Friday, July 23, 2010

A Louisiana Collection Grows................... in Massachusetts

Selecting art for design projects is absolutely my favorite aspect of the job. And the way that is done best varies from project to project. The norm is for the art to be selected last but at times the opposite is true. For the study in a house that I am working on where only the rug will remain and the upholstery and curtains will be solids, I am starting with a fantastic grouping of five paintings that I have found over the last week during several days of gallery hopping on the Cape.

For years, Provincetown, MA, has been an artists colony. By 1916, Provincetown was considered the largest artist colony in the world with many very famous artists (Reynolds Beal, Childe Hassam, Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, etc, etc) studying and painting here at some point in their careers.

Still today, nearly 100 years later, many extraordinary artists come to P-town (as we regulars call it) for workshops, gallery shows, inspiration, & artist comraderie.
It is always a joy each summer to see what each gallery has that is new and exciting. No difference this year as I set out to find perfect pieces.
I am presenting the five pieces to be used in the Study in order as I discovered them so that you can see how the grouping was chosen.

All collections need a starting point and for this particular room, Cynthia Packard's My Room mixed media piece is the perfect springboard.

One of the pre-eminent Provincetown based artists, Packard is the daughter of the famed landscape painter, Anne Packard. With a style in high contrast to her mothers, Cynthia has claimed her own stake in the art world nationally and internationally with shows in New York, Atlanta, Boston, and her work is in over 300 collections in the United States and Europe.

This particular paintings is a mixed media collage with oil & paper included in the mix.
The abstracted figure is simply stunning and the electric blue mixed with greens and umbers is perfect for the space I am working on:


Cynthia Packard
My Room
Mixed Media on Board with Finished Sides
11" x 14"
$2,100.00


Julie Heller (www.juliehellergallery.com)has been one of the top dealers in Provincetown for years with a gallery that represents pieces from the estates of many of America's best artists including Milton Avery, Blanche Lazzell, Charles Hawthorne, Ada Gilmore, Robert Motherwell, & Fritz Bultman, as well as living artists whose work I love: Hannah Bureau, Patrick Webb, and David Wells Roth.

In complete juxtaposition to the Cynthia Packard piece, this New York City scene is hard lined and very geometric which is necessary to balance the fluidity of the figure in the Packard piece.

David Wells Roth's paintings have been shown in galleries in Massachusetts and New York, including Allan Stone gallery in New York which featured Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning's work early in their careers.

David Wells Roth
Queens Morning
Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"
$3,500.00


After finding the above two pieces, I was excited to keep the momentum and search going. On a trip up Cape to Wellfleet & Chatham, I was able to complete the perfect assemblage with the following three pieces:

Since 1971, Left Bank Gallery (www.leftbankgallery.com) in Wellfleet has represented a vast stable of artists with a large concentration of fine landscape painters including Gregory Kammerer and Willoughby Elliot.

Kammerer's ethereal landscapes have been shown in shows in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, and New York. I absolutely love the fogginess of this piece. It captures a real coastal landscape perfectly.


Gregory Kammerer
The Changing Landscape
Oil on Cavnas
14.5" x 13.5"
$1,350.00

With brighter colors in his palette, Willoughby Elliot also achieves a wonderful landscape by taking the details just to the line where more would be too much. Elliot's paintings have been shown around the country including Boston, the Cape, and Rhode Island.



Willoughby Elliot
Fog and Sun
Oil on Linen
11.25" x 13"
$600.00

and finally, the crowning jewel...a small landscape by the master Arthur Cohen:

Arthur Cohen
McMillan Pier
Oil on Panel
12" x 15"
$2,520.00

When I saw this piece at The Munson Gallery (www.munsongallery.net) in Chatham, I knew the room was complete. Arthur Cohen is one of my favorite artists whose work I first saw in New York years ago. I have never seen a painting by Cohen that I did not like which is a hard thing to say considering that nearly every artist that one loves at some point produces something that just doesn't move you. Not Mr. Cohen, and this has been recognized in his long career as an artist with shows in New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Massachusetts, California, Virginia, etc, etc, etc.

The Munson Gallery has been representing Arthur Cohen since the 1960s and over 40 years later the relationship is still strong and Cohen's paintings even better!




















Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Provincetown Happiness

We are on our annual Cape excursion. Probably the most important thing we do each year, our time in Provincetown, Massachusetts, is key to happiness. Restorative, inspiring and beautiful, P-town gives what it takes to reflect on the past months in preparation for the start of another year (the real calendar begins in September after the Summer season!). I have a system worked out where I spend 3 or 4 hours each day working from a table where I can look out and see the bay beach (that makes it a lot easier to work!) and the rest of the time is spent just seeing and doing and as dear friend Lue Svendson (who is here now as well) called it, "doing whatever whenever."

This trip is my annual "clean up"..I answer emails that were forgotten, organize client files on the computer, follow up on client items, scheme, dream, plan, etc, etc, so that when Labor Day has passed I am ready to start another year of work with a clean slate.

The natural beauty of P-town (and the entire Cape) is stunning. This is the bay beach across the street from our rental:

and this is from our front yard (with zoom of course) looking out across the bay to Long Point Lighthouse:

The town and famous Pilgrim Monument from the marshes at the beach:

Sunset over the ocean showing the phenomenon known as Cape Light:


From a design perspective, the vernacular architecture is beyond charming and provides a huge contrast from what I see on a daily basis:


Our beloved 28 Commercial Street home away from real home:




And, every now and then if you are lucky, you get one of these captured from our beach a couple of years ago:

I'll be posting from here as I find great art and accessories and beauty for the clients I am shopping for while away..I already found a fantastic Hannah Bureau painting yesterday for a Lafayette client!

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing this Summer, enjoy!
And take time to do whatever, whenever.

Jeffery

Monday, July 19, 2010

Caroline Chunn McCarthy at Rue du Pont Galerie et Studio

I have had a very busy 3 weeks since returning from Spain...filled with client installations and three fantastic art openings that I was co-organizer of..

First up, Caroline Chunn McCarthy at Rue du Pont Galerie et Studio:

Lue Svendson's Rue du Pont Galerie in Breaux Bridge was the perfect setting on July 10th for the opening of the July & August solo show of paintings by Caroline Chunn McCarthy of Mobile, AL. A Lafayette, LA, native, Caroline graduated from high school (Cathedral Carmel) and college (SMU) with Tim. A full-time lawyer (and mother of 3!) in Mobile, Caroline somehow finds the time to fulfill her love and passion, painting.

I became Caroline's agent in January and have since placed her work at 119 Quincy Circle in Seaside, FL, Gallery at City Club in Lafayette, LA, and Rue du Pont Galerie. All three galleries fell in love with Caroline's pieces because "they perfectly straddle the line between traditional and contemporary" and "for the color, the lightness of touch" and "the only still lifes that I've ever liked".


The beautiful Caroline Chunn McCarthy with me at the opening with two of her Contemporary Still Life Series behind us.


The opening night reception was jam packed, beautiful, filled with great art and great food..the perfect atmosphere that Lue Svendson always creates. Of the pieces that remain in the show, I was shocked that these three didn't sell opening night:

My top pick for best in the show:

Blues
Oil on Canvas
24" x 24"
$850.00


Contemporary Still Life I
Oil on Canvas
36" x 48"
$1,800.00


Still Life with Blue Vase
Oil on Canvas
22" x 28"
$1,050.00


The show will be up through end of August..For inquiries on these pieces or others in the show, please be in touch with me via email at jefferymccullough@hotmail.com or with Lue Svendson at lue@luesvendson.com.


Friday, July 2, 2010

The Gardens & Parks of Madrid will Help my Mood!

It has been hot and humid and rainy every day since I got back to Lafayette...I am in a bad mood and LONGING to be out of here! so I am taking a trip tonight to the gardens and parks of Madrid...won't you come along with me??

The Royal Palace of Madrid & Jardines de Sabatini....








Parque del Retiro......




and my favorite, Real Jardin Botanico...

we were lucky enough to be in Madrid while the exhibit of flower sculpture by Jose Onieva was happening..these are great fun..and they are cheering me up now as I look at them!



and then there are the real flowers.....beautiful!...







ok...that helped my mood...hope you enjoyed as well! Happy 4th of July weekend...
Jeffery