![Prajnaparamita, Perfection of Wisdom by Peter Adams]()
Prajnaparamita, Perfection of Wisdom by Peter Adams |
By Suzanne Venino
California Art Club Winners Announced
Top honors at the California Art Club’s 96th annual Gold Medal Exhibition were announced in April during a gala reception at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. Pasadena artist Peter Adams won the Gold Medal for Painting for his oil prajnaparamita, perfection of wisdom. Santa Barbara-based Béla Bácsi received the Gold Medal for Sculpture for octopus. The Edgar Payne Award for Best Landscape Painting, a new award this year, went to Richard Humphrey of
Torrance for the cliffs and sea at point vicente. The Southwest Art Award of Excellence went to Brian Blood for carmel cypress.
Out & About
Tommy “T.C.” Hicks, founder of Shidoni Foundry near Santa Fe, celebrated his 80th birthday in May… Galerie Esteban held its grand opening in June. The Santa Fe gallery is owned by internationally known classical guitarist Esteban, who will perform in the Santa Fe plaza during Spanish Market July 28-29…. Artist Karen Vance of Winter Park, CO, has been commissioned to create 150 original oil paintings for the new lodge at Devil’s Thumb Ranch Resort in Tabernash, CO.
Cowgirl Up!
![Not Today by Jan Mapes]()
Not Today by Jan Mapes |
Celebrating western art created by women artists, Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West drew nearly 10,000 visitors to the month-long show at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, AZ. More than half of the pieces sold on opening night, with total sales for the show exceeding $650,000. The Best of Show award went to Colorado sculptor Jan Mapes for not today, which also won the Museum Purchase Award. Wyoming artist Laurie J. Lee won First Place in two-dimensional work while Cynthia Rigden of Arizona took the top prize for three-dimensional work. Arizona sculptor Susan Kliewer received the Governor’s Choice Award, New Mexico sculptor Liz Wolf won the People’s Choice Award, and painter Shawn Cameron of Arizona took home the Artists’ Choice Award.
In Memoriam
Acclaimed landscape painter Elmer Schooley of Roswell, NM, died on April 25 at the age of 91. Schooley taught art at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM, for more than 30 years, many of them as head of the department. In 1978 he took early retirement so he and his wife, artist Gussie du Jardin, could devote themselves to painting full time. Known for large-scale, abstracted landscapes filled with color and detail, Schooley found his inspiration in nature. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Library of Congress, the Museum of New Mexico, and the Dallas Art Museum.
Well-known modernist Janet Lippincott died in Santa Fe, NM, on May 2. She was 88. Lippincott created bold, abstract paintings and was considered one of the early pioneers of modernism in New Mexico, having moved to the state in the late 1940s to study with Taos artist Emil Bisttram. In 2002 Lippincott was honored with the Governor’s Award for Achievement in the Arts. Her works are included in collections at the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts, the Denver Art Museum, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
The death of Navajo weaver Anita Tsosie, 48, was felt throughout the Four Corners area, where she lived in Cortez, CO. Tsosie, who was born in Sweetwater, AZ, was a third-generation weaver, using traditional skills passed down from her maternal grandmother. Tsosie regularly won awards for her work; in 2004 she won Best of Show at the Santa Fe Indian Market for an intricate weaving depicting a Navajo sand painting.
Sculptor Maureen K. Scott of Evergreen, CO, died on March 23 at the age of 57. Scott studied sculpture at the University of Denver and later did post-graduate work in Pietrasanta, Italy, and at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her figurative sculptures, usually of women, were often brightly painted with stripes and swirls. Juried into numerous shows, Scott was most recently included in the National Sculpture Society’s 2006 exhibition in New York and the 2006 Sculpture in the Park show in Loveland, CO.
The French Connection
Rima Fine Art in Scottsdale, AZ, is the new owner of the Renoir family archive. The archive, which was purchased for $135,000, will likely become the basis for a Pierre-Auguste Renoir museum. The collection includes correspondence from many of Renoir’s contemporaries—including Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, and Auguste Rodin—as well as hundreds of photographs and Renoir’s Légion d’Honneur medals from the French government. “There are thousands of items. It’s Renoir’s whole life—everything from his cigarette holder and his diaries to his favorite tea set and love letters to his wife,” says gallery owner Dror Darel. The museum, which is in the preliminary planning stages, will likely be located in Scottsdale near Rima Fine Art.
