Date: Fri 13-Nov-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

USArtists

Full Text:

USArtists Show

(with 20 cuts)

By J.M.W. Fletcher

PHILADELPHIA, PENN. -- USArtists 98, Philadelphia's most prestigious fine arts

exhibition devoted to the sale of exclusively American art, was on October

23-25 at the 33rd Street Armory. This seventh annual exposition made its debut

in 1992 and is a benefit for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,

founded in 1805 as the first museum and school of American art in the country.

The all-American art exhibition is sponsored by 120 unpaid volunteers of the

Women's Committee of the Academy. The 57-plus exhibitors came from ten Eastern

Seaboard states plus Texas and Illinois.

Offered as an adjunct to the exhibition and sale was the special needs program

that showcased fine art by exceptional artists dealing with special issues,

such as visual and/or auditory impairment and other challenges. This year the

program was enhanced by a juried and invitational exhibit titled

"Extraordinary Art -- Beyond the Museum." In addition USArtists 98 featured a

sculpture exhibit from the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy.

The two-day exhibit and sale opened Thursday evening with a catered preview

gala for sponsors, benefactors and exhibitors when these pictures were taken.

Don Caldwell, chairman of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, was at

the head of the gala receiving line greeting the sponsors and benefactors as

they entered the exhibition room. Caldwell mentioned that he has been chairman

for the past two years.

The Honorable Edward G. Rendell, mayor of Philadelphia, joined the evenings

large group of supporters, along with Mark Graham, Pennsylvania manager of

Wilmington Trust, the preview sponsor. Carol Barker, chairman of the

benefactor committee, said, "It's been a great year. We have gotten more

benefactors than ever this year, and we have $30,000 more than last year."

Carl David of David David Gallery, Philadelphia, said, "I think it is a great

show. It has gotten better every year and this year it is especially strong.

It is beautiful in every aspect -- not just the art work. The atmosphere and

people." Ernest Kramer, Kramer Fine Arts and Prints, Wellesley Hills, Mass.,

specializes in early Twentieth Century works on paper, and such artists as

George Bellows, Frank Benson, Edward Hopper, et al. Kramer mentioned that they

had been participating at the show for the past five years.

Discussing the evening's gala show, Debra Force of Beacon Hill Fine Art, New

York City, said, "The committee has done an excellent job in bringing new

dealers to the show. It is very exciting and very important to have unique

works." Force offered an oil on canvas, 20 by 27 inches, a winter scene by

James McEntee, and a 14 by 10 inch Dutch courtyard scene by Robert Frederick

Blum.

Lore Yao, co-chair for this year's show, said, "Gale Gillespie and I have seen

the show develop and there have been great improvements." Gillespie added,

"This show gets better each year. It's all-American art of the Nineteenth and

Twentieth Centuries. We have more underwritings than we have ever had before,

and the whole thing is put on with 120 unpaid volunteers."

Among the 20 exhibitors from New York City area, the Richard York Gallery

brought one of the finest offerings seen at the show: a 26« by 17¬ inch pastel

on paper depicting yellow sweet peas, dated 1925, by Georgia O'Keeffe. Also

featured was a 36 by 44 inch Frank Duvaneck, oil on canvas, entitled "That

Summer Afternoon in the Garden."

The Plymouth Meeting Gallery, Plymouth Meeting, Penn., specializes in the

Bucks County (Pennsylvania) Impressionist artists. The gallery had a fine 32

by 42 inch Charles Rosen, depicting peonies, (Yates frame) provenance, the

Griswold family, Old Lyme, Conn. Also shown was a graphite ten by eight inch

drawing by Daniel Garber, dated 1918. Of the few sculptured items exhibited,

Dixon-Hall Fine Art, Malvern, Penn., had "Snake and Bird," a 24 by 24 inch

plaster relief from the estate of Agnes Yarnall (1904-1989).

Kendall Chew and John Formicola featured a George Sotter, oil on Masonite, 22

by 26 inches, that had been exhibited at the Pennsylvania Woodmere Art Museum.

Vose Galleries, Boston, Mass., brought a 40 by 32 inch oil on canvas by Carl

J. D. Nordell.

David David Gallery, Philadelphia, Penn., specializes in American and European

paintings and works on paper. Featured was a unique, (size-wise) 32-inch

square oil on board by Willard Metcalf, snow scene dated 1921, plus a 36 by 16

inch oil on canvas of a woman with a violin by Charles Curran. Titled "Market

Place in Constantinople" and measuring 18 by 25 inches, the Jane Peterson oil

on canvas was shown by Richardson-Clarke of Boston.

Another gallery that specializes in the Bucks County artists is the Bianco

Gallery, Buckingham, Penn. Offered was a fine Edward W. Redfield, 38 by 50

inches, titled "Snowbound," circa 1920. Hollis Taggart Galleries featured a

major Redfield work, 50 by 56 inches, titled "The Two Cedars," circa 1922. The

Knoke Galleries, Atlanta, Ga., specializes in early American art and brought a

fine William Chadwick (1879-1924), oil on canvas, 30 by 30 inches.