Newsletter

Spring 2012 - 03/23/2012

New to the Collection: Artists Janet Rickus, Paul Caponigro, Jerry Cable, and Louis Guarnaccia

Vis-a-Vis, Oil on Panel, 9 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches

With an exacting beauty and a no-nonsense confidence, Janet Rickus adds a playful intellect to traditional still-life.

Rickus was born in Chicopee, MA. Her parents owned a grocery store, but she said that had nothing to do with her choice of produce as her favorite subject matter. She started painting landscapes and portraits after graduating with a B.S. from Central Connecticut State University in 1971, first began painting still lifes in 1983.

Mostly self taught, Rickus does not alter the shapes, sizes, or tones of the objects she paints, but rather captures them accurately. And it is there that their shapes and color take on their own personality and mood, even suggesting narratives and relationships in their arrangements and interactions.

Reflecting Stream, Redding CT 1968, Photograph, 9 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches

"At the root of creativity is an impulse to understand, to make sense of random and often unrelated details. For me, photography provides an intersection of time, space, light and emotional stance. One needs to be still enough, observant enough and aware enough to recognize the life of the materials, to be able to 'hear through the eyes."
- Paul Caponigro

We are thrilled to be able to offer to our clients the photographs of modern master Paul Caponigro. Caponigro, likened to the Ansel Adams of our time, has been collected by the leading museums of our country, including the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the LA County Museum of Art. At 79, Caponigro is still in the darkroom, printing images of velvety black and silvery light landscape photographs taken in quiet, reflective spaces around the globe.

 Buoy Shed, Oil on canvas, 20 x 24

Jerry Cable reflects the enchantment and serenity of another era that allow his viewers to escape everyday life and enter the tranquility his pieces offer.

Born is northeastern Ohio, Cable  discovered his passion for art at an early age. He received his BFA from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Today, Cable lives about 35 miles away from Bucks County, the area famous for the regionalist style of Andrew Wyeth, Eric Sloane, and Hale Johnson

Cable relies on his memories of growing up on his families farm as well as his own personal journeys to provide an emotion to engage his viewer. His paintings of the rural hillsides, farmscapes, the coastline of Maine, and abandoned structures capture a moment in time that come alive with his great attention to detail, interplay of light and shadow, and placement of cool hues and pale tones.

Sunset in the Wilderness, Oil on Linen, 16 x 24 inches

Louis Guarnaccia's paintings possess specific landscape details that truly create a portrait of a time and place.

Born in Omaha, NE, Guarnaccia first began oil painting at age 9. He studied under Frank Novak at the Norwich Art School and Slater Museum in Norwich, CT. He later went on to continue his education at the Paier College of Art in Hamden, CT where he studied under master artists Dean Keller, Ken Davies, and Rudolph Zallinger.

Guarnaccia sets out to capture the beauty in our world while staying true to his strong classical background rooted in European tradition. His paintings embrace a delicate serenity. His landscape imagery comes from his many painting trips he takes to Connecticut, Vermont, White Mountains, Maine, The Berkshires, Lake Champlain and the Hudson River.

Gifts of Meaning
 
Our world has been shifting, changing, transforming. In response, we are reprioritizing our lives - friends and family, experiences, down time, are taking on increased importance in our new way of thinking. Art and culture have an intrinsic, everlasting value. A connection with art adds meaning both to our lives and to those we love.
 
This show sprouted from a seed planted this past summer, as we laughed and giggled with a visiting couple over Susan Read Cronin's new sculpture, "Love is in the Air". They chose to collect the work, which they promptly renamed "Cu-Pig"! It was a memorable experience for us all, as they commemorated their vacation and their marriage with a new work of art.
 
For my family, I have chosen to gift a work of art to one of my children each year. They are enjoying growing collections which hold places of honor in their apartments and first homes. In our family, a gift of art is as cherished as the vacation and holiday times we spend together.
 
There is love in art.
From the Director, Jo Ellen Harrison