Bert Gallery

The Grand Tour:

From the Canals of Venice to the Streets of Paris

June 15 - August 27, 2001

During the summer months Bert Gallery presents the exhibit The Grand Tour: From the Canals of Venice to the Streets of Paris. Due to limited American art instruction, nineteenth century native painters often sought refuge in the ateliers of the master instructors in the great European cities of Paris, London and Munich. Even today contemporary artists seek to study first hand the great paintings of the Louvre, Uffizi, and National Gallery. This exhibit highlights many of the fine works produced by American painters abroad from the 19th century to contemporary times. During the exhibit, the gallery will have extended evening hours for Gallery Night Providence on June 17, July 15th and August 19th until 9pm.

Among the artists included in the show is Anna Richards Brewster, (1870-1952) who sought art instruction at the Royal Academy in London. Her yearly sojourns to the continent resulted in a life-long body of work of European scenes. Prominent in the exhibit are her works from Italy including scenes of the Tuscan village of Rapallo, the mountain lake region of Lake Como and the fertile urban life of Florence, noted for sanctuaries such as the Boboli Gardens.

The monumental painting of the Piazza San Marco in Venice by Gordon Peers (1909-1988) is sure to be the centerpiece of the show. With its grand size and perspective, the scene captures the historical significance of St. Mark’s Square with the gondola in the foreground and the great cultural landmarks of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s. Peers evokes all of the site’s beauty and complexity by using his rich jewel-like colors, segmented into small forms as if made from stain glass.

Helena Sturtevant (1877-1946), another Rhode Island artist, studied at the Boston School of the Museum of Fine Arts and then onto the Colarossi Academy in Paris. She was honored with entry into the exhibits at the Paris Salon of the Societe Nationale de Beaux Arts. On view is her watercolor of Notre Dame, capturing the scale and grandeur of the famous cathedral’s architecture; the flying buttresses central to her composition.

Contemporary painter Nick Paciorek, from his visits to Rome and Florence, captures architectural nuances of these cities in oil. Often focusing on landmark buildings and their unique forms, his radiant colors create dramatic lighting effects, creating a sensitivity to the architecture and its appearance at different times of day. Florence canal scenes and Rome colosseum ruins promise to engage the viewer.

All these artists in the exhibit reveal the importance of Europe as an educational and inspirational source for painting. For more information call 401-751-2628.