Sat. Nov. 19 &  Sun. Nov. 20

From the Penthouse to the Pavement ... It's the name of an old album by Heaven 17 and we've always liked the implication: To be comfortable in either setting. To find the good things there. We've certainly spent time on the pavement (think of the Rat, 1979). This item is on the penthouse side of things: The 15th Annual Boston International Fine Art Show." up from Thursday Nov. 17 through Sunday Nov. 20.  We've gone for several years, and truth be told, the prices of most of the art would put a severe strain on our pocketbook (pension? 401(k)? IRA? Zero interest checking account?) But the yearly event at Cylorama is always fun. Looking is free. (Well, there is a $15 entrance fee and it's $100 a ticket for the opening night martinis-and-champagne party, Thursday Nov. 17 5:30-8:30. It's a benefit for the Greater Boston Food Bank.)
   Artists from galleries from Madrid and London will join artists from New York and Boston. There are several panel discussions. On Friday at 6:30, it's "Art Collecting: A Passion, An Investment, or Both?" Saturday at 3, another panel, "Shaping the Present: Realist Art Then and Now."
   This show also is announcing the launch of quarterly American Fine Art Magazine, from the publishers of American Art Collector. Hours: 1-9 p.m. Friday, Saturday 11-8 and Sunday 11 am - 5 pm.
In photo, Mayan Antiquity by Boston artist, Robert Preusser, 1953.
Portico New York will be presenting a special collection of works by Preusser at the show.

539 Tremont St., 617-363-0405 www.fineartsboston.com

Thurs. Nov. 17 - Sun. Nov. 20

From the Penthouse to the Pavement ... It's the name of an old album by Heaven 17 and we've always liked the implication: To be comfortable in either setting. To find the good things there. We've certainly spent time on the pavement (think of the Rat, 1979). This item is on the penthouse side of things: The 15th Annual Boston International Fine Art Show." up from Thursday Nov. 17 through Sunday Nov. 20.  We've gone for several years, and truth be told, the prices of most of the art would put a severe strain on our pocketbook (pension? 401(k)? IRA? Zero interest checking account?) But the yearly event at Cylorama is always fun. Looking is free. (Well, there is a $15 entrance fee and it's $100 a ticket for the opening night martinis-and-champagne party, Thursday Nov. 17 5:30-8:30. It's a benefit for the Greater Boston Food Bank.)
   Artists from galleries from Madrid and London will join artists from New York and Boston. There are several panel discussions. On Friday at 6:30, it's "Art Collecting: A Passion, An Investment, or Both?" Saturday at 3, another panel, "Shaping the Present: Realist Art Then and Now."
   Tony Fusco, who's putting on the exhibit sent us this: "I am really excited about our show this year for a number of reasons. First of all, it is our 15th anniversary show!  When we started the show, next to the Cyclorama there was an empty parking lot with a dilapidated brick townhouse, the roof leaked, and there were few great restaurants in the area.  Now the neighborhood is hopping, Atelier 505 and the Calderwood Pavilion are next door, and there are numerous great restaurants within a two-minute walk.  I like to think that our show provided some of the stimulus for the rebirth of that part of the South End by drawing audiences who had never been to the Cyclorama before.
     Of course a lot of galleries save up their best material to present at the show, but also this year we have a number of galleries this year who are making special presentations as part of their booths at the show:
     Portico New York (NY) will be presenting an outstanding collection of works by mid-century modernist Boston artist Robert Preusser (1919-1992).  Preusser taught at MIT and Harvard.  Portico New York is exhibiting for the first time at the show and will be offering a wide selection of mid-century modernist works.  I am attaching a photo of one of Portico's installations.
    Brick Walk Fine Art (CT) will be presenting a one-man show of works by Robert Harms (b. 1962), and will be launching a new book on the artist at the show.  I am attaching a photo of one of Harms' watercolors.
     Sunne Savage Gallery (MA) will be celebrating its 40th anniversary at the show.  Sunne (her name -- pronounced Sunny) was one of the seminal art dealers on Newbury Street in Boston.  She will be presenting an incredible collection of works by Robert S. Neuman (b. 1926).
     Pierce Galleries of Hingham and Nantucket is returning to the show after a 10-year hiatus.  They are an incredible gallery and they will have two booths on opposite sides of the room -- one for their traditional paintings and one for their contemporary artists.
    Also, gracing the front entrance of the show will be an enormous mural sized 1907 painting by Mary Fairchild MacMonnies Low (1858-1946), depicting the Central Fountain of 1893 Columbian Exposition which is over 5' high by 7' wide.  The painting is being offered by Wlliam Vareika Fine Arts of Newport, Rhode Island, one of the country's leading dealers in 18th, 19th and early 20th Century American Art.   

      This show also is announcing the launch of quarterly American Fine Art Magazine, from the publishers of American Art Collector. Hours: 1-9 p.m. Friday, Saturday 11-8 and Sunday 11 am - 5 pm. (In photo, Mayan Antiquity by Boston artist, Robert Preusser, 1953.

539 Tremont St., 617-363-0405 www.fineartsboston.com