PLUMAGE PLUMAGE--TX
Art Magazine
Summer 2015 Issue
Russell Stephenson Metaphysical Journeys
FREE
James Saldivar Echoes of arts past
Weldon Lister Renaissance Engraver
Frame of the Month Sidney Sinclair
Podcast Interview Art Consultant Insight
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events
PLUMAGE PLUMAGE--TX
FEATURES Summer 2015 Issue No. 4
50 Auctions Compare auction prices of a few choice vintage paintings
32 James Saldivar Art Exhibition review of “Echoes” show at Melinda Martinez Gallery
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The Inspirations An interview with Russell Stephenson
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PLUMAGE PLUMAGE--TX
IN THIS ISSUE
PLUMAGE PLUMAGE--TX
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Summer 2015 Issue
PUBLISHER Gabriel Diego Delgado Contributing Writers
IN EVERY ISSUE
Gabriel Diego Delgado
A Note from the Publisher –P.6
Katherine Shevchenko Betty Houston
On the Cover—P.8 All artwork photography courtesy of J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art Prices are for current artwork, and can change at any time
Contributors— P.9 © 2015
Framing of the Month—P.42
JR Mooney Galleries 305 S. Main Boerne, Texas
Designer’s Quill—P.46
78006 830-816-5106 Edited by Gabriel Diego Delgado, Marla Cavin, Katherine Shevchenko , Betty Houston Design by: Gabriel Diego Delgado
A Note from the Publisher
MORE RAIN, MORE FLOODING, MORE HEAT, MORE MOSQUITOES, OH SOUTH TEXAS HOW WE LOVE YOU. SUMMER HEAT MEANS MASS EXODUS OUT OF TEXAS. WE ARE BEGINNING TO SEE THIS WITH OUR CLIENTS. PEOPLE ARE GOING OFF ON VACATION, TO THEIR SUMMER HOMES AND TO EUROPE; ONLY TO RETURN WHEN THE TEXAS HEAT IS NOT SO STIFLING. BUT SUMMER ALSO BRINGS CHANGE AND ARTISTS LABORING IN THEIR STUDIOS MAKING NEW ARTWORK TO HAVE INVENTORY FOR THE COMING FALL SEASON. LET’S RIDE OUT THESE NEXT FEW MONTHS WITH DRIVEN PASSION FOR WHAT AWAITS. PLUMAGE-TX hopes to use its pages as a vehicle to educate, entertain and enlighten our audience on a variety of topics ranging from reviews, news, artist narratives, interviews, criticism and a cohort of other art related stories from within the gallery walls to the major metro centers. I hope you find this informative and hope you continue to follow the artistic happenings around you in your local neighborhoods. Sincerely,
Gabriel Diego Delgado, Publisher
gabrieldelgadoartstudio@yahoo.com gabrield@jrmooneygalleries.com
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On the Cover
As Boerne, Texas is one of the fastest growing metro areas in Texas behind Austin and San Marcos, I felt it was appropriate to include the windmill and water tank at Walmart’s parking lot—opposite of the Boerne Welcome Center on Main St. / 87. It’s such a dichotomy to see this, which represents small town country nostalgia but juxtaposed next to a big box store that represents free market, gentrification, expansion, growth, economic development and so many other things. Yes, Boerne is a changing and there are so many signs.
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Contributors
Gabriel Diego Delgado is the Gallery Director at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art, Boerne, Texas. He has spent almost a decade in Nonprofit Art Management- working as a Curator of Exhibitions at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston; Project Manager of Research and Development at the Museo Alameda, a Smithsonian Affiliate, San Antonio; Community Outreach/ Communications Director for an art and education nonprofit in Texas and is a working professional artist. He is a Freelance Curator and Arts Reviewer for several publications. His artwork has been shown in Arco 2012 Madrid, Spain; New York, New York, MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) D.C. as well as numerous galleries and venues throughout the U.S.
Katherine Shevchenko has attended the San Francisco Academy of Art University and the University of Texas at San Antonio where she received her Fine Arts Degree with an emphasis in Painting. Her experience ranges from interning as a curatorial assistant at Southwest School of Art to teaching art to students of all ages. Currently, she is an art consultant/framing designer at the J.R. Mooney Gallery in Boerne. Some of her contributions include writing articles, hosting and editing the J.R. Mooney podcast, "Mooney Makes Sense" and art catalog design. She is also an artist that specializes in painting in oils and other media.
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COVER STORY
Metaph Journ
- Gabriel Die
A Curatorial Review of Russell Stephenson’s “Mindscapes” Exhibition
hysical neys
ego Delgado
“Castlelaine”, 24” x 36”, Oil
“Mindscapes”, a solo exhibition of new work by San Antonio artist, Russell Stephenson is a curated spotlight of art that engulfs the viewer into a metaphysical journey through sci-fi-esque renditions of Texas typography, juxtaposed and coupled with the artist’s own exploration of mind and world shaped by personal afflictions. From violent thunderclouds masquerading as crowns for celestial auroras of heavenly atmospheric amalgamations (halos) in Corona to canyons and mountains portrayed as conceptual struggles in identity - an artist’s simplified battle of good vs. evil in The Majestic, we feel an undercurrent of cosmic exploration with a signature medium by way of a quest for self-discovery.
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Current events like the recent flooding in South Texas, the massive supercells over the Texas Panhandle and the artist’s own drive to experiment all play a role in Stephenson’s influences for “Mindscapes”. Examples of emotion abutted by landscape explorations can be found in the calmness of mind of “Silent Solitude,” but contrasted in “Castleaine” with its compositional angles; assumptive tectonic plates that jut upward, forced from the subterranean by violent burst of the grinding fault lines. With the inclusion of two artworks from the “Cave Painting” series, “Cave Painting III & V”, the audience delves into the past with visual investigations of the primordial gestures of primitive man: a rock art aesthetic that references the cave paintings of Lascaux, Texas’s own Pecos region and Palo Duro Canyon.
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
Stephenson strives to capture intuitive application of creative need in his own color palette aesthetic while retaining his mastered craft for his push and pull of textures – i.e. the divots, cracks, creases, and pockets of layered grooves that capture our wild imaginations. The scrapped and gouged paint give rise to his pursuit of reconnection to art history by way of contemporary applications.
“Cave Painting V”, 12” x 16”, Oil
“Cave Painting III”, 18” x 24”, Oil
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When I recently met with artist, Russell Stephenson at his Alamo Heights studio we had already been discussing “Mindscapes� on the phone, in text and email for about four months. To see the artwork in person prompted a crisscross of casual conversations mixed with a professional inquiry. I saw a change in his mood, a kind of creative uncertainty mixed with a newly acquired cynical-ness of contemporary art market vitality. I heard of his new gallery prospects in Santa Fe, NM, disappointments with the regional affairs and ways in which he felt his artwork was going to mature. This insightful off-the-cuff conversation led me to further investigate the ways in which to formulate his exhibition.
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Over the course of the last few years he has deliberated how to blend these styles into one pure signature aesthetic. His techniques and medium manipulations in any of his series reflect a signature Russell Stephenson touch, but each gallery wanted visuals that appealed to certain demographics and art markets.
‌.celestial auroras of heavenly atmospheric amalgamations (halos) in Corona to canyons and mountains portrayed as conceptual struggles in identity... As our conversation continued in the studio, it led to Stephenson’s other Texas galleries and the bodies of work he needed to execute for them; each one exhibiting a different series ranging from strict grid patchwork designs to formal abstractions.
I began to understand he was starting to figure out a way to deviate from gallery dictated ventures to creating something new, a combobulation of sorts for all of his contractual obligations he was fully invested in. This thoughtful approach was refreshing to hear, as he was beginning to understand how to dig out from his muddled aspects of five separate directions to one strong maturity.
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The new artwork for “Mindscapes� was much more than that typography driven formulation. In over a year, I saw a maturity in style, a mastery of technique, a willingness to explore tools that include: sticks, rocks, spatulas, and palette knives which brought about a new sense of conquer, of student vs. teacher, and Stephenson playing the subordinate to the art. He learned along the way and in the course of being schooled by his creations, he found philosophical substance. Conjectural aspects of personal inner struggle, an inward reflection of self that transcribes physical boundaries to be projected out and manifested as conceptual regurgitations, as he bears down and expels proof of everything around him that affects his mindset- whether political, social, or environmental.
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Opposite Page: “The Majestic”, 30” x 30” , Oil Upper: “Silent Solitude”, 30” x 30”, Oil Lower: “Surge”, 18” x 30”, Oil Rews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015,
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J.R. Mooney Galleries
“Mooney Makes Sense” Podcast Series Presents:
An Interview with Artist Russell Stephenson By: Katherine Shevchenko
This June, J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art hosted San Antonio artist and contemporary abstract painter, Russell Stephenson, and his new body of work entitled Mindscapes. Russell Stephenson took some time on the eve of his show’s opening to discuss his art and his current modes of thought and influences that are currently driving his work. A native Texan, Stephenson has been based out of San Antonio for the past 11 years, but has ventured throughout the United States observing and gathering inspiration for his art. Stephenson elaborates, “Throughout my extensive travels and explorations, I’ve been all over the United States… I’ll always try to bring some of the inspiration that I always got from nature into the work in one form or another.” As an artist, Russell Stephenson has been on a lifelong journey that started early in his life, “I’m one of the stereotypical artists that was born with a pencil in my hand and I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil and scribbling on the walls with crayons. My artistic journey started from then and has become this long paced development of an unique voice that has developed over time through professional academics and my own experimentation.” Everyday life and its challenges and joys merge into his abstractions; they are processed through his hand as he creates. “So periodically, my work changes and evolves, depending on how I’m growing in that particular period and what occurrences happen in the news on a daily basis. And what events occur in my own life and times and the people that I know and it all kind of gets thrown into a blender, so to speak, and mixed in together and it all comes out in one form or another in the studio when I work.” When Stephenson works, the execution and craft are at once in force, picking up anything that can be used to translate the feeling and effect he is striving to achieve. Stephenson elaborates, ”I’m always experimenting with different techniques and different tools in order to explore the mark-making aspect of my work.
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Sometimes that involves a pencil, sometimes a brush, sometimes a spatula, sometimes something out of the kitchen drawer...”. Currently, Stephenson has created a painting series that references the landscape, yet in a more conceptual and introspective nature than his previous bodies of work. Having grown up in the Texas Panhandle, the expansive landscape permeates his subconscious, manifesting in exploratory renderings in paint. One of the signature paintings in the exhibition, Corona, depicts textural cloud formations hovering with tension over an earthen toned horizon.
“Corona is influenced by that landscape and even more recently by the recent thunderstorms that have ravaged Stephenson explains in Texas... the idea of the super cell that depth, “Corona is influenced by that kind of carries an idea and then dumps landscape and even more recently by the recent it at will wherever it may…” thunderstorms that have
ravaged Texas... the idea of the super cell that kind of carries an idea and then dumps it at will wherever it may; I think they’re quite spectacular, sometimes they bring life and sometimes they bring death. They fill lakes that are ravaged by drought, but at the same time they overflow rivers and cause devastation. So the power of nature has shown up in this recent body of work, because we’ve seen so much of it lately.” Having done realistic figurative work in the past, Stephenson’s process has evolved to transcend the figure to wholly depict the world the figure inhabits and is experiencing. “What started as landscapes ended up as an internal thing in the mind. Once I got all the way through school, the figure started to come out of the work, and then I just concentrated on the world itself and thereby the viewer of the paintings became the figure and the work that (cont’d on next page)
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hung on the wall became the world I was able to explore.” This transition of subject matter in relation to the landscape has been a gestalt of psychological elements that have come together in his artistic formation. The role nature plays in his work and how it enforces a sense of scale both literally and metaphorically, causes Stephenson to reflect, “I’m certainly influenced by the natural world, I mean as we all are; we are all affected by it. From the immensity of the sky and what’s unknown underneath the waters and so on, we become very small in comparison to the forces of nature.” Ultimately, an abstraction of the landscape is merely the result of Stephenson having formulated a process to express all the intangibles of the many multifaceted aspects of witnessing various locales firsthand. “These are all collective experiences over time of different places that I’ve been to. In the artistic mind it turns into a totally different language altogether, because there’s also the exploration… into how to push the boundaries in the work, rather than just capture what the eye can see. But also try to develop something new out of it and explore a new depth in some of the works… and create a sense of realism in the abstraction so the abstraction itself becomes its own reality.” Mindscapes is on display at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art - Boerne until July 1st
“These are all collective experiences over time of different places that I’ve been to…”
Visit J.R Mooney’s podcast channel on Soundcloud® and YouTube® to listen to the full interview.
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COMM
MUNITY
COVER STORY
Weldon
“The Texas Renaissan
n Lister
nce Man of Engraving� By: Gabriel Diego Delgado
embellished, engraved and artistic Texas emblems reminiscent of the Texas Rangers Badge for the "Texas Rising" event at the Alamo in San Antonio on Monday, May 18, 2015. “Texas Rising” is a 10 hour television miniseries on the History Channel that premiered on May 25, 2015. “Texas Rising” begins at the Battle of the Alamo and chronicles the birth of the Texas Rangers. As a celebration of this miniseries, the History Channel wanted to
Weldon Lister “The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving” By: Gabriel Diego Delgado
Third generation engraver and small town artist using a century old carving technique just gained a new level of artistic credibility. Weldon E. Lister Jr. of Boerne, Texas, an internationally recognized ultra-baroque engraver of firearms, knives and jewelry and accomplished intaglio printmaker, is making friends in high places. About half a year ago, his timeless and intriguing decorative aesthetic captured the attention of Hollywood. The History Channel contacted the Texas artist and commissioned him to create a series of
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do something special for all the people who were part of the concept, production, directorship, and corporate sponsorship of this television series.
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
“The only power equipment I used was a drill press to make pilot holes for the jewelers saw.� -W. Lister
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Lister saw it as an opportunity to thank those people who were instrumental in helping bring attention to Texas through this historic television series. These unique awards were completely handmade by the artist. Each one started off as a 1/8" thick and 4" in diameter round solid sterling blank disc, intricately fabricated, cut, carved and engraved; complete with a grooved coin edge. “The only power equipment I used was a drill press to make pilot holes for the jewelers saw. It was a lot of work especially considering there were one dozen of them,� says Lister.
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Photo Credit: All images are courtesy of the artist, Weldon Lister
“The engraving style I chose was based on what you'd see on vintage weapons from the mid 1800's….something that goes along with the theme of the Award.” Look for more of Lister’s artwork on his website at www.weldonlister.com
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COVER STORY
Jam Sald
The New, The Old W
“A Need for a Reinvesti
mes divar
Work & The Artist
tigation of the Past�
By; Gabriel Diego Delgado
“A Need For a Reinvestigation of the Past”
S
In “ Echoes” Saldivar returns to his roots..
an Antonio artist, James Saldivar recently opened a new exhibition, “Echoes”, at Melinda Martinez Gallery, which consists of a potpourri of old, new, and experimental paintings. On display is a collection that gives off an artistic reverberation of previously explored aesthetics. Twenty plus paintings comprise all avenues of painterly/ sculptural exploration – from his abstract pouring techniques to the 3-D string and stripe paintings. However, one collection of new abstractions is the highlight of the exhibition. Measuring no larger than 12 inches square each, five abstracted pours and autonomous manipulations pack a big ‘cosmic’ punch in a small package. These Organics, as he calls them, are actually reinvestigations and reevaluations of his previous abstract artwork from circa 2008 when he was beginning to explore metaphysical properties of subconscious creation; nonfigurative manifestations that were initially inspired by NASA captured images of the mysterious Universe. Saldivar explains this regression as a need to revisit where he left off. “This series is a compilation of the past few years where I've lost my way trying to fill the space in between, usually filled with irrelevances. Something I'm searching for and realized I've gone off of my own path and where I'm at now, my sense of being, my sense of enlightenment, my freedom, not in a political sense but how nothing has control over my happiness, my career, or my education. These painting were created in my new gallery/ studio, obtained by the need to change my energy. … Energy from a metaphysical standpoint, the action of setting my chakras back in balance and creating a new space, my temple to create again and to deny the mental block handed down by negativity.” Not everything is on a smaller scale. “Laniakea” is a 36” x 36” oil and enamel on panel that illustrates a calming sensibility with a neutral and subdued palette of badious earth tones. Milky cascades of icteritious lava flow into the foreground, meeting the viewer with an off-the-edge composition, bringing the experience into our physical proximity.
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“There’s something that happens in the process, where my subconscious speaks to me and lets me know what's happening. I try not to control my work. I have control over placement but once that's done, I don't, and it becomes its own entity,” he says. Mostly self-taught, Saldivar has explored various avenues of contemporary work, trying to find a unique voice to call his own. From Jackson Pollock inspired drip paintings, to Morris Louis striped pouring, to cosmic abstractions to his newly discovered 3-D string “paintings”, it is good to see Saldivar reconnect with his past and continue to explore his older work with new eyes. His more mature outlook, his scholarly studies and personal life experiences are bringing new life to his artistic vision. No longer is he being influenced by his peers, a trap we all fall into, but he is allowing room for personal growth and unedited exploration. “Floating 1, 2, 3, and 4” are four paintings which show evidence of this rounding the bend. These 12” x 12” paintings are miniature abstractions. Using the viscosity of the thinners, paint, and mediums, Saldivar shows movement across the canvas with the paint fraternizing in pools of coagulation. Frozen in time, these paintings become more and more serene as you begin to categorize them as meditative samplings; it is a kind of artistic granule hour glass, paint funneled, moving to the other side by way of unseen force. “Abstract work to me must be free; the universe must still be able to exist in the work. I do have more control than I want. I don't mean to, want to, or even know I do…..I've been controlling the work spiritually, with the universe. I am just another medium,” he concludes. © Gabriel Diego Delgado
Photo Credit: Opposite Top: “Floating 4”, 12” x 12”. Opposite Bottom Left: “Phantom”, 24” x 48”. Opposite Bottom Right: “Just When You Believe”, 24” x 72” . Top Left: “Floating”, 12” x 12”. Top Middle: “Floating 2”, 12” x 12”. Bottom Left: “Laniakea”, 36” x 36”. Bottom Right: “Floating 3”, 12” x 12”. All Images are courtesy of the artist, James Saldivar.
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Breakin
ng News
BOERNE PRESS RELEASE
New art and cultural initiative, “Third Thursdays” art opening affair launches in Boerne, Texas with local gallery leading the way in midweek events.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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(Boerne, TX, 2015) – In an initiative to help relieve weekend event congestion, local art gallery, J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art- Boerne has launched a new initiative dubbed, “Third Thursdays”. As a way to create engaging midweek events that will not conflict with the diverse artistic and cultural events of San Antonio area during the weekend, “Third Thursday” allows the gallery to host a stand-alone art opening, adding something of significance to the daily event roster of activities local families, and art patrons can explore during the week. “Third Thursdays” will be in addition to the established and decades long “Second Saturday Art & Wine Crawl of the Boerne art community and Boerne Professional Artist (BPA). “Third Thursdays” is modeled after the McNay’s Second Thursdays Free Family Night, and the First Fridays, Second Saturdays and Fourth Fridays of various art districts in San Antonio - who lay claim to various weekend days to hold local art attractions on the same night based on general geography. “We decided it was time to address the host of events that people have to decide on doing during the weekend. There are so many activities in and around San Antonio, in not only the art sector but birthday parties, soccer games, outdoor activities and many many other things, that we felt it was in our best interest to not compete with them, but free up the weekend calendar and add an evening event to the weekday; give opportunity for patrons to visit the gallery during a less hectic time”, says Gallery Director, Gabriel Diego Delgado. “We know people are busy, and we thought if we created an event that was not conflicting with the majority of activities people have to choose from on their busy weekend, the more people could attend. During the peak of the NorthStar Mall J.R. Mooney Galleries, we had weekday evening opening, and it was heavily attended. Now is the time to properly address how well received this time slot is for people to get out and enjoy a cultural outing as they begin to wrap up the week and might be looking for something to do.” As J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art launches “ Third Thursdays” the first part of the Fall 2015 season they will commence with a bimonthly exhibition opening schedule, holding events every other month. An exhibition schedule of events will be available in the coming months. “When we have months in-between major exhibition openings, there is a certain amount of flexibility we can offer with spur of the moment possibilities like artist lectures, workshops, and gallery talks”, says Delgado.
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FRAM
MING
Framing of the Month
Sidney Sinclair Autumn Daze 18” x 24” Oil
Standard 1/2” Gold speckled inside frame, house brand This frame is a visual break from the darker muted color palette of the painting to the middle wood inside step. The gold accents and the warm tones in the painting and adds a hint of traditional framing aesthetic to a contemporary fine art profile.
Roma Framing: Tabacchino series, 7/8” Cigar Leaf finish, model #60387 This wood veneer finish complements the overall tones in the painting and grounds the large bush in the foreground while interacting with the trees on the left as a strong repetitive vertical element.
Larson-Juhl Framing: Sevilla series, Antique Gold finish, model # 550540 The ornate fashion of the repetitive curved pattern adds a defined motif to a painting that is primarily feathered, muted and blurred. The underlying red tones that come out from the distressed gold add the perfect color to compliment the red, orange and warm tones in the painting.
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Framing of the Month
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Editor’s Note: J.R. Mooney Galleries is proud to present, “The Designer’s Quill” Interior Design & Framing Tips, a monthly column spotlighting industry trends and hands-on advice in dealing with home interiors. Written by the knowledgeable staff at J.R. Mooney Galleries, “The Designer’s Quill” will highlight tips, reassurances, thoughts, and advice for those making changes to their home. It will also feature facets of custom framing, including new moulding lines available, how-to walkthroughs and framing consultations. _________________________________________________________________________________________
A
room that “just feels right” can be elusive, but is very achievable. Most of us know what we like. We all respond to color and subject matter in art. Yet scale is often overlooked when choosing art and how it relates to the size of the wall and size of the room. The main wall or main furniture sets the tone for the scale of the art. If the ceiling happens to be high, the taller and more dramatic the art needs to be. Survey the rooms of your home. If “something” does not seem right it might be the scale of the art that needs tweaking. Your can have the environment you desire by removing, rearranging, and or replacing. Most interiors benefit from art that is larger than one might initially choose. This one decision can transform a space into an extraordinary and memorable area. A unique opportunity offered at J.R. Mooney Galleries is our concierge service. At a client’s request and agreed upon time framed art can be viewed in its intended area.
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This is especially valuable as a large painting is transported safely by courier and consultation can take place. The radius of this service is the immediate San Antonio area. Š Betty Houston, Art & Framing Consultant Graphic vectors courtesy of "Vecteezy.com/members/ zhaolifang"
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Auc
ction
Anthonius Henricus “Toon” Koster (Jan. 19, 1913- Nov. 25, 1989)
Night City $1,200 (framed) 24 “x 36” Oil
Antonius Henricus "Toon" Koster, a renowned Dutch artist, was born in Schiedam, (South Holland) Netherlands in 1913. He went to the Art Academy in Rotterdam, Netherlands and became a painter, printmaker, industrial artist, enamellist and muralist. During most of his artistic career he lived and worked in Nieuwkoop near the Nieuwkoopse Plassen. Koster was a member of the Dutch Federation of Visual Artists, and died November 25, 1989 in Woerden, Netherlands. Koster often used dark earthy colors and painted in broad coarse brush strokes, creating depressive and gloomy atmospheres; making for subtle impressionistic qualities. When asked to which movement he belonged or which subjects he preferred, he answered: “There is no movement… and everything repeats itself.” “Night City”, is a signature city-scape by Koster that exemplifies all that he was known for: boats, cities, gloom, illuminating sun/moon behind clouds, and his pictorial post WWII depressive metropolis. A one point perspective only exacerbates the depressive complexity of the work with the angling of the drab buildings that line the boulevards, structures as borders for the blackened water in the industrial canal, a waterline that is cut midway down the composition with the three arched bridge. We are boxed in on three sides with the horizon line blocking an eternal view. However, our release from the melancholy is up into the sky, but wait – impending catastrophes await us in the heavy snow laden billows that weigh down on us with only a glimmer of light; a false hope. Koster’s Night City evokes a more sinister evocation, a trembling sensibility of some sort of impending doom. The overcast heavens bear down on us with god-like fury, a blackened sky that covers the cityscape in an ashy haze. Snow-covered rooftops and barren trees suggest a frigid climate, but the waterways are unfrozen, allowing safe passage of the passing boats. The arches in Night City are like a trifecta of hollow, barren and utilitarian tunnels leading the way to a banal canal. All three are marked with a horizontal hint of white snow, a three level color scheme that transitions from black, to white to grey, a repeated color palette of the artist’s choice. Friedrich Nietzsche once said “Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.” ‘Tis true when dealing with Anthonius Henricus “Toon” Koster.
© Gabriel Diego Delgado
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(Below: Previous auction results)
G. (Gerald ) Harvey (1933)
Late Reflections $6,500 (framed) 9” x 12” Oil
Gerald Harvey Jones (G. Harvey) was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1933. His grandfather was a cowboy during the South’s trail-driving days. Family stories of wild cattle and tough men from the patriarch experience became the basis for G. Harvey's art. A cum laude graduate in Fine Arts at North Texas State University, Harvey took a teaching position with the University of Texas in Austin for a few years only to quit and pursue art full time.
(Below: Previous auction results)
Harvey struggled financially for the next couple of years, but in 1965 he had acquired his first esteemed exhibition, The Grand National exhibition in New York. This career spotlight would only to be followed by the American Artists' Professional League presenting him with their New Master's Award, a coveted bestowment that would only be a precursor to Harvey’s successful artistic career. Though Harvey has had nearly two decades of sell-out shows, an outstanding honor came with a series of one-man shows in Washington, D.C. The first was at the National Archives featuring his paintings of the Civil War era, and then a selection of paintings of notable Washington landmarks was exhibited at the Treasury Department, culminating in a oneman show of 35 paintings at the Smithsonian Institution during their exhibition of "The All American Horse." The Smithsonian Institution also chose Harvey to paint "The Smithsonian Dream," commemorating its 150th Anniversary. Today, G. Harvey lives in Fredericksburg, Texas, with his wife Pat in a 150-year old stone home built by German settlers. His studio and residence are nestled within the Historic District of Fredericksburg. In Late Reflections, Harvey presents us with a Texas Hill Country dusk scene that was painted in 1966; an era that pre-dates his traditional western genre and impressionistic vintage metropolitan scenes. Encapsulating a traditional vintage look, the color palette somehow rests somewhere in the middle of light and dark with the tonalities straddling a bipolar spectrum with the bright colors of a setting sun and the warm shadows contrasted with an almost faded and monotone foreground.
© Gabriel Diego Delgado
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Helen Hunter (1920 – 2003)
Cactus $1,200 (framed) 8” x 10” Oil
Helen Hunter was born August 4, 1920, the first child of Rufe M. and Lydia Goodwin Crain in Pleasanton, Texas. As an adolescent, she took art classes under Ellie Wheeler, a wellknown Poteet artist whose teachers included the nationally renowned Bluebonnet painters, Jose Arpa and Julian and Robert Onderdonk. For two summers in high school she studied at the Witte Museum, taking community classes in fine art. After graduating as Valedictorian in 1937, she attended Texas Woman's University (formerly Texas State College for Women). She received her B.S. Degree in Costume Design and Art Education in 1941. While attending the university, she was a cartoonist for the daily newspaper, The Lass-o, as well as the art editor of the college annual, The Daedalion (1940-41). Hunter was also a charter member of Delta Phi Delta, a national honors art fraternity. After graduating, Hunter became an art teacher in the Cotulla Public School System. During WWII she quit teaching to join the war efforts and began working at Kelly Field Air Force Base in San Antonio. Eventually she was transferred to Galveston and spent 2 years as a foreman in the Engineering and Drafting Department at the Galveston Army Airfield. After the war, she became a graphic designer in the advertising department of a woman’s retail store in San Antonio. Later, Hunter spent four years in Houston as an Advertising Manager at Palais Royal, a national retail chain of women's wear. Helen Hunter found her way back into the Fine Arts genre in 1957. First, she started to study oil painting with John Squire Adams, and then spent 7 years mentoring with San Antonio artist, Leslie Larsson. Hunter was a member of the Texas Watercolor Society, San Antonio Watercolor Group, San Antonio Art League, Coppini Academy of Fine Art and the Brush Country Art Club of Pleasanton, Texas. She has taught private art classes in San Antonio, Dilley, Floresville and Pleasanton. Hunter gained regional distinction for her renditions of cactus, wildflowers, birds and brush country landscapes of South Texas. Her work is collected by many large corporations, banks, insurance companies and business professionals. She was also featured in Southwest Art Magazine, dated November, 1978. Helen Hunter passed away in 2003, leaving behind a great artistic legacy and a secured provenance in the Texas Vintage genre. © Gabriel Diego Delgado and www.nanetterichardsonfineart.com
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(Below: Previous auction results)
W.A. Slaughter (B. 1923)
Bluebonnets $16,000 framed) 24” x 36” Oil
W. A. Slaughter (b. 1923- 2003), a nationally recognized bluebonnet landscape painter and WWII Air Force Veteran grew up in Texas amid the splendor and beauty of the Hill Country. The serene landscape and rolling hills near his home in San Antonio were early sources of inspiration for his developing artistic ability.
(Below: Previous auction results)
In 1952, Slaughter was ordained as a Lutheran minister. He served at an English-speaking congregation in Mexico City, but returned to Dallas in 1964 to become the pastorate of The King of Glory Lutheran Church. As an adolescent he had always dabbled in drawing and painting, it wasn’t until 1972 that many historians reference the moment Slaughter decided to dedicate himself entirely to painting, after retiring from the church in late 1971. He was actively painting while preaching, and it is said that some of his earliest collectors were church patrons. He exhibited his first set of bluebonnets in 1968 at a Dallas shopping mall, and was “discovered” by Southwest Gallery in Dallas. Slaughter also exhibited at the Dallas Artists and Craftsmen annual exhibitions and won awards in 1968 and 1973. He is rumored to have been able to produce over 250 paintings a year in his prime. Although a wide variety of landscapes inspired Bill Slaughter, it is the gentle beauty of the Texas Hill Country that truly speaks to him. His canvases of fields of bluebonnets and stately oak trees evoke memories of quieter times. W.A. Slaughter died in 2003. His aftermarket presence is impressive with well over 100 auction records on file, which a trackable increase in value. © Gabriel Diego Delgado
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Society Pages
“Mindscapes
Photography courtesy of : J.R. Mooney Galleries
Event Pictures Opened: June 13, 2015, J.R. Mooney Galleries Galleries–– Boerne. TX.
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Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer, 2015
Russell Stephenson
Installation Images of Exhibition June 13 —July 1, 2015 J.R. Mooney Galleries Galleries–– Boerne. TX.
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