NEWS | Sheldon Fine Art

- 2 days ago

The Time Between: The Atmospheric Landscapes of Dennis Sheehan

In the mid 1800s a group of French painters began painting landscapes inspired directly from nature. It was as much a revolt and revolution as anything imagined by today's youth, an approach to painting which flew in the face of the fashionable and accepted Romantic approach of the time, which strove to utilize nature as a backdrop and allegory to the struggles of the human spirit as opposed to a subject in its own right. In the 1960s a young Dennis Sheehan began staging a revolution of his own; a harkening back to this realist, nature centered, approach in revolt against the prevailing trends of abstraction and postmodern deconstruction which he saw taking root in the art world.

"A Place to Rest" ( 18x24)

Born in Boston in 1950 Sheehan grew up as the second of four brothers. As is the case with many artists he was always, always, interested in art and had his mind made up to become a painter the first time his father took him to the Boston MFA as a child. His father was endlessly supportive, taking the young painter to museums and galleries and encouraging his creative experimentation. Sheehan's mother would halfheartedly argue that he go into something more practical - business or banking - but even she was won over by her young son's passion and clear talent.

"December Dusk" (30x30)

Sheehan pursued his study of art at the Vesper George School of Art and the Montserrat School of Visual Art under the tutelage of Robert Douglas Hunter and the indomitable Jean Gabin. While in school he developed his signature deft hand and his fascination with the transitional periods of life - the changing seasons, changing times of day - always attempting to catch nature in a split second of indecisive luminosity. He employs much of the same techniques as the Barbizon and Realist painters before him; a muted color palette, a dark romanticism, and a smoky approach to distances which renders his pieces as ephemeral as they are exacting images of a landscape caught in a moment in time.

"Passing Storm" (16x20)

Sheehan pays the most attention to the light areas of his work, pulling the eye and rendering the reflections, but it is the darkness of his works which make his pieces so phenomenal. They capture the imagination of everyone who sees them and have made Sheehan one of the foremost painters of classical landscape in our time. His works are featured in the private collection of the White House as well as the personal collections of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. He is a member of the Guild of Boston Artists and recently began offering free video classes on his facebook page "Sheehan Academy". He lives in the New England countryside with his family.

"Near The End" (10x20)

- Oct 17

Charles Bluett

Charles, or Charlie as he prefers to be called, originally hails from England. He studied art and art history at Windsor's illustrious Eton College before turning towards the world of business. Endlessly creative even then, Charlie embarked on a series of start-up ventures, all of which he sees as important evolutions in the path that brought him where he is today and gave him the courage to consider taking up painting full time. An avid sea-glass collector and coastal wanderer, Charlie's work is a meditation on the ebb and flow of the natural world, the evolution of the seasons and the way all of it fits together into a mystical whole.

The Precious Pieces 30x48 The Gathered Pile 36x60

His technique is that of the abstract color field, a contemporary technique which embraces the transparencies of washes of color. His works are meditative and peaceful, playing with the sensation of color and the expansion of the field of view. He writes that:

Overall I want to create a sense of ethereality and calm, and yet a moment of beauty and relaxation. In our busy lives it can be hard to do enough, and we often don’t have the time to stop and fully appreciate. Like a great book, movie or piece of music, the work should allow a person to step away from reality and switch off the distractions all around us.It should bring the viewer to a moment in time of total calm that simply brings them joy.

And his works do just that. The colors and play with form and transparency exude a peace that is in no way undermined by the contemporary nature of the work. The skill of the layering - one sheer color over another - is as endlessly studiable and fascinating as the most detailed still life. Bluett's familiarity with the old masters and the heavy hitters of conceptual art is on display in his work with clear influence taken from the likes of Andy Goldsworthy and Mark Rothko.

The Joy of the Early Bird 48x48

Charlie had his first show at the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly, London. This was followed by three highly successful solo exhibitions in London at Blains, The Bloxham Gallery & The Smith Street Gallery, all of which garnered him the attention and acclaim of some of England's most prolific collectors.

It's been a long and winding road for Charlie but, like the building up of translucent colors in his work, it would have been impossible to get where he is today had he not been able to build upon what came before. He sees his style as an ever evolving experiment, something which changes with the seasons and the own personal evolution of his life. He currently resides in Vermont where he is endlessly inspired by the changing scenery and the beauty of the natural world which surrounds him.

- Oct 10

To Elevate the Ordinary: The Magic Realism of Del-Bourree Bach

The art world in the 1970s was experiencing a crisis of identity. The focus on minimalism and conceptual art to the exclusion of all else polarized collectors, casual viewers, and students. This background is important as it allows one to understand why master realist painter Del-Bourree Bach considers himself "self taught", despite having been a student of the visual arts during this time.

He studied fine art and voice at the University of Hartford before moving to NYC after graduation to focus on his opera career. While singing with the repertory company of the Light Opera of Manhattan and The Gilbert and Sullivan Players, he began building up his portfolio of artworks; studying at the Art Students League and The School of Visual Arts. He decided to become an illustrator. He found that he was able to cobble together a living between performance and taking illustration commissions for the New York Times, and publishing houses McGraw Hill and E.P. Dutton among others. The transition from illustrating the ideas of others to painting creations of his own came quickly and naturally and Del-Bourree began exhibiting his original work in galleries and in pop-up exhibitions on the sidewalks near the Metropolitan Museum of Art. People liked what they saw - refreshed by the clarity of light and careful realism of his approach - and Del began to see the first glimmer of a future as a professional artist.

He hasn't stopped painting since.

Good Buddies Rocky Sail

Del's work runs the gamut from maritime, to cityscape, to portrait, to still-life and back again. No matter the subject, he always approaches his works with the delicate hand and clear-eyed vision for which he has become so well known. There is a certain theatricality to his work, not drama per-se, but an understanding of visual pathos and romance of staging that can only have come from his time as a performer.

While he works entirely in his studio he admits to not painting directly from photographs either, instead approaching his subjects with a wide open imagination to create a world entirely his own. When asked about his philosophical approach in an interview with The Copley Society he stated that:

Sometimes I will elevate the ordinary things, such as a telephone pole or turn daytime into night... I love the beauty of nature and man’s relation to it. Sometimes there is beauty even in the texture of “ugly things”.

Homeward Bound

Del-Bourree Bach is currently a board member of the American Society of Marine Artists, Artists for Conservation, Allied Artists of America, American Artists Professional League (Fellow). Audubon Artists, National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic, National Oil and Acrylic Painters (Master) and International Society of Acrylic Painters (Master), among others. He is an elected artist member of the Salmagundi Club New York (former board member), Providence Art Club (Art Committee Member), Copley Society of Art Boston(Copley Master), Lyme Art Association (current board member) and the Mystic Museum of Art (former board member) among others.

His work is featured proudly in private collections across the country as well as many celebrated public collections including the Florence Griswold Museum in CT, the Albrecht Kemper Museum in MO, the Salmagundi Club New York and the U. S. Embassy and Coast Guard Art Collections.

A true philanthropist, Bach regularly donates to and works with conservation charities to help preserve the natural world which has given him so much inspiration throughout his life.

He and his wife currently reside in Mystic CT.