A MATTER OF LIGHT AND DEATH: OLD AND NEW MASTERS-ABEND GALLERY

Robert Arme*a: Robert Arme*a is a painter who studied extensively in the U.S., at such ins=tu=ons as Columbus College of Art and Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and Water Street Atelier, and in Italy at the Florence Academy of Art and the Angel Academy of Art. He earned his M.F.A. from the New York Academy of Art, where he graduated with honors in 1998.

He has exhibited widely, in both solo and group exhibi=ons, across the United States, at venues including the Na=onal Academy of Design, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Susquehanna Museum of Art, Sotheby’s, the State University of New York at Farmingdale, St. John’s University, Messiah College, Arcadia Fine Art, John Pence Gallery, Century Gallery, and Seraphin Gallery.

Robert graduated in 2020 from the Global Awakening School of Ministry. With his wife, Flora Arme*a, he cofounded Rhema Culture, a Chris=an arts ministry, and recently launched a school of classical realist drawing and pain=ng in the Harrisburg area, Academy Rhema.

Leesha Oil on mounted board 15” x 18”

Daniela Astone: Daniela Astone (b.1980 Pisa) grew upon in the sea-town of Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, formally began studying art at the age of 14 in the High School of Arts in Grosseto. AXer gradua=ng in 1998 she moved to Florence to study Illustra=on at the interna=onal school of comix, in her second year she started to work independently for several editors and in the studio of illustra=on Inklink.

At the age of 21 Daniela decided to change direc=on and to re-start studying drawing and paint from life at The Florence Academy of Art under the direc=on of Daniel Graves. She began to teach to the younger students in the Academy when she was in her second year, she graduated in 2004 with the end of the year award, but she con=nued to work as a principal teacher for the Florence Academy of art.

In 2005 she had her first and very successful Solo show at the Ann Long Fine Art Gallery in Charleston so she decided to build up a studio in the Tuscany countryside.

In 2013 Daniela became the director of the intermediate program at The Florence Academy of Art, entered in the BP award in London and received an honorable men=on from the Mod Portrait award, Spain.

Her work has exhibited interna=onally and in 2016 it became part of the permanent collec=on of MACS, the Contemporary Art Museum in Sicily.

She also collaborated with Tiac, China, with Liveandlearn, Thailand, with Streamline, East Oaks Studio and teaches workshops of landscape pain=ng in her studio-house in Chian= Tuscany and around the world. In 2019 together with Gaia Grazioli she curated the Show “Corpo a Corpo” in the Museum of Villa Bardini in Florence thanks to Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and Carlo Sisi.

Pandere Oil on Canvas 59” x 59”

Jeremy Caniglia: (b.1970) is from Omaha, NE. Caniglia is a successful ar=st, curator, adjunct professor, and art historian. His work is showcased in private collec=ons around the world. His art and wri=ng are published worldwide on a regular basis and he has contributed to both joint and solo fine art exhibi=ons at museums and galleries that include the Society of Illustrators (NY), the Allentown Art Museum, the Walters Art Museum, Salmagundi, Abend gallery, and the Joslyn Art Museum.

Caniglia holds a BFA from ISU, an MFA from the Maryland Ins=tute College of Art and a M.Ed. from Creighton University. Caniglia also studied at The Nerdrum School in Norway with Odd Nerdrum.

Caniglia’s work has appeared in numerous books and movies produced by Random House, Pyr Publishing, Cemetery Dance Publica=ons, Dorchester Publishing, Easton Press, IDW Publishing, Anchor Bay Entertainment, IDT Entertainment, Show=me Networks and Warner Brothers among others.

Caniglia received the 2004 Interna=onal Horror Guild Award for best ar=st in dark fantasy, the IlluXCon 2012 ar=st award and the 2015 Iowa State University College of Art and Design Achievement award. In 2018 he received the NC Wyeth Merit Award and in 2020 the Jane Peterson Memorial award from the Salmagundi Gallery in NYC. In 2024 he won best in show at the Nebraska Biennial.

Last Breath Oil on Panel 10” x 14”

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David with the Head of Goliath-Oil on Canvas 30”x 40”

Louis Carr: (b. 1981 - Clarksdale, Mississippi) lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Louis’s work focuses on classical realism through the delicate rendi=on of the human figure and landscapes of the natural world. Since the materializa=on of his ar=s=c giXs during his childhood, he has embarked on a lifelong journey to establish himself as a master of fine art. His amiability and innate ap=tude for business make him an excep=onal, versa=le tutor, and his dexterous draXsmanship and percep=ve interpreta=on of value and form ins=ll a visible vitality in his pain=ngs, preserving a high demand for his work.

Early influences by ar=sts such as Marshall J. Bouldin III (September 6, 1923 – November 12, 2012) inspired his specializa=on in human portraiture, and with the steadfast support of his family, Louis entered the profession full =me at the age of 20. AXer building a strong client network and independent business, he received a highly dis=nguished scholarship to complete a Fine Arts degree at the University of Mississippi. In 2013, compelled to refine his technical skills even further, he moved to New York to study at the Grand Central Atelier under renowned ar=sts Jacob Collins and Joshua LaRock.

In 2017, in partnership with Joshua and fellow ar=st Michael Klein, Louis founded East Oaks Studio in Raleigh, North Carolina, to propagate an influen=al environment, within which a new community of ar=sts seeking to master excellence could thrive.

SELF PORTRAIT Oil on Canvas

Thomas Fluharty: Thomas Fluharty’s work has been featured on covers for Mad magazine, Der Spiegel, and Time Magazine, who gave the cover to the Na=onal Portrait Gallery’s permanent collec=on. His work is notably featured for The Weekly Standard, for whom he has painted over 100 covers. Other clients have included People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, The Village Voice, Coca-Cola, and The New York Times and Disney.

Fluharty’s work has received na=onal recogni=on from the Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles and Communica=on Arts Illustra=on annuals. He won a gold medal from Spectrum Fantas=c Art for his depic=on of Hillary Clinton. His work is also in the personal collec=ons of Astronaut and Senator John Glenn, Pat Boone, Naomi Judd, the late movie director Robert Altman and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.

Fluharty loves working with students all over the world teaching online with Schoolism.com where he teaches drawing and pain=ng. He is happily married to the love of his life Kris=, has five amazing daughters, and one cute li*le cavalier spaniel named Biddy.

Wizard of CaravaOZIO Oil on Canvas 14” x 20” Caravaggio Study Indigo Bleu pencil on Paper

Gary Gianni: (born 1954) Gary Gianni graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1976, he worked for the Chicago Tribune as an illustrator and network television news as a courtroom sketch ar=st. Gianni has adapted and illustrated a wide variety of books, including John Henry, Kidnapped, Moby Dick, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, The Complete Conan of Cimmeria, and Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road. His comic’s work includes Classics Illustrated, The Shadow, and The MonsterMen. He won an Eisner Award for his illustra=on of “Heroes,” a tale included in Batman: Black and White. Gianni served as the illustrator of the Prince Valiant Sunday comic strip for nearly a decade.

The King in Yellow Pencil on Paper.

The King in Yellow Ink on Paper

Sco* Gustafson: Although Sco* has had the opportunity to work on many projects throughout his career, it is in illustra=ng children’s books that he finds the greatest sa=sfac=on. Over the years, he is primarily known for his work illustra=ng children’s classics such as Peter Pan, The Night Before Christmas, and the more recent =tles, Classic Fairy Tales, Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose, Classic Bed=me Stories, and his novel for young readers, Eddie: The Lost Youth of Edgar Allan Poe, which he wrote and illustrated.

Sco*’s most recent book, Classic Storybook Fables, was released by Ar=san aXer two years (and 49 new oil pain=ngs) in the making! Ar=san has also reprinted Classic Fairy Tales, Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose and Classic Bed=me Stories, so we are very pleased that all these =tles are available in bookstores everywhere.

Sherlock Holmes, Oil on Panel, 24" x 30 “

Sherlock Holmes and The Mystery of the Room Full of Clues, Oil on Panel 18" x 24

Phil Hale: Born 1963 in Boston, Massachuse*s, One of the most talented and unpredictable Bri=sh ar=sts today, Phil Hale is a figura=ve painter especially known for his characteris=cally intense pain=ngs and portraits. Some of the most important themes and styles that he has explored in the course of his decades-long career convey devasta=on, impending doom, movement, complexity and distress. Hale’s raw, real, and eye-catching pieces are dis=nguished by dark elements, both in color and in content. His masterful manipula=on of light and dark and the fluidity of forms create delicate subjects that seem to exist somewhere in between the abstract and the figura=ve.

Rim Lit Memories Oil on Canvas 9” x 12”

Skull Study Oil on Panel 9” x 12”

Bill Hauser: Bill Hauser is a Minnesota-based illustrator and cartoonist whose artwork has graced the record covers of rock bands from around the world. His artwork is well known in the underground punk, hardcore and heavy metal scene where his illustra=ons reflect the youthful chaos and excitement of punk rock music.

Bill has worked with bands like: ANTiSEEN, Ghoul, Hirax, In Defence, Skit System, BANE, Hellna=on and Ozzy Osbourne. Inspired by ’80s rock and roll ar=sts like Pushead and Richard Corben, Hauser’s a*en=on to detail, jagged line work, and bright color schemes reflect the chao=c urgency of punk rock gigs.

A 1996 Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Design graduate, Bill has drawn comic books for Devil’s Due Publishing and Dead Dog Comics. He has also self-published his own comic books. Bill instructed a wellreceived comic book course, from 2013-2020, at the Art Academy in St. Paul Minnesota. In 2016, a retrospec=ve exhibit of his artwork adorned the walls of Galerie Gemund in Haarlem, Netherlands and he was a featured ar=st and speaker at that year’s Stripdagen comic book fes=val. He was honored with inclusion into the pres=gious Lambiek Comiclopedia in 2016. Bill lives in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota with his wife, three children.

Unquenchable Hunger for War Ink and Pencil on Paper

Luke Hillestad: Luke Hillestad is a kitsch painter living in St Paul, Minnesota. His work aims towards the primal beauty of humans at their most noble, with narra=ves that revolve around archetypal themes.

In 2006 he leX his work as a land surveyor and began pain=ng full =me, with Rembrandt and Odd Nerdrum books open next to his empty canvas. Luke immersed himself in appren=ceship, studying with Nerdrum, and traveling to museums and studios around the world to learn from the pain=ngs of the old Masters whose tradi=on he seeks to follow.

Luke uses the pale*e of the Ancient Greek fresco painter Apelles, and paints from life using his friends as models, as well as the taxidermied animals he collects on his travels. His pain=ngs illustrate the primal beauty of humans at their best and most noble. Their narra=ves tend to center around themes of death, kinship, ritual, and interac=ons with wilderness. Luke Hillestad is represented by The Rymer Gallery in Nashville, the L'oeil du Prince Gallery in Paris, and Flanders and Rogue Buddha galleries in Minneapolis. His work has also been exhibited in Florida, Chicago, Norway, and Germany.

Martyr’s Lover Oil on Canvas 28” x 28”

JuliAnne Jonker: JuliAnne Jonker was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1957. She is a renowned award-winning fine ar=st, portrait photographer and educator. JuliAnne grew up surrounded by a family of jazz musicians and crea=ves, learning to operate with inspira=on and improvisa=on from her earliest years. Her crea=ve life has been shaped by those same values as she fluidly moves between disciplines – drawing, pain=ng, photography and sculpture. She is trained in both classical and contemporary fine art styles, first at the Minnesota River School of Fine Art and then with living Masters domes=cally and abroad.

JuliAnne’s work has been exhibited and sold broadly, consistently receiving cri=cal acclaim, most recently at Sotheby’s- New York, The Salmagundi Club- New York, RJD Gallery-New York, The Museum MEAMBarcelona, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art- Wisconsin, Zeller Gallery and Gallery One- Minnesota.

JuliAnne’s work is also part of the permanent collec=on at The Museum of Encaus=c Art-Santa Fe New Mexico.

A few recent awards and accolades have been granted from The Salmagundi Club, NY, The Art Renewal Center, The Portrait Society of America, the Interna=onal Velasquez Award, FIKVA Art Prize, Almenara Art Prize and the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art. Her work has been published in numerous books and publica=ons including the cover of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, December issue 2021. FiXeen of her pain=ngs are included in the Lunar Codex of artwork being sent to the moon.

Dionysus Oil on Canvas 22” x 30”

Vision at Ghost Ranch Oil on Canvas

Cupid and Psyche – Bouguereau Masterwork Oil on Canvas

Evan Kitson: Kitson earned his BFA in Illustra=on from Pennsylvania College of Art & Design and his MFA in Drawing from the New York Academy of Art. Evan has par=cipated in numerous group exhibi=ons in Pennsulvania and New York. His work can be found in the recently published book The Nerdrum School: The Master and His Students. Kitson’s work has appeared in Poets Ar=sts Magazine, Manifest Gallery’s Interna=onal Drawing Annual, The Newer York and The Figura=ve Ar=st’s Handbook. Kitson currently teaches at the New York Academy of Art, Harrisburg Area Community College, The Teaching Studios of Art and the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design. He lives and works in Lancaster, PA and New York, NY.

Dickinson's Folly Graphite on Paper

Kathe Kollwitz: (1867-1945) There aren’t many ar=sts whose work can spark vehement poli=cal debate half a century aXer their death; Käthe Kollwitz, one of Germany’s most important ar=sts of the early 20th century, has earned this unusual honor. Kollwitz, studied art at a =me when women were s=ll denied access to art academies. Instead, she a*ended courses at schools for women ar=sts in Berlin and Munich. Kollwitz’s closeness to real life was incompa=ble with the ar=st clichés of the Post-War period: Rather than presen=ng herself as a loXy genius or an outsider, she worked on themes such as poverty, hunger, motherhood, death, or bereavement.

Kollwitz’s work is characterized by a high degree of empathy. Her power of light and dark push towards a universal humanist visual language in the tradi=on of Caravaggio.

Death and Mother Struggling Over Child, etching on paper 14” x 18”

Brock Larson: (b. 1991) Brock first began drawing at a very early age under the guidance of his father, Jeffrey T. Larson as well as his grandfather, Marvin Espe. He started his approach to academic prac=ce in high school with Charles Bargue plates, master copies, and cast drawings before moving to Minneapolis to pursue a formal educa=on at the Atelier Program of Fine Art, where he studied full =me for five years alongside a*ending workshops.

He then began teaching evening classes prior to returning to his hometown area of Duluth MN, to help his father establish a similar studio appren=ceship program, Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art. Together, they spent two years researching and designing the curriculum before renova=ng an old catholic church into an ideal studio seung for students. Here, they currently instruct the full-=me program and offer workshops.

Brock’s work has been included in mul=ple exhibi=ons and gallery shows throughout the US, including NYC, Cape Cod, Charleston, St. Louis, Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Door County WI, and Los Angeles.

Mars and Cars Oil on Canvas 18”x24”

Steven J. Levin: Steven J. Levin is an American artist trained in the atelier method similar to that of 19th century Paris; his oil paintings apply a traditional aesthetic to modern themes. The Impressionist Edgar Degas advised “never a stroke without the masters in your head,” and Levin draws his influence from a variety of sources: the masters, photography, and the cinema, always infusing his paintings with a classical ethos.

In his figurative paintings he finds beauty from a variety of settings: a dim billiard hall of figures under pools of light as they contemplate the table, or the cool brilliance of an afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum in which admirers of past masters become the works of art themselves.

In his award-winning still lifes, Levin often departs from traditional subjects, building his design with a more whimsical flair. His popular Hats series explores the pictorial possibilities of a simple arrangement of men’s dress hats (with a nod to Magritte); while his Books and Butterflies series applies the same whimsy using beautiful old books juxtaposed with butterflies, creating a visual simile of delicate pages and butterfly wings.

Levin has exhibited widely and taken part in significant group and solo shows in San Francisco, New York, London, Beijing and Barcelona. He has been featured on the cover of American Artist Magazine and the Artist’s Magazine and also has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes in national competitions including the American Society of Portrait Artists, the Art Renewal Center, the Portrait Institute, American Artist Magazine, the Salmagundi Club, the Oil Painters of America and the American Artist’s Professional League. He is represented by Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, Cavalier Gallery of New York and Tree’s Place Gallery on Cape Cod. Levin lives and works in Stillwater, Minnesota.

“American Goth”, 30 x 24, oil on canvas

Gannon McMullen: Gannon McMullen art is based in the old master tradi=on. His influences are Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Odd Nerdrum. He currently shows at galleries around the United States. He is currently studying at the Grand Central Atelier under the instruc=on of Jacob Collins and Colleen Barry in Brooklyn, New York.

A Moment of Calm After the Storm.

Portrait of Brandon Oil on Canvas

Michele Mitchell: Michele trained at the American Academy of Art, then on to the Pale*e and Chisel Academy in Chicago where she learned of the famed Atelier Lack. Mitchell was extended an opportunity to appren=ce with Richard Lack and receive "the tradi=on" through the Masters' eyes. The four-year appren=ce program culminated with Lack saying, "Her portraits were among the best ever produced over my long career as a teacher at the Atelier Lack."

Mitchell's' pain=ngs are held in private, public and corporate collec=ons throughout the U.S. and in Europe.

She has exhibited in the U.S. Capitol, the Minneapolis Ins=tute of the Arts, the Grand Central Gallery in New York, Hollis Taggart Gallery in Washington D.C. and New York, and the Pale*e and Chisel Academy of Fine Art in Chicago, to name a few.

Love unto Itself (Mars and Venus) Oil on Canvas 16” x 19”

Fina Mooney: AXer star=ng classes at The Art Academy at age 5, she honed her skills in mixing values and copying great educa=onal works. She then progressed to more advanced work through Bargue studies, glazing studies, live model work, sight-size techniques, alla prima, and direct pain=ng. In 2017 she was awarded a scholarship for summer workshop study at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy at the age of 13. She con=nues to study locally as well as par=cipate in workshops and conferences across the US and Europe. Her dedica=on and hard work have been recognized locally and interna=onally from local state exhibi=ons to par=cipa=ng in interna=onal traveling salons. She is sought out for commissions as well as speaking about the youth in arts. She has studied both domes=cally and interna=onally from New York to Florence. Addi=onally, she has shown works from coast to coast, LA to NY, and interna=onally in Barcelona.

Grapes of Wrath -Study of Amy Lamb Oil on Canvas 6” x 9”

Jim Ostlund: I have been blessed in my life=me with many giXs for which I am grateful but none more than an early ins=nct to create art, this has inspired and guided me since I was young boy growing up in Minnesota. My early apprecia=on for the work of the 19th century illustrators lead me on a search for training using oil paint as a catalyst for picture making. At the age of 12 I enrolled in "The Art Instruc=on School" a correspondence art program which opened my eyes to the various disciplines that art had to offer. I then followed this with two years at a Technical College in Minneapolis studying commercial art while in the evenings heading over to the Minneapolis Ins=tute of Art and benefi=ng from the open life drawing sessions. It was here that I became enamored with the complexity of figure drawing.

I later enrolled in the American Academy of Art in Chicago and entered the fine art department, concentra=ng the next three years on figure drawing and pain=ng both oil and watercolor. Following my studies at the Academy I painted at Chicago's storied "Pale*e and Chisel Club of Fine Art" where I con=nued working with the live model as well as obtaining a studio in which paint from. AXer an extended trip to some of Europe’s finest museums, I longed to understand more deeply what the Old Masters of classical art were saying in their work. This desire led me to the studio doorstep of Richard Lack and Atelier Lack, a lineage of training that passes through the reputable Boston School of Painters, a lineage that traces through of the 17th century French Ateliers.

Basket of Fruit Oil on Canvas 16x20

Joseph Paquet Joe a*ended the School of Visual Arts in New York and credits ar=st-instructors John Foote, David Palladini, and James McMullan with inspiring his deep love of drawing. Later he studied with John Phillip Osborne in Ridgewood New Jersey and was introduced to the Prisma=c Pale*e. Joe states, “John opened a new world for me and set me on a path to pain=ng outdoors – it was incredibly life changing.”

Paquet’s philosophy is one rooted in deep connec=on and sensi=vity to his subjects. He says, “Because I work directly from nature, each pain=ng is a chunk of my life – a piece of me and record of my experience on this earth.”

Joe was the subject of the October 1995 Washington Post Sunday Magazine feature ar=cle. He’s also been featured in the March 2004 issue of American Ar=st magazine and the July 2005 issue of PleinAir magazine.

Night Memories Oil on Canvas 30”x 24”

Hunter Parry: Trained at the Florence Academy of Art, in Florence, Italy, Hunter Parry is a representa=onal painter and draXsman working primarily from life in Omaha, Nebraska. Hunter's work focuses primarily on the human figure, portrait, and s=ll life scenes in oil paint, charcoal, and graphite.

Saint SebasFan at the Tree Oil on Canvas

Judith Peck: In Elegy for the Canary and We Were the Canary, we are confronted with the "canary in the coal mine" warning us of impending danger, should we choose to heed it.

Judith Peck is a Washington, DC area allegorical figura8ve ar8st who has made her life’s work to paint about history and healing, using a variety of methods and experimental techniques to achieve a diverse range of visual and tac8le results that validate a strong narra8ve. She has been awarded by the Masur Museum of Art, the Alexandria Museum of Art, The Washington County Museum of Fine Art, the Lore Degenstein Gallery Compe88on at Susquehanna University, The Butler Ins8tute of American Art, and Florida A&M University’s Pinnacle Compe88on, shown in the Phillips Collec8on in Washington, DC, Context Art Basel in Miami and The Art of Paper show in New York as well as in major galleries and had numerous solo shows. She was awarded the Strauss Fellowship Grant from Fairfax County, Virginia as well as an Interna8onal Ar8st-in-Residence in Salzburg Austria.

Her pain8ngs have been featured numerous 8mes in American Art Collector Magazine, Poets /Ar8sts, The Ar8st’s Magazine, iARTisas, Combustus and the books Tradi8on and Transforma8on and the Ashen Rainbow, by Ori Z. Soltes, as well as the Kress Project book published by the Georgia Museum of Art. Judith Peck’s work is collected interna8onally and can be found in many private collec8ons as well as in the permanent public collec8ons of the Museo Arte Contemporanea, Sicilia, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, Penn College, Susquehanna University, Montgomery County Public Art Trust Contemporary Work on Paper Collec8on, the Alexandria Commission on the Arts in Virginia, the Museum of Fine Arts Washington County in MD, the University of Maryland GC Art Interna8onal Collec8on, the Garre[ Museum of Art in Illinois as well as the District of Columbia’s Commission on the Arts and Humani8es Art Bank.

We Were the Canary Oil on Panel 16” x 20”

Elegy for the Canary Oil on Panel 9 x12

George Pra*: (Born 1960) George Pra* is an award-winning painter, writer, photographer. His work is in numerous private collec=ons worldwide. He is a recipient of the Eisner Award for his graphic novels, a Spectrum Gold Medal, and Best Feature Documentary at the New York Interna=onal Independent Film Fes=val for the documentary film "See You In Hell, Blind Boy".

George was honored to be included in Walt Reed’s book The Illustrator in America 1860 – 2000. He was also awarded a Gold Medal in the Spectrum Awards of 2002 and has had his work exhibited many =mes at the Society of Illustrators in New York.

Embrace Oil on Canvas 11” x 14”

Black Light Oil on Canvas 19.75” x 27.5”

Mario Robinson: Mario Andres Robinson was born in Altus, Oklahoma, where he resided with his family before reloca=ng to New Jersey at the age of twelve. Robinson studied at the pres=gious Pra* Ins=tute in Brooklyn, New York. In 2014, Robinson was chosen to be a Brand Ambassador for Winsor and Newton art materials. He is the author of "Lessons in Realis=c Watercolor," a comprehensive guide of the ar=st's watercolor techniques (Monacelli Press). The work of Mario Andres Robinson fits squarely within the tradi=on of American pain=ng. Robinson's finished works bear a close affinity to the masters of the realist tradi=on, Andrew Wyeth and Thomas Eakins. Containing few references to modern life, Robinson's work has a =meless and universal quality, and exhibits a dis=nct turn-of-the-century stylis=c aesthe=c. The images he chooses, which refer to a bygone era where solitude and reflec=on were abundant, also provoke frequent allusions to the pain=ngs of Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper.

Mario Andres Robinson is an Exhibi=ng Ar=st Member (EAM) of The Na=onal Arts Club, an Ar=st Member of The Salmagundi Club and a Signature Member of The Pastel Society of America. His work has been featured several =mes in The Ar=st's Magazine, The Pastel Journal, Watercolor Magic, American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur and on the cover of American Ar=st magazine. In the February, 2006 issue of The Ar=st's Magazine, Mario was selected as one of the top 20 realist ar=sts under the age of 40.

Half Opening Watercolor on Paper 30”x 22”

Nic Thurman: Nic Thurman is an accomplished painter who has dedicated his career to exploring universality in painOng. Thurman is a classically trained painter with a grounded foundaOon in the old master tradiOon. Thurman in 2018 became a pupil of the renowned master painter Odd Nerdrum traveling to Norway to study with him for over 2 years. Under Nerdrum's guidance, he honed his skills and deepened his understanding of Omeless principles and kitsch philosophy. Thurman was also one of the founding members of the Memorosa Group.

Thurman's unwavering quest for the eternal masterpiece serves as the driving force behind his endeavors, and his dedicaOon to the craW has earned him recogniOon worldwide. He has parOcipated in exhibiOons spanning from New York City to Norway, and his work is collected privately around the globe.

The Kiss Oil on Canvas

Brandon Soloff: Brandon Soloff is a classically trained painter and portrai=st, whose work has been commissioned and exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. An experienced art instructor, he currently lives and works in New York City and Lyon, France. The primary focus is people: portraits and nudes.

Studying extensively in Italy, France and the United States, Brandon concentrated on drawing and pain=ng with Charles H. Cecil and D. Jeffrey Mims, fresco with Ben Long on the Transamerica Fresco Dome, and sculpture with Mar=ne Vaugel. He spent short s=nts with other ar=sts, and a year at Haverford College. He studied and copied drawings and pain=ngs in the Harvard Fogg Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Uffizi Gallery, the Louvre, the Bri=sh Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Musée Henner Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Brandon con=nues in the atelier tradi=on as he encourages his students to master greater visual acuity and self-cri=cism, correc=on and mo=va=on through consistent effort. He founded and teaches at Chelsea Classical Studio. He has taught at the Na=onal Academy School, the Art Students League of New York, Studio 126 and Studio415ny, and conducted workshops in Europe and The U.S.

SKULLS4 Oil on canvas on panel 20” x16”

Allen Williams: Allen Williams is an award-winning illustrator, concept designer and fine ar=st. From a young age a pencil and paper were an escape and a refuge for Allen. Now na=onally and interna=onally known, for over 28 years Allen has applied his talents to everything from illustra=on for gaming companies and book covers, to concept work for major mo=on pictures and television. His vision for such projects ranges from illustra=on to concept work and creature and character designs.

He primarily works in graphite, gouache, and oils. Mul=layered images arise in his work, in which the fragility and instability of our seemingly certain reality is ques=oned. Allen’s drawings directly respond to his surrounding environment and he uses everyday experiences and objects as a star=ng point for many of his pieces.

His work can be seen online or in galleries across the United States, Europe and Asia.

Clatter Oil on Illustration Board 12” x 20”

Timothy Wilson: Timothy was born. Shortly thereaXer, he a*ended art school where he graduated. He also enjoys breakfast sandwiches. He currently keeps his studio in Coastal Maine.

Tartarus Oil Based Ink on Paper (monotype) 9x12"

David Wi*: David Wi* graduated from Bemidji State University in 1997 with a BFA in Drawing & Pain=ng, and a minor in Art History. He has been a full-=me freelance ar=st for over 15 years. In that =me, Dave has illustrated 7 graphic novels and countless comic book projects, nearly 500 gig posters, numerous t-shirts, album covers, bo*le labels and can designs.

David is one of the most respected and prolific illustrators in the Twin Ci=es. His video game art can be found in Guitar Hero II; and his posters and bu*ons have graced the St Paul Winter Carnival. In addi=on, David painted the first 31 covers for The Growler magazine, scribes Louie the Loon – a Food Review cartoon, generates artwork for the annual Zombie Pub Crawl and Beer Dabbler events, and is hard at work on several comic book projects.

“The Toll Collector in this show is about experience, and the price you have to pay for it. You can’t pay the price of someone else’s experience, no maMer how much you offer, or how loudly you beg. My son has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and a moment doesn’t pass where I don’t wish I could cover the cost he has to pay for his existence, anything to lighten his load. He has to deal with a lot. My cries go unheard. We can go through experiences together, but we have to pay our own way.”

The Toll Collector Acrylic and Ink on Canvas 18” x 18”

Massimo Tizzano Zuigan: (1972) In 2010, Massimo Tizzano Zuigan met the work of one of the most influent contemporary figura=ve painters, Master Odd Nerdrum and in 2012 he was selected to become his studio assistant in Norway where he stayed perfec=ng his technique as well as his understanding of the kitsch philosophy related to the history of art.

Only aXer 8 years he started to paint with oils and independently undertook the study of oil pain=ng techniques of the Italian and Dutch old masters from the fiXeenth and seventeenth centuries. He's now ac=ve in oil pain=ng reproduc=ons of masterworks (old masters copies / copie, falsi d'autore) dated between the XV and the XVII centuries, in crea=ng narra=ve pain=ngs and portraitures. His work retraces step by step the recipes and opera stages in use in the Renaissance workshops: prepara=on of the canvases and frames, composi=on and applica=on of primers, sketch drawing, grisaille, grinding and applica=on of color, realiza=on of medium and paints, with special a*en=on to the techniques specific to each Master.

VANITAS oil on linen, 21” x 24”