New paintings, hot off the easel, and some thoughts on art and life ...
Two Scottsdale Galleries
(originally posted April 19, 2010)
On my recent visit to Scottsdale, I had two favorites among the galleries I visited - not only because of the paintings I saw but also because of the people who worked there.
One favorite was Scottsdale Fine Art. There I noticed a striking painting of a young woman reading. The subtle light and almost glowing colors in the drapery surrounding her were beautiful, and I wanted to ask about the artist. I had to wait for the gallery director to finish talking to two other visitors, but that gave me a chance to see her style. She told them about the artist they were interested in, then urged them to take in more galleries. She gave them a map of the arts district and clear directions, then added some good Arizona advice: “Don't forget to drink lots of water!”
She was happy to talk to me when they were gone, and she knew all about the painting I had admired. Turns out it was painted by a Bay Area artist – Zhaoming Wu. Wu was trained in China and now teaches at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. I know this because the enthusiastic gallery director not only answered my questions but gave me the artist's website, biography, a magazine profile and a copy of the painting! I left quite impressed with the gallery as well as the artist.
I had another happy experience next door at the Duley-Jones Gallery. There I asked about a stunning painting depicting a Native American in traditional costume, braids and feathers, standing in front of Vermeer's painting The Astronomer. The gallery owner was happy to tell me the story behind it, which was fascinating.
The painting is by Walt Wooten and it's one of a series called The Louvre Paintings, all based on a true incident. In the 1800s the artist George Caitlin had became famous for his paintings of the Ojibwa and other Native Americans. The paintings were popular in London and Paris, but some people were skeptical about the subjects – could these strange people be real? Caitlin, perhaps sensing a PR opportunity, arranged for a small group of Ojibwa to go on a European tour with him. The year was 1845, and apparently the artist and his band of Native Americans created quite a stir. They were introduced to King Louis-Phillipe and also to the artist Delacroix. They visited the Louvre, and that incident inspired Wooten to create his series of paintings. The magazine Western Art Collector ran a story about Wooten and The Louvre Paintings, showing several of his finished works, and the gallery owner gave me a copy. I especially liked Visit to the Louvre: Odalesque by Ingres, which shows a Native American standing in front of Ingres's famous nude.
At the same gallery I also saw paintings by David Barba and Dave Gordinier. Barba creates stunning large-scale watercolors of flowers. One I particularly admired had a grouping of three bouquets, each stuck casually into colorful cans from coffee or peaches. The use of light shadows in graphic shapes behind and around each bouquet was a wonderful contrast to the strong colors and small shapes of the flowers.
Gordinier paints breathtaking scenes of the Arizona desert. His paintings are realistic, but with exaggerated colors that are somehow truer than life. I was raised in Phoenix and I should know – these paintings distill the best of countless desert scenes into an essence of the desert's beauty. The websites for both galleries are below – check them out if you're ever in Scottsdale.
http://www.scottsdalefineart.com
