Moon-Joo Lee

"Roxbury" Massachusetts, Acrylic, Street Scene, Winner Student Prize

2002

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY Jennifer's "Untitled" piece appears to be a landscape with a colorful stripped form arising out of the grasses. It is an iconic image that she incorporates into her work. The following excerpt from her Artist Statement best describes her feeling about it: I stopped the slug imagery and started making purely abstract paintings. Eventually, abstract lines and forms evolved into “characters.” They lived in landscapes of a realistic sort. They were abstractions on a representational journey. It occurred to me that they were the slugs. I thought they had gone but they hadn’t. It occurred to me that they were the slugs. I thought they had gone but they hadn’t. They were the slugs transformed. Evolved slugs and broken out from their cocoons. They had become abstract “butterflies.” Jennifer Wynne Reeves was known for creating a body of paintings, drawings and photographs that speak to and confront formalist and humanist dilemmas. Beyond her achievements in the art world, Reeves enjoyed a considerable fan-base as a result of her astonishing Facebook presence where she chronicled and interwove her art and diaristic prose. Reeves solo exhibitions included Art & Public in Geneva, Gian Enzo Sperone in Rome; Max Protetch, Ramis Barquet and BravinLee programs, NYC. Reeves was also celebrated for her writing. She produced a graphic novel, The Anyway Ember and Soul Bolt, a book of images and prose. “Profoundly rewarding works” said LA Times writer, David Pagel, in a review her 2015 exhibition at CB1 Gallery. Reeves is a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow recipient. The following is an artist’s statement about her theory off work: “Twenty years ago, I called them slugs. In the beginning, they were like long lumps without arms or legs. Powerless. Difficult. Paralyzed. I thought maybe they were the symbols of sloth or depression or fear. They didn’t do anything. I wondered if I should stop making them? They were not beautiful. Nobody liked them. Nobody wanted to look at them. They were repellent and, worse, they were funny. I hated that. I wanted to be a “serious” artist. I was conflicted. I had to make the images that came to me but I was embarrassed. Maybe it wasn’t a fancy path but painting slugs was more honest than painting flowers (nothing against flower paintings, mind you). It came down to a moral choice. So, I determined to follow the slug road. Maybe it was a road that led somewhere? Or maybe not. After several years, I thought I hit a dead-end. I stopped the slug imagery and started making purely abstract paintings. Eventually, abstract lines and forms evolved into “characters.” They lived in landscapes of a realistic sort. They were abstractions on a representational journey. It occurred to me that they were the slugs. I thought they had gone but they hadn’t. It occurred to me that they were the slugs. I thought they had gone but they hadn’t. They were the slugs transformed. Evolved slugs and broken out from their cocoons. They had become abstract “butterflies.” Little kids liked them. I hated that. I wanted to be a “serious” artist. I’m not sure, exactly, who they are. They could be our conscience, our psychology, or simply the part inside us that yearns. They could be artists, modernists or the first of “us” that crawled out of the ocean. My best hunch is they are whatever it is that makes us want to make. I hope that’s a good thing and beautiful and seriously funny. Whatever the case, I’d like to know what it’s all about.” Jennifer Reeves...

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY “Study of Mt. Vesuvius" is a small intimate painting of an active volcano that has at times wrecked great destruction. As seen from a distance, it is a calm blue ...

Impressionist Landscape" is an exquisitely peaceful late summer scene along the banks of a quiet river. The dappling yellow and green leaves and the spots of blue sky give the perfect impressionistic feel to the scene. Impressionism was a style or movement in painting originating in France in the 1860s, characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and color. Methven captured this impression perfectly. It is as fresh today as when it was painted in 1902 so much so that you can almost hear the rustle of the leaves and see the shifting light. The gold gilt frame is original to the piece. Without the frame the piece measures 20 h x 16 w. It is signed by the artist. Methven was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the 1930's he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he painted with other area Chicago artists and showed at The Art Institute of Chicago. He spent his summers in Benton Harbor, Michigan, along Lake Michigan. He is known for his landscapes and water scenes. Michigan has numerous rivers, creeks and small lakes and Methven would have had a wealth of scenes to draw upon for his numerous oil paintings. He studied under Henry Fenton Spread who taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and later founded Spread's Art Academy. In 1902, this academy became the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Spread was named the first president of the Chicago Society of Artists in 1889. Known primarily as a portraitist, Spread also painted landscape and genre scenes. Although a skilled artist, he did not exhibit widely; his primary legacy being fostering a love of art in Chicago. Fellow artist (and former student of Spread), Ralph Clarkson, the noted Chicago society portrait painter, stated that Spread' s "fine and advice formed the careers of the men who were not only to achieve prominence as artists, but to occupy leading places as art teachers". Harry Wallace Methven...

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY The untitled oil painting of a quiet country winter scene is a typical subject matter for T. M. Nicholas who is considered by many to be among the most prominent painter of his generation and specifically of the Rockport School of Art. Painting is signed in the lower right front corner. He grew up admiring the rugged beauty of the U.S. northeast coastline especially the landscapes of coastal New England. His father, esteemed painter, Tom Nicholas...