The
American Artists Professional League, Inc.
Our Purpose.
To advance the cause of ne arts in America through the promotion of high standards of beauty, integrity and craftsmanship in painting, sculpture and the graphic arts. To emphasize the importance of order and coherent communication as prime requisites of works of art through exhibitions and publications.
History of AAPL
In January 1928, F. Ballard Williams, Assistant Treasurer of the National Academy of Design in New York, called a meeting with distinguished members of the Salmagundi Club to discuss the need for a national organization to support the increasing interest in traditional realism in American art. They agreed this organization should be designed to encourage and protect artists’ interests, promote high standards of beauty, integrity and craftsmanship, and emphasize the importance of educational support for young artists. The American Artists Professional League (AAPL) was born.
Almost immediately The AAPL became a proactive, unied voice supporting American artists. By using its international stature, the organization was able to inuence a rider to a Congressional bill that stipulated all ofcial portraits paid for by taxpayers’ dollars were to be painted by American artists. This law remains in effect to this day. Another milestone for the organization was the improvement of the chemical and physical purity of artists’ pigments. By securing a grant from the Carnegie Corporation, a program of color pigment research was established by The AAPL. By 1932, The AAPL was considered the country’s leading authority on artists’ pigments culminating in the establishment of the US Bureau of Standards’ original set of standards for artists’ colors. These standards were updated in 1962.
In its 97th year, The AAPL currently stages two in-person juried shows: The Grand National Exhibition at the iconic Salmagundi Club in New York City, and Timeless, at the notable Lyme Art Association, in Lyme, CT. The Grand National Exhibition attracts hundreds of applicants from all fty states and abroad. The work is reviewed by a selection committee of artists in all media. Our award judges are chosen from art institutions within the New York Metro area. All accepted artists are given an opportunity to have their work represented in our annual full color show catalog and over $38,000 in prize money, merchandise, magazine editorials and ads are awarded at our reception. The AAPL also sponsors two online shows: The Spring Members Online Show, providing our members a great opportunity to get feedback from fellow artist members and showcase their work to the public, and Emergence, for young artists and Associate Artist Members.
Our Members specialize in the wide spectrum of contemporary and traditional realist art. The AAPL represents artists residing and working across the United States and territories. We foster creativity, value skill, and encourage excellence.
The American Artists Professional League, Inc. 47 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10003
Email: admin@aaplinc.org
Instagram: @aapl_nyc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanArtistsProfessionalLeague/
At the Lyme Art Association Old Lyme, Connecticut
https://lymeartassociation.org/about/
The Lyme Art Association (LAA) is a vibrant nonprot arts center in the heart of Old Lyme, which was home more than a century ago to the Lyme Art Colony of American Impressionists. The mission is to promote and cultivate an appreciation for representational ne arts by holding art exhibitions, conducting educational programs for the benet of its members and the greater community and by owning, maintaining, and preserving an historic building and galleries in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Today they have 650 member artists who showcase their original art in seven juried exhibitions each year. They place a strong emphasis on the organization’s historic ties to American Impressionism as a framework for understanding contemporary ne art and its role in encouraging appreciation for diverse ways of seeing and interpreting the world around us.
About the Timeless Exhibition
The historic Lyme Art Association plays host to the equally historic American Artists Professional League; art and history in timeless harmony. Timeless is a juried, contemporary take on realism, sourced from the curated group of AAPL members located across the country. Realist artists capture moments of life with exquisite detail and a keen appreciation for the nuances of light, shadow, and form. From intimate portraiture to expansive landscapes, every piece in this exhibit is for sale. Embrace the opportunity to bring these masterpieces into your own home. A digital and print-on-demand catalog accompanies the exhibition, allowing collectors to revisit their favorite pieces and artists at their leisure.
Collectors may pick up their purchases at the conclusion of the exhibition, or arrange for the work to be shipped.
Letter from the President
To the AAPL Art Community
It is with great pleasure that the American Artists Professional League (AAPL) presents Timeless, our inaugural realism exhibition at the historic Lyme Art Association. From September 19 through November 6, the exhibition showcases outstanding realist and representational works by AAPL members from across the country.
This members-only exhibition features work by Elected Artists, Signature, Fellows, and Life Members, carefully juried by the AAPL Board of Directors and Show Chair Del-Bourree Bach, a renowned acrylic painter and Signature AAPL member. Approximately 50 works are on view, ranging from oil and acrylic paintings to watercolors, drawings, and sculpture. Each piece is available for purchase, offering collectors the opportunity to add a work of contemporary realism to their own collections.
Over $5,000 in prizes are awarded in this year’s exhibition, supported by generous sponsors including American Art Collector and Fine Art Connoisseur, who contribute advertising awards in addition to several cash prizes.
Show Chair Del-Bourree Bach and guest juror Antonio Lones judged the awards. We are grateful to have such accomplished artists serving as judges this year. For the rst time, they will also be sharing their reections on the winning works, which will be displayed in the gallery alongside the exhibition.
The Lyme Art Association, built in the early 1900s, is a nonprot dedicated to advancing representational ne arts. Its mission includes preserving its historic galleries, hosting exhibitions, and offering educational programs that benet the local community and the public at large. Located at 90 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, the Association is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 am to 5 pm. The opening reception and awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, September 21, from 2 to 4 pm, and is open to the public.
The American Artists Professional League, founded in 1928, is a nonprot organization dedicated to upholding the highest standards of beauty, integrity, and craftsmanship in American realism. Prominent past members include Elizabeth Okie Paxton, Rockwell Kent, and Edgar Alwin Payne. Today, AAPL continues to support artists through scholarships to the Art Students League of New York and the Art Renewal Center, and many of its members are nalists in the prestigious ARC Salon.
For those unable to attend in person, Timeless is also viewable online at AAPLinc.org, with artworks available for purchase through the AAPL Artwork Store.
We thank you for exploring this catalog, and hope you enjoy the exhibition!
Sincerely, President of the AAPL
JURORS
Exhibit Chair: Signature Member Del-Bourree Bach.
Contemporary realist Del-Bourree Bach is known for his striking and almost tactile depictions of man and nature. Although many of his paintings are inspired by the sea and the life in and around it, he enjoys paintings many subjects from rural farms to western vistas to city sidewalks. His painting invite viewers to enter into the scene and challenge them to create their own stories and impressions. Primarily a studio painter, he works mainly in acrylic, but also enjoys transparent watercolor.
Bach is a Signature member of the American Society of Marine Artists (former board member), Artists for Conservation, Allied Artists of America, American Artists Professional League (Signature Member/Fellow). Audubon Artists, National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic, National Oil and Acrylic Painters (Master), Academic Artists Association, and International Society of Acrylic Painters (Master), among others. He is an elected artist member of the Salmagundi Club New York (47 years, former board member), Providence Art Club (Art Committee Member), Copley Society of Art Boston (Copley Master), Lyme Art Association (current board member) and the Mystic Museum of Art (former board member) among others.
Jurors of Awards Del-Bourree Bach & Antonio Lones
Antonio Lones
Antonio Lones has been creating artwork for over ten years. He began his artistic journey in his home cotuntry of El Salvador, and later moved to the United States. He has a body of work that includes still lifes, portraits, and gurative work.
Currently, Antonio is exploring the use of everyday objects in his paintings. He seeks to capture the beauty of simple things: a pair of boots, a small squash, or some sunowers. His paintings reveal to the viewer the shapes, colors, and forms of objects that often go unnoticed.
Antonio draws inspiration for his artwork from his worldview and his ability to tell a personal story, often sharing the culture of his native country in his paintings. He strives to create balance in his paintings through his astute understanding of artistic elements, such as composition, design, and color harmonies.
JURORS
Guest Juror of Selection: Fellow Member Jacqueline Lorieo
Jacqueline Lorieo is a sculptor, medallist, and Occupational Therapist. Her work is modeled in clay or carved in wood or stone. The pieces range in size from life-size to small hand-held medals. Many are gurative fragments, red in clay or cast in bronze or glass.
Jacqueline’s medical background in nursing and Occupational Therapy has allowed her to study and view anatomy. To see the interior of the human body and its’ intricate workings, is to enter an amazing hidden world. It provides endless inspiration. Her medical background has always inuenced her forms and themes in art, and helped her to capture moments in time. Each piece has a story, whether it is an emotional reference or an historical reference.
Currently Jacqueline is the President of the National Association of Women Artists. It is the oldest women’s ne art association in the United States. NAWA was established in 1889 by ve women artists. It has four state chapters in Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, with a national ofce in New York City. There are approximately 800 members nationally, showing art work in multiple mediums.
To see more of Jacqueline Lorieo’s work visit her website at: https://jacquelinelorieo.com/
A Special Thank you...
Special thanks to AAPL Board Member Karen Israel for coordinating volunteers and assisting during artwork drop-off and pick-up days.
We also extend our gratitude to Paul Michael, Gallery Manager at the Lyme Art Association, for his dedicated work in installing the exhibition.
Thanks to all of the members who entered Timeless.
The AAPL could not do it without you, our members, thanks to your generosity and talent, you make exhibitions like Timeless possible. We are grateful that you are a part of The American Artists Professional League!
AAPL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The AAPL Board of Directors consists of eleven dedicated volunteer Members from varied artistic backgrounds.
If you would like to assist The AAPL in its continuing efforts to recognize, encourage and support traditional and contemporary American realist art and artists, please consider a contribution to the Scholarship Fund, establishing a Memorial Fund in honor of a loved one, or making a testamentary bequest to The American Artists Fund. All donations are tax deductible.
Aki Kano – President & Grand National co-chair
Aki Kano is a representational watercolor portrait artist who earned her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan and a degree in Fashion Design from FIT in NYC. After a 15-year career in fashion and handbag design, she discovered her passion for watercolor in 2014. Since then, her work has received numerous awards and has been exhibited in prestigious juried shows, museums, and galleries worldwide. Most recently, she was shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize in the UK. Her paintings have been featured multiple times in Fine Art Connoisseur, International Artist Magazine, and American Art Collector.
Jodie Kain is a nationally recognized contemporary gurative realist working exclusively in pastels. Over many years Jodie extensively studied classical atelier methods of drawing, as well as modern expressionism in New York City, Pennsylvania, London, and Boston. After a 20-year career in software Jodie is happily painting full-time.
Almost 100 Years of Promoting American Art and Artists.
In addition to numerous awards, Karen’s pastel painting work has garnered the honor of Signature Member with the American Artists Professional League, Master Circle with the International Association of Pastel Societies and Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America. Karen is an artist member of the Salmagundi Club, NYC,The Copley Society, Boston and the Lyme Art Association.
Karen conducts many teaching demonstrations and workshops throughout the United States and she has served as juror for many national competitions.
Lorenzo Cardim is a Brazilian/American gurative sculptor and textile artist. His works have been exhibited in galleries and museums both nationally and internationally and are part of private collections in France, Milan, San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., and beyond. Recognized for his expertise in architectural fabrication and restoration, Lorenzo's work has been showcased in institutions such as the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the National Building Museum.
He serves as the Associate Dean of Administration and Finance at the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the Catholic University of America, where he also teaches digital architectural 3D modeling.
Lorenzo holds a Master of Fine Arts from the California College of the Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Corcoran College of Arts.
Deborah Gersony, a cardiologist turned professional oil painter, specializes in landscapes and animal studies. Her work has been accepted into many national juried arts shows, including Oil Painters of America National Juried Salon, NOAPS Best of America Small Works and Annual Juried Art Exhibitions at Ridgewood Art Institute. She has also been a nalist in several PleinAir Salon competitions and is a Resident Artist Member at the Salmagundi Club.
Jodie Kain – Vice President & on-line content coordinator
Lorenzo Cardim – Treasurer
Karen Israel – Recording Secretary
Deborah Gersony – membership director & Grand National Exhibition Director
Nancy Allen – Grapevine, Catalog and
Graphics Director
Nancy Allen is a retired graphic designer and artist living in rural Eastern Oregon. Her main area of interest is equine portraiture and the use of colored pencil as a ne art medium as well as continuing to do selected graphic design work for a limited number of clients. Her work has been shown in many National and International exhibitions and she is an elected member of the American Artists Professional League, the International Guild of Realism, the American Academy of Equine Art, Women Artists of the West, and a former Signature member of the Colored Pencil Society of America.
Eric Chauvin – Demo Coordinator
Since 1992, Eric Chauvin has been working in the lm and television industry as a digital matte painter. In 2015, after a twenty year hiatus, he got back into acrylic painting again with an ambitious series of works depicting scenes from 6th century Constantinople. So far he has had pieces shown in the16th International ARC Salon at Sotheby’s in New York and AAPL’s 96th Grand National Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club in New York. He received a BFA at California State University Fullerton in 1987 and a MA from the same institution in 1991.
Eva Volf – Social Media director
Eva Volf is a professional oil painter from Cleveland, Ohio, who is best known for peaceful atmospheric seascapes.
Volf is an Elected Artist member of the American Artists Professional League as well as a member of the Artists' Archives of the Western Reserve. Her paintings have been in many regional and national exhibitions, have won awards and have been featured in American Art Collector, Plein Air and Vogue Magazines, "Artists at Work", a Cable 9 TV Show, Fox 8 News, and other news outlets. Eva’s work is held in numerous private, corporate and public collections in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia, including the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Tipping Point Media and Charter Communications (Spectrum).
Alex Tibar – Administrative Manager
Alex was a sales professional for almost 20 years. She left the corporate world when her twins were born. Since then she served on the board for Mothers of Multiples Society and Montessori Education Foundation. She has volunteered at her children's school regularly over the years. She has enjoyed working for the AAPL since 2020.
Heather Jones – Marketing Director
Heather J. Jones is a photorealist painter specializing in watermedia. Originally from New York City, she has lived for over two decades between NYC and London, and now resides in New Canaan, Connecticut. Working in gouache and watercolor layered over graphite, Jones creates richly detailed and vibrantly saturated paintings that celebrate the character and craftsmanship of vintage vehicles. Largely self-taught, Jones has rened her technique through course work at Parsons School of Design and the School of Visual Arts in New York, as well as Heatherley’s School of Fine Art in London. Her work reects a deep appreciation for precision, nostalgia, and the interplay of light and form. Jones is an active member of the arts community, serving on the Board of Directors for the American Artists Professional League, where she is also an Elected Artist Member, and as Vice President of the Board of Directors for Carriage Barn Arts Center. Her work has been featured in several prestigious juried exhibitions, including the Allied Artists of America 112th Annual Exhibition, the 96th Annual Grand National Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club, American Women Artists 2025 Exhibition, and the National Watercolor Society 2025 Exhibition as well as in major publications, including Fine Art Connoisseur and Art and Color 365.
Jess Bell – Fundraising Director
Jess Bell is an oil painter, from the Jersey Shore, who primarily focuses on realistic seascapes. Her work has been shown in various shows across the country
Nancy Stainton – Technology Director
Nancy has been a life long lover of art, starting to draw at age 8. She had to balance art with her profession, software, for many years but now in retirement is able to get back to it.
Accepted Works
21 x 16
$2,500
$5,900
Nancy Allen Pura Raza Española
Colored Pencil
Serena Bates
Zen Zen
Sculpture 18 x 10 x 14
Jean Marie Bucich
Reminiscence Oil
30 x 24
$3,400
Andres Dela Pena Cabanos
Spanish Woman with a Manila Shawl Oil
58 x 40
$13,000
Mary Chandler Coast Guard Road, Isleford
Watercolor
13 x 13
$1,600
Daily Grace
Pastel 23 x 29
$5,000
Romeo Ratio Cortez Jr.
Meditation
Watercolor
16 x 10.5
$2,200
Bird's Eye View
9.75 x 16
$1,900
Caryn Coville
Colored Pencil
Jenny Davis
18 x 16
$1,750
12 x 16
$1,000
Christopher Forrest Breaktime Oil
Deborah Gersony Gliding on the Bay Oil
Wet Wolf
Pastel
12 x 16
$3,000
Reection of Time
16 x 20
$1,800
Lisa Gleim
Susan Grimm
Colored Pencil
Katherine Grossfeld Tween Fortune Teller Oil
12 x 12
$850
Sherie Harkins A Bond Never Absent Oil
20 x 16
$1,200
22 x 30
$9,600
Katherine Irish A Blaze of Red Pastel
30 x 15
$2,500
Heather J. Jones
Saving Up for a Buick Watermedia
Rana Jordahl Egret Nothing Oil
12 x 12
$1,700
Kain Life Is A Verb Pastel 18 x 12
$6,000
Jodie
Aki Kano
Peony I
Graphite
11.5 x 11.5
$800
Debra Keirce
Precious Cargo Oil
18 x 24
$4,450
10 x 15
$1,400
Trading In My Chevy for a Cadillac Oil
24 x 24
$2,800
Cherie Kimmell June Oil
Bob Lavoie
18 x 24
$1,800
36 x 24
$5,900
Zhi Li Flowers in Chinese Pot with Fruits Oil
Patsy Lindamood Shuttered Graphite
24 x 28
$2,500
Antonio Masi 5th Avenue
Watercolor
30 x 22
$5,425
Deborah B. Macy Girl with a Red Ribbon Oil
60 x 40
$7,500
12 x 12
$1,400
Brian McClear Down the Rabbit Hole Oil
Sarah Means Machinations of Beauty Oil
Angela Mia Winter Sculpture
Christopher B. Mooney Field Check
Victor Mordasov Whispers of the Quiet Pasture Oil
8 x 8
$1,900
Brenda Morgan Testing Her Patience Oil
24 x 12
$2,000
Dorie Pouch Petrochko
Great Blue Preening Oil
11 x 14
$1,850
Aleksandra Sasha Phillips
Grandmother's Fan Oil
24 x 12
$1,250
20 x 16 $2,500
Rand Midwinter Morning Glow Oil 9 x 12 $1,800
Jennifer
Jon Quinn A Break from Practice Oil
16 x 20
$2,600
20 x 16
$3,400
Joan Saba Mums Oil
Max Savaiko Pappy and His Panda Oil
Linda J. Schroeter Amphora Oil
20 x 16
$3,500
Robert A. Steedman Freshly Fallen Watercolor
15 x 21
$3,000
Oil
36 x 24
$4,000
$4,000
Robert Steinem Welcome, Grafton Inn
Cynthia Stevens Sol
Sculpture 19 x 10 x 9
12
$3,500
16
Chantal Sulkow
Portrait of Monica Oil
x 9
Fang Sullivan
Repose
Pastel
x 12
$1,100
Anna Toberman Discerning Oil
Nikki Travaglino Double Trouble Acrylic 24 x 36
$5,000
16 x 16
$1,600
20
Patricia C. Tribastone
The Quest Oil
Eva Volf
Heaven's Gate Oil
x 20
$650
South Beach Couple
Oil
20 x 16
$3,000
Joseph Warren
One magazine ad award.
One magazine ad award.
The American Artists Professional League, Inc.
Cash awards. First Place: $600, Second Place: $400, Third Place: $200, Two Honorable Mentions: $50 each.
