Art Renewal Center^™

Looking at Paintings with Mona Lisa Published on 20 February, 2020

Last year marked the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo Da Vinci and it has been a year of celebration and recognition. The ultimate Renaissance Man was not only a great painter. His interests included inventions, drawing, sculpture, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, paleontology, and cartography.

Dr. Carol Damian will give a lecture focusing on Da Vinci's paintings, using the Mona Lisa as the introduction to his work. Dr. Carol Damian is the former Professor of Art History in the School of Art and Art History and former Director and Chief Curator of the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University.

The lecture takes place on February 27, 2020, from 7 - 9 PM, at MIFA, 5900 NW 74th Ave, Miami FL 33166.  To register to attend the free lecture, please click here. 

For more events, please visit the ARC Calendar. 

Transitional Nature Published on 20 February, 2020

Cultural identity in the United States has been long intertwined with its magnificent landscapes, from the dense forests of New England to the open terrain of the West. These landscapes extol the unique beauty of this country and relate to the first significant art movement in the United States, known as the Hudson River School. The artists who painted these American landscapes worked during a time of increasing industrialization and growth of technology—not a coincidence of history but a lens on ecocritical thinking of the time. Modern industry changed the culture and economic future of this country, but also gave rise to concerns about the preservation of a natural environment often described as a Garden of Eden. While much of Transitional Nature focuses on U.S. landscapes, depictions of Greenland and Ecuador exemplify the international travel undertaken by nineteenth-century artists in further pursuit of untrammeled terrain. Artists working today frequently address the beauty and complexity of landscape, drawing our attention to environment and ecology. Transitional Nature will feature a selection of works by contemporary artists that will connect in powerful ways the past of the Hudson River School to the present.

The exhibition runs from January 25 - May 17, 2020 at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, 10975 SW 17th St, Miami, FL 33199.

To learn more about the exhibition, please click here. 

To view the ARC Calendar for more events, click here. 

Plein Air Painting Workshop at MIFA Published on 19 February, 2020

In this 3 day workshop, students will explore the principles of landscape painting. The workshop will focus on the concepts of composition, light organization, aerial and linear perspective, color mixing, abstraction and air organization, understanding trees, atmospheric effects, brush work, etc.

The workshops take place from 9 to 3 pm in the beautiful location of Key Biscayne in the Miami area, Florida. Not only will students learn about plein air painting but also enjoy an amazing place and nature.

The workshop will be instructed by artist Elkin Canas, Director and Principal Instructor at MIFA Miami International Fine Arts. Elkin is a full time active painter, whose work is in public and private collections. To see more about his work go to: https://www.elkincanas.com/.

To register for this workshop and to learn about MIFA's painting and sculpture programs, visit https://mifamiami.com/.

Baroque in Britain Published on 19 February, 2020

Baroque in Britain

From the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 to the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the late Stuart period was a time of change for Britain. This exhibition will explore how art and architecture was used by the crown, the church and the aristocracy to project images of power and status in an age when the power of the monarchy was being questioned.

The exhibition will include the work of the leading painters of the day, including Peter Lely, Godfrey Kneller and James Thornhill, as well as the woodcarving of Grinling Gibbons and the architectural designs of Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor and John Vanbrugh.

The exhibition runs from February 5 - April 19, 2020 at the Tate Britain - Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG, United Kingdom.

To learn more, click here. 

For more events, please visit the ARC Calendar.

Gary Christensen Interview Published on 14 February, 2020

Skill-Based Art: A Learning Resource for Art Students & Artist-Teachers has recently published an interview with former president of The ASCR and close friend of Richard Lack, Gary Christensen. Gary and fellow members of The ASCR were the first organisation to create publications that documented the Classical Realist movement which ultimately educated the public about the fine tradition of picture making and its respective artists. Gary is also the author of Richard F. Lack: Catalogue Raisonné. Topics covered include, Gary’s career in commercial art, discovering Classical Realism and Mr. Lack, co-founding The ASCR, the process of publishing the Catalogue Raisonné, as well as Mr. Lack’s working methods and Gary’s personal recollection and memories of his time with Mr. Lack.

To listen to the podcast, please click here.