Show Stopper

Pull up a chair and check out this delightful pencil on paper drawing of a 1920's era audience watching a performance in the distance. Each person comes to life with just a few pencil strokes and shading. The woman wearing the wide brimmed hat and holding a fan looks particularly engaged by what she sees. This crowd-pleaser by artist Jerome Myers is another fantastic example from the Pantages Portfolio, which goes on sale to the public on Friday, September 28, 2018.

Jerome Myers (1867-1940) was born in Virginia and was one of five children. He moved to New York City in 1886 and started his art career as a scene painter while at the same time attending evening art classes at Cooper Union and the Art Students League. A few years later he started working in the art department of the New York Tribune. His career really took off when his colleague Edward Adam Kramer introduced his work to the art dealer William Macbeth. Myers became known for his urban scenes and landscapes, and his ability to capture the magic and details of everyday street life across cultures. Myers won numerous prestigious awards, including the Altman Prize (twice), the National Academy's Carnegie Prize, and the Isidor Medal. His work is part of the permanent collection or has been shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City,  among many others.

A Walk In The Woods

It is said that art builds bridges, and that's exactly what is happening here with this astonishingly lifelike work by noted 19th century artist Narcisse Virgil Diaz de la Pena. This painter is best known for his forest and storm scenes and it's easy to see why - the view here is so authentic it is as if one were looking out on it in person! This painting is another breathtaking example from the Pantages Portfolio, which will will be available for viewing and purchase starting on September 28, 2018.

Frenchman Narcisse Virgil Diaz de la Pena (1808-1876) had a rough start in life; he became an orphan and lost a leg to infection before he was a teenager. He began formally studying art at 15, focusing on painting after first working in porcelains. Over time, he met fellow artist Théodore Rousseau and really admired Rousseau's style and ability to capture forests on canvas so well. They eventually became good friends. Diaz de la Pena worked his entire adult life as a successful and highly sought-after artist. His paintings are part of the permanent collection of the Louvre, The Wallace Collection in London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Isabella Stewart Museum in Boston, among many others.

Catch the Spirit

What do you see here? A landscape, certainly. But don't the mountains in the back of the the work also hint of a majestic bird in flight or even a sacred figure? Only the artist, Elliott Daingerfield, knows for sure. This wonderful painting, from the Pantages Portfolio, truly soars to new heights.

Elliott Daingerfield (1859–1932) was an American painter best known for his religious, as well as landscape works. This example in some ways is a hybrid of these two areas. He was born in West Virginia and but grew up and spent much of his life in North Carolina. He completed his art training in New York and studied at the Art Students’ League. Daingerfield traveled to Europe in the late 1890’s where he became very interested in religious themes. He painted the mural in the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in New York City. Later in his life he began writing about art, authoring several magazine articles as well as artist biographies. He was a full member of the National Academy of Design from 1906 onward. As a favorite son of North Carolina, Daingerfield’s work has been exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of Art and his childhood home in Fayetteville has been made into a local museum.

The Roar of The Crowd

You can almost feel the energy in the ring with this dramatic and handsome oil on board work depicting a bullfight. It was painted by artist Jorge Castillo and is another extraordinary find from the Pantages Portfolio.

Jorge Castillo was born in Spain in 1933 but moved with his family to Argentina as a baby. He started his formal artistic training in 1941 when he attended the “Ecole des Beaux-Arts” in Buenos Aires for a short time. In 1955, he moved to Madrid where he focused on surrealistic gouaches and drawings; his first exhibit was held a few years later in 1959. Castillo traveled extensively thorough the 1970's, living and working in Paris, Geneva, and Berlin. He moved to New York in the early 1980's where he concentrated on designing sculptures for public spaces. Casillo was lifetime admirer of Pablo Picasso and themes common to Picasso appear in Castillo's artworks over time. His paintings and sculptures has been shown throughout Europe and the Americas, and he has won numerous prestigious awards - including the International Drawing Prize in Darmstadt, Germany in 1964.

Matchless

This profile portrait is simply smokin'! With just a few simple colors and brush strokes, the artist has brought this intense looking man to life. This eye-catching work is another fabulous example from the ever growing Pantages Portfolio.

It's easy to get lit up over this painting by Frenchman Charles Camoin (1879-1965). This artist is best known for his expressionist  landscapes, although he has done a number of noted portraits - including one of his long time friends, Henri Matisse. Camoin's portrait of Matisse is part of the permanent collection of the Pompidou Museum in Paris. Camoin became friendly with a group of like minded artists including Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, Georges Rouault, and André Derain. This fraternity became known as "the Fauves" for their bold paintings that featured unprecedented designs and use of color. Camoin won several awards, most notably the Prix du President de la Republique, in 1955. His works have been exhibited throughout France and are included in the collections of several museums, including the Musée d'Art Moderne, as well as many regional galleries.

I'm Not Telling

What's on your mind? Only the subject knows for sure, and he's been sworn to secrecy. This handsome, untitled painting of a pensive man is by artist Samuel Brecher, and one of the world-class portraits available through the Pantages Portfolio.

Samuel Brecher (1897-1982) was born in Austria but spent most of his adult life in New York City. He is best known for his oil on canvas portraits and landscapes. Professionally, he was also an art instructor and participated in the WPA teaching project from 1933 through 1938.  Brecher taught painting classes at the Newark School Fine & Industrial Arts from 1946 through 1974. He won many awards and exhibited extensively throughout his career, starting in 1924. Brecher's works are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Newark Museum of Art, Florida Southern College, and several museums in Israel, among many others.

Rocking Your World

Doesn't this glorious abstract landscape painting from the Pantages Portfolio just rock your world? This breathtaking piece, titled "Path Through the Mesas" was painted by Navajo contemporary artist Tony Abeyta in 2001.

Abeyta is known for his mixed media works that highlight the beauty of the American Southwest. According to the painter, "There exists a rhythm in the land where I was born. I spend a lot of time deciphering the light, the cascades of mesas into canyons, the marriage between earth and sky and the light as it constantly changes at whim, the intensity of rock formations, and the sage and chamisa that accent this poetic experience, unlike any where else I have seen. I am beckoned to remember it and then to paint it." Abeyta received the New Mexico Governor’s Excellence in the Arts award in 2012 and has been recognized as a Native treasure by the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. His work has been shown at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, and is included in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ, New Mexico Fine Arts Museum, the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, CA, and the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, as well as many other public and private collections.