…opened here in Missoula at the Dana Gallery today. I perused the show this afternoon after having lunch with some of the Southwest Art folks. Impressions:
- If you ain’t painting figurative, landscape, or still life, fuhgeddabout getting in. I saw 5 or 6 pieces that had animals and no people in them (out of 200+ paintings).
- Many of the landscape and figurative paintings chosen had fairly impressionistic brushwork. Most of the still lifes were fairly tight.
- The edgy work I submitted didn’t fit (and didn’t get in). You need:
a) beautiful brushwork
b) fairly conventional topics
c) an original composition - If you’re going to submit a still life, make sure it’s several objects in a shaft of light in an otherwise dark painting (yawn).
- There were definitely some pieces (a dozen or so?) that had a “WOW!” impact on me. There were plenty that were interesting to look at, but not engaging otherwise (back to the still lifes…)
…sour grapes? No, never, not me! but when I see a ho-hum painting of a poorly-drawn reclining cat that got in over who knows what else, well…
Get the catalog and tell me what you think.
Tags: art show
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May 3rd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Hey Julie, I’m here at the Missoula Holiday Inn, the OPA weekend having concluded a few hours ago. Technically, I thought that overall the show was of a very high level. Beyond that, I wasn’t exactly dazzled by the pieces with animals. I honestly don’t think a lot of otherwise competent artists realize the level of specialized knowledge it takes to do animals well.
There were a half dozen or so that really blew me away. There were three or four that I might have bought if I’d had the money. Do you remember the one of the ocean wave by Ruo Li in the back side corridor? Omigod, I loved that one! It won a $1000 Award of Excellence. I also found it interesting that the landscapes tended to be loose and the still lifes tight.
Ramon Kelley, the juror, was pretty clear on his criteria, brushwork and originality of composition and handling being near the top of the list.
It occurs to me that what we are saw is, in some ways, the equivalent of the French or British Academy of the late 19th century in that neither they or the OPA were or are the least bit apologetic about being bastions of traditional realist art. Considering what a long road back to respectability realist art has had, that’s probably not a bad thing, at least for now.
For my own experience (as you undoubtedly noticed I was not represented, having not entered ;-))I got a very positive critique from Bill Schneider OPA, which was encouraging. I felt very welcomed as a first timer by everyone from the president on down to the staff and the other artists. It was a great learning and networking two days for me.
I would like to get into OPA shows with animals subjects, starting with the Western Regional (on-line deadline June 17). I’m kind of considering it a personal challenge and plan to just wear them down.
By the by, the 2009 opening weekend will be in Santa Fe.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Susan, great perspective. I agree that the show was overall very good; still lifes generally are emotionally zero for me, and there were so many in the show…as well as landscapes without animals (many of which I also find a bit ‘empty’). I also agree that there’s a perception that painting animals is, perhaps, “easier” than painting people…which is ridiculous, since each species has unique characteristics the artist must get right to be credible. No juror would accept a figurative painting with crooked ears and eyes, but animal images with these faults get in - mystifying.
Yes, there were several I would have bought on the spot - that crashing wave piece was wonderful. My very favorite was (believe it or not) a still life of onions with gorgeous color and brushwork. I could buy that and look at it for ages and not get bored!
Good for you for doing the networking and critiques, and I’m glad it was a worthwhile experience! There was an agility trial in Missoula this weekend, so that’s where I was (and now we all know my priorities :-). Well heck, a World Team agility member gave a seminar here recently and said my German Shepherd girl and I have a shot at competing nationally…kind of intoxicating. No money in agility, though!
May 5th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Except I’ll bet that if you gave the agility action the same treatment as your rodeo work there are dog lovers who would snap up those paintings. And I’ll also bet that no one else has realy done that subject, certainly not like you would. I’ve been told by a number of people that dog art is hot, hot, hot. You could start a whole new genre
Seriously.
I sat with three other artists at breakfast and one commented on how great the elephant painting was. I didn’t say anything because what would be the point? But I agree that an equivalent human figure wouldn’t have made the cut. I’ve had people walk up to a painting of a snow leopard’s head and say what a wonderful tiger?! At least they always know a lion when they see one. I guess it’s so screamingly obvious to us what the difference between a leopard and a jaguar is, we forget that everyone else doesn’t share our passion for animals and, of course, it’s our business.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I disliked the elephant painting too. I pretty much disliked all of the (handful of) animal paintings they had selected. What a way to prove the perception that animal art ain’t as good as other art.
Now on the dog art thing…hadn’t heard that about it being “hot hot hot”, hmm. I have a completely unscientific opinion that what people want in dog art is either their own dog (thus a commission), or a painting that is somehow generic enough to appeal to all dog lovers (eg, the Andrew Wyeth “The Master’s Bedroom” watercolor, or that gorgeous Nicolai Fechin spaniel piece). I haven’t yet figured out how to make “generic enough” paintings of German Shepherds, which is what would interest me :-).
May 7th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I agree with what Susan and Julie say about animal art that is wrong slipping by a judge and how a figurative piece would not. If you show a not so good painting of a giraffe to someone they will probably think it is amazing and looks right because they are not a giraffe and haven’t looked at any with a critical eye, where as if you show them a portrait of a human head and they eyes are slightly off, they immediately recognize it because they are human. Even if they are not an artist. Like Susan says, they do not share our passion for animals. And there was probably a ton of still lifes in that show because they match couches (a sure sale)!
May 16th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Well, sales were apparently the best ever, probably around 20 paintings by the end of the weekend. Most of the award winners had red dots by the time we were all back over there for the morning demos on Saturday. No recession in Missoula, I guess.
Re dog art: it may vary in different parts of the country, but google “Bark magazine” to see a “lifestyle” magazine for dog lovers. It’s based in Berkeley and Julie knows what that means. They do have solid information along with the occasional eye-roller. Last time I saw a copy, they were featuring dog artists of all sorts and there were a couple of pages of ads in the back of nothing but dog artists. Every artistic style you can imagine, but I don’t recall much in the way of dogs in action like doing agility, which could be good or bad.
And, of course, there’s the sub-genre of sporting dog art, which has been around for a very long time.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Well, sales were apparently the best ever, probably around 20 paintings by the end of the weekend. Most of the award winners had red dots by the time we were all back over there for the morning demos on Saturday. No recession in Missoula, I guess.
Re dog art: it may vary in different parts of the country, but google “Bark magazine” to see a “lifestyle” magazine for dog lovers. It’s based in Berkeley and Julie knows what that means. They do have solid information along with the occasional eye-roller. Last time I saw a copy, they were featuring dog artists of all sorts and there were a couple of pages of ads in the back of nothing but dog artists. Every artistic style you can imagine, but I don’t recall much in the way of dogs in action like doing agility, which could be good or bad.
And, of course, there’s the sub-genre of sporting dog art, which has been around for a very long time.
Joe, your comment about giraffes vs. humans is right on. That’s exactly the problem.