teaching them about life and art in the north light of Studio 7, a classroom that boasted such past instructors as Edwin Dickinson and Frank Vincent Dumond.

Leffel’s work has been exhibited in numerous important shows, including the National Academy of Design in New York City, the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK, and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City where he was a member of the artists’ group NAWA (National Academy of Western Artists), which later became the Prix de West show. In their annual show his work received one silver medal and three gold medals, his first gold being awarded to a self-portrait. He was part of the artists’ stable in New York City’s Grand Central Galleries in the 70s and 80s, and as his reputation as a consummate artist grew, he received a visit from one of history’s most intriguing political figures, Madam Chiang Kai-shek. Her interest in Western painting and specifically in Leffel’s work may explain his current widespread popularity in China, which started years ago with an invitation to the First American Art Exhibit in Beijing, China and reemerged in a recent traveling exhibit of realist artists with the America China Oil Painting Artists League (ACOPAL).

Leffel is not only recognized by his peers as a painters’ painter, he is also considered by many to be no less than the artistic reincarnation of Rembrandt. He continues to spread his special understanding of how painting works with students worldwide through membership to an online instructional library, The Artists Guild at Bright Light Fine Art.

Leffel’s work resides in the permanent collection of the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK; the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, TX; the J.B. Speed Art Museum in Louisville, KY; the Elizabeth T. Greenshields Foundation in Montreal, Canada; and the New York Racing Association in New York, NY, which acquired his famous painting of Belmont Race Track. His work is also found in some of the most important private collections compiled today. In May of 2016 Leffel will have a comprehensive retrospective at the Weisman Museum in Malibu, California where work from as young as age 12 will hang along side his most recent masterpieces.

A talented writer, Leffel has authored two books, An Artists Teaches: Reflections on the Art of Painting and Self-Portraits: A Journey of Insight, both published by Bright Light Publishing. Bright Light Fine Art and director George Gallo are working on a documentary of his extraordinary life that should be completed by early next year.

Links to Videos/Articles:

  • Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Leffel/131099530323945
  • Website: www.davidleffel.com
  • Workshops and news: http://davidleffel.com/workshops/
  • David’s DVDs and books: http://davidleffel.com/books-dvds-giclees/

Representative Works:

Filed Under: Circle of Artists

August 20, 2015

Sherrie McGraw

Head-ShotwebAs a young woman in Oklahoma City in 1978, Sherrie McGraw was urged by her teachers Richard and Edith Goetz to move to New York City to study at the famed Art Students League where they had studied within the lineage of Robert Brackman and George Bridgeman. In her initial years at the League, McGraw studied primarily with the legendary artist David A Leffel, but she also learned anatomy through Robert Beverly Hale and Jon Zahourek at the New York Academy, and later with one of the art world’s leading experts on drawing and painting the horse from life, Ned Jacob.

By the time she was thirty, she was teaching classes at the Art Students League, having been asked to take over those of Thomas Fogarty and Gustav Rehberger, as well as conduct her own.

Currently, McGraw teaches workshops throughout the country, giving lectures and demonstrations for art institutions such as the Portrait Society of America, Weekend with the Masters, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Brigham Young University, the Art Students League of New York and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where she was recently awarded an honorary doctorate. Her work has been shown in major institutions including the Butler Institute of American Art, where they hosted a large retrospective in 2014 and soon after, awarded her their highest honor—Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in American Art. She now joins the ranks of legendary art dealer Leo Castelli; sculptor Louise Nevelson; and influential director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Thomas Hoving. Her work is in numerous prestigious collections, such as that of Senator John Warner, the Mellon family, the Forbes family, John Geraghty, Forest Fenn, Howard Terpning, Art and Catherine Nicolas and John Mellencamp. She was also the vice president of American Women Artists, an art organization that curated a cultural exchange exhibition in Sorrento, Italy in the year 2000.

McGraw is one of the leading proponents of Abstract Realism, which derives its name from the abstract appeal achieved when beautiful configurations of paint combine with a recognizable image. The result becomes a visual undercurrent that quietly moves the viewer through a painting. A visual concept, independent of story telling or literary intent, lends gravitas to an image that might otherwise be—at its extreme manifestations—merely self-expression or technical facility. She teaches online through a library of instructional videos called the Artists Guild, which is offered on www.brighlightfineart.com.

McGraw is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Language of Drawing: From an Artist’s Viewpoint, which has drawn worldwide attention for its clear and simple approach to the art of drawing. She edited and wrote the foreword to The Drawings of Nicolai Fechin by Russia’s famed author Galina Tuluzakova, and co-edited Galina’s new scholarly treatise on Fechin’s legacy to the art world, Nicolai Fechin—The Art and the Life. She is presently writing an instructional book on painting.

Representative Works:

Filed Under: Circle of Artists

August 19, 2015

Scott Fraser

Fraser-Photo-with-Golden-MeanScott Fraser is one of America’s top contemporary realist painters. With his appreciation for art history, ranging from the Dutch Masters to American modernists like O’Keeffe, Fraser masterfully transitions to the post-modern era through his deft and complex still life paintings of contemporary subjects. Referencing the classical tableaux, Fraser‘s contemporary arrangements juxtapose modern mundane objects in tantalizing ways that tease, intrigue and challenge the viewer. Drawing upon objects with personal or autobiographical meaning Fraser’s works often combine humor with a sense of mystery that is evocative and mesmerizing not only because of his riveting concepts, but also because of his impeccable and painstaking attention to beauty and craft.

Fraser’s works are contained in the permanent collections of more than 25 American museums, including the Metropolitan Museum, Denver Art Museum, Philbrook Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Evansville Museum, Brandywine River Museum, Kirkland Museum, San Diego Museum of Art and the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. His works were recently added to the collection of the Acadia Foundation in Maine and the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut.

Upcoming Shows/News:

In 2016, Fraser’s work will be exhibited by the Delaware Art Museum in “Truth & Vision: 21st Century Realism” and his upcoming exhibitions include The Renaissance of Realism to be held at Gallery 1261 in Denver in connection with the National Collectors for Connoisseurship Symposium to be held at the Denver Art Museum on November 13, 2015.

Links to Videos/Articles:

  • “Lemon Fall” by Scott Fraser
  • The Icon Series by Scott Fraser: Learn about the artists’ thoughts and historical inspirations behind this series of works.
  • Making “Reign” over a period of 8 months by Scott Fraser

Representative Works:

Filed Under: Circle of Artists

August 19, 2015

Joseph Todorovitch

Todorovitch,-PhotoTodorovitch is a contemporary painter who has always looked to the past to understand the future of his painting. Introduced to the idea of skilled draughtsmanship at an early age, he has been immersed in figurative art and has forged a body of imagery in California for the past twelve years. By embracing fundamental principles of picture making, he works to develop paintings that are harmonious and innovative. While primarily figural, his paintings aim to create a visual field of atmosphere, space, and light, occasionally evoking subtle narratives within the viewers. They draw people in from a distance and keep them investigating with technical nuance and poetry at the surface. While he believes painting should be challenging to himself and the audience, he says “a work of art should evolve intuitively from a marriage of experience and expression.” Working in California, Joseph Todorovitch aims to explore and express the present and future with paintings and sculpture that acknowledge the rich tradition of representational art.

Upcoming Shows/News:

  • Unfurl Exhibition at Gallery 1261 in Denver from August 21st –September 26, 2015

Links to Videos/Articles:

Videos:

  • American Painting Video Magazine, Artist Profile on Joseph Todorovitch by Jonathan Lipking (2010)
  • Joseph Todorovitch (2012) (YouTube Video)

Articles:

  • American Art Collector Magazine, Gesture of the Pose (Preview of “Offerings” Solo Show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery) (March 2015)
  • Southwest Art Magazine, A Visit with Joseph Todorovitch at His Studio in Pomona, CA by Bonnie Gangelhoff (November 14, 2013)
  • Southwest Art Magazine, Joseph Todorovitch Eyes on the Prize by Virginia Campbell (February 1, 2010)
  • Scottsdale Artists School, Joseph Todorovitch Instructor Profile
  • WHOA Magazine, Joseph Todorovitch Shapes, Colors and Values by Michael Keel (Spring 2013)
  • Underpaintings Magazine, On View: Joseph Todorovitch “Offerings” at Maxwell Alexander Gallery (CA) (March 5, 2015)

Representative Works:

Filed Under: Circle of Artists

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