15th Annual Boston International Fine Art Show: what a show. . .

It was a pleasure to step out impromptu into Boston to see the 15th Annual Boston International Fine Art Show on Saturday and it reminded me of how lucky I am to have such a great city at my fingertips. The show was held in the South End at the Boston Center for the Arts' Cyclorama building. Seeing world-class art with few hastles (no problems finding walkable parking on Tremont St) was extremely rewarding. I took photographs a bit in haste. It's also worth noting how impressive the range of works were in price, size, era and style. There really was something for almost everyone.

This year there were 42 booths and I enjoyed seeing the full range of works, but my favorites were from the 19th-20th century including a drawing by John Singer Sargent, an unusual pastel by Mary Cassatt and landscape paintings by John Henry Twachtman. In addition I enjoyed seeing a presidential JFK drawing (study) by Aaron Shikler at one booth with an Andy Warhol portrait (screenprint, I believe) of Senator Ted Kennedy directly in sight at a different booth. I also enjoyed seeing a self portrait by Dennis Miller Bunker (who's work I always look at somewhat wistfully as he was a great talent and died young when he was newly into a very happy marriage) and a portait by Joseph DeCamp. I was also very pleased to see several lovely drawings by Lilian Westcott Hale (no relation.)

I came home with a bag full of art magazines and brochures (gold), including a gorgeous new premier issue of "American Fine Art." I highly recommend art lovers and buyers to check this superb show out in the future.

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Choosing your Medium for your Portrait

The art buyer often needs to make some decisions when commissioning a portrait. One of the first is the Medium. I discussed this in an earlier blog, but I thought it'd be nice to show the wider view of a pastel I did a few years ago. It shows the strokes in the pastel.

Pastels are a subtle, but glorious medium. Choosing pastel sticks for a little child's portrait is a marvel. You see the buttery skin tones in the pastel boxes, but it's also deceptive as there is always so much more going on that the artist is thinking about to capture the face. I was able to study over a few summers with Constance Flavell Pratt and learned so much about the medium.

Pastels are framed with glass to protect them. I think it's the fragile nature of them that captures our hearts. However, do not let the fragile aspect put you off from choosing this medium if you love it. Mary Cassatt's pastels need no introduction and they are from the late 1800's. Pastels from about 1770 by Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin hang at the Louvre, as well as those by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour. I was able to see works by those artists over the summer and they were exquisite. Just remember to hang your pastel out of the direct sunlight to avoid fading of the subtle tones and also try to keep it in a low-humidity environment (never in a basement for storage.)


www.soniahale.com

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Mary Brewster Hazelton 1868-1953, a Wellesley-born artist who studied with Edmund Charles Tarbell and Abroad

Last night I attended a very exciting lecture held at the Wellesley Free Library. Laura Ziman, an art instructor, brought four of Mary Brewster Hazelton's works, including a portrait and three landscapes which were very Impressionistic in style and discussed her life briefly. To be honest there are more questions than answers about this intriguing artist, but the attendees were able to provide some salient bits of information too. Her studies originated with the conservative Boston School style (Tarbell), but she came to experiment with the Impressionistic movement, as she studied abroad during an exciting time, when photography was born, so ultra realistic works were not as in vogue.

I will provide a follow-up blog entry when I learn more and have a bit more time. I believe Mary Brewster Hazelton may have been on the same tier as Cecilia Beaux and Mary Cassatt, two other prominent female artists from the same time period who also choose not to marry in order to pursue life-long painting. I will venture to say John Singer Sargent might have agreed, as he is said to have held Ms. Hazelton's work in high esteem.

Ms. Hazelton's works are in the collections of Harvard University, the Massachusetts State House and the Peabody Essex Museum.

I love that Ms. Hazelton painted landscapes, still lives and portraits. She was the true, full artist recording her Impressions of the world throughout her life.


Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.