142nd International Exhibition at the American Watercolor Society

By: Dorothy Gale

 

The American Watercolor Society has been a client of mine for four years, and every Spring an invitation to their annual exhibition arrives in my mailbox. I have always intended to go, and this year, for their 142nd International Exhibition, I actually made it.

As much as I enjoyed the exhibition, it is hard to know what to say about the show as a whole. It is far easier to describe the astonishing variety. You will certainly see exactly what you would expect in a watercolor show — landscapes, seascapes, and still lives in soft washes of color on heavily textured paper. But the 102 paintings in this exhibition also include works in gouache, acrylic, and egg tempera, creating a fantastic range of surface and effect. The styles, even in traditional watercolor, vary from hyper-realistic to impressionistic to completely abstract. The mood shifts from serious to whimsical, from serene to frenetic. Among the artists, too, some are well known, with gallery representation, while others are unlikely to show in any other New York venue.

Almost 1200 entries were submitted this year from artists all over the world, both society members and non-members. The jurors might not have intended to represent every painting style in the exhibition, but the variety does serve the purpose of the society. How better to promote the art of watercolor than to display all its myriad possibilities to the artists, teachers, and students who visit the exhibition?

 

Erin D.B. Farnsworth, Jasper Circle with Grass, watercolor.  On view at the 142nd International Exhibition, American Watercolor Society.

 

 

In a second round of selection that took place after the paintings arrived, a different jury assigned 32 awards. Of the dozen paintings that I would have walked out with, given the funds, most were not singled out for recognition. Erin D.B. Farnsworth’s Jasper Circle with Grass is tremendously satisfying in both its minimalist composition and its rich detail. Another favorite was Charles R. Murphy’s bright and energetic Marina Shorthand.

 

Charles R. Murphy, Marina Shorthand, watercolor.  On view at the 142nd International Exhibition, American Watercolor Society.

 

         If these paintings have anything in common, it is the masterly control of sometimes difficult media. I marvel at the eccentric and seemingly accidental dashes of line and color that assemble themselves, somehow, into a bustling street scene in Alvaro Castagnet’s Burd Montmartre. (I would take no exception, in this case, with the committee, which awarded this painting a High Winds medal.) Going beyond replication, the artists convey the individual personality and excitement of each subject, imbuing them in the process, of course, with their own.

The other thing that struck me forcibly in these works is the often direct engagement with color. Even what seem at first to be grays or chromatic neutrals turn out to be pools of purple, green, and blue that meet in vibrant edges, adding to the excitement of the painting. Once you have walked through half the gallery, you feel like you, too, have been drenched in color, as if color and water were interchangeable. It may not be chance that water, in all its forms and moods, is a common subject in this show.

The variety in this show is a little overpowering. But it is exciting, too. You might find, as I did, that you begin by exploring the work of others and end up exploring your own sensibilities.

 

The 142nd International Exhibition at the American Watercolor Society runs through April 26th

 

 

American Watercolor Society

Galleries of the Salmagundi Club

47 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street

Take the 4, 5 or 6 train to Union Square or the F, V or L trains to 14th Street

Gallery Hours: Tues 1-8, W to Sun 1-5

www.americanwatercolorsociety.org

Comments

[jblock]

I would not have thought of going to this show, but it is now on my schedule...many thanks

[Mbts]

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