Correction… our show at Addison Art Gallery in Orleans, MA opens on Saturday, July 22nd. We will be there painting demos Saturday afternoon 4:00 to 4:45, followed by a reception from 5:00 to 7:00.
The “post Covid” effect still has a grip on me. With so much going on right now, building and assembling frames for 24 paintings to get packed and shipped to Cape Cod next week, the inability to work at 200% this past week, and other deadlines… I simply didn’t have the wherewithal to get a demo video done. Next week there will be one! My apologies.
In the meantime…
I feel fortunate to have been in a place at a time when a gentleman named Raymond Johnson, who was a wildlife art publisher in Minnesota at the time, began collecting Soviet era art, specifically the paintings that were part of the Soviet Social Realist paintings group of artists. I saw his first exhibit of these paintings in about 1984 or so? I didn’t know any of these painters at the time.
They were stunning paintings, painted with bravura, emotional, large, bold and beautiful! And obvious schooled abilities. Before long Ray had the largest collection of this art outside of Russia. A result of Ray Johnson’s collecting is that Bloomington, MN now has an incredible museum featuring this era of Russian painting. Below are some quotes from The Museum of Russian Art, and a link to their website.
There are a number of books about this fascinating period of artists working, mostly in seclusion, or for the State. This one is one of my favorite. It’s beautifully written and the paintings are plentiful and well printed.
“TMORA was founded in 2002 by Raymond and Susan Johnson, collectors from Minnesota. At that time, the Johnsons owned what was believed to be the largest privately held collection of Soviet-era Realist paintings outside the borders of the former Soviet Union. A gallerist and art dealer, Mr. Johnson began to study the Soviet art-market in the late 1980s, as the political liberalization of the former Soviet Union was taking place. He initiated the process of researching the availability and documenting the quality of Russian art of the second half of the 20th century by engaging a number of renowned independent art historians living in Russia to assist him in identifying the important artists of the period. Mr. Johnson made his first major purchase in 1990. Thereafter, he and his team took numerous trips to Russia, mainly to Moscow, and collectively made more than 1,000 visits to artists and their families to review and acquire works. A detailed documentation of his purchases including all the necessary permissions for the export of the artworks out of the country has been preserved. His collection of over 10,000 paintings and drawings includes works by hundreds of the most important artists of the period.”
I’ll be back in form next week…
Keep your brushes wet!
Cheers,
Marc
A little delay this week!