Paintings Before Signatures
Avery Galleries aims to guide new collectors with exhibition opening November 30
In the eyes of Avery Galleries, buying art shouldn’t feel like a shopping expedition. Instead, it should be looked at as an educational journey. Still, they acknowledge, “buying art can be intimidating. There are many variables, and sources of information run the gamut from comprehensive to incomprehensible.” In order to combat that intimidation, for the third year the gallery will host an exhibition aimed at guiding new collectors through the process.
The vast majority of the show’s works are priced under $50,000 while still meeting the gallery’s stringent quality standards. Quality, they emphasize, is key.while it might be appealing to nab a Winslow Homer or a John Singer Sargent at a low price, the gallery says,“if the work doesn’t truly represent the artist, however, and is only affordable because of the signature, it won’t be a part of your collection that provides any real gratification.” Instead, new collectors should fall in love with the painting itself, and look at the signature second.
On view is William Edward
Norton’s Nocturne, a top-notch example of the artist’s marine works. In the late 1800s, the artist traveled throughout Europe, painting river and coastal scenes, and in 1901 he settled with his wife in Newyork and vacationed often on Monhegan Island.the gallery notes that in Nocturne “he has expertly captured the quiet serenity of night. The hazy quality of the moonlit scene combined with the use of shadowy blues infuse the painting with a wonderful sense of tranquility.”
Another water work is Harbor in Brittany by John Whorf.though Whorf had some formal art training, he mostly taught himself to paint during his first journey to Europe. “Whorf created realist depictions of urban and rural imagery, but his finest inspiration came from the Cape Cod landscape, where he ultimately settled,” the gallery says. Though he was primarily known as a watercolorist, Harbor in Brittany is a fine example of his work in oil.
From Ernest Lawson comes Sketch for Post Office Mural in Short Hills, New Jersey. Balancing between impressionism and realism, Lawson’s work is not easily categorized.this small oil was created as a study for a mural commission he completed shortly before his death. Contemporary works will also be available as a part of the exhibition, with the gallery adding,“the fact is that contemporary art can be the most affordable way to embark on the educational journey that is at the heart of collecting.” Paintings by Adam Vinson, Emily Brown, Laura Adams and Frank Mujica will be on view.
New Collectors opens at Avery Galleries’ Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, location on November 30 and remains on view through January 31, 2019.