SCNY 3rd Annual Hartley invitational
Exhibit & Sale
Date
Location
Exhibition Hours
Saturday – Sunday | 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Admission
Open to the public
Free to attend
Reception
May 9, 2024, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Reception is open to the public
RSVP required to attend
Free soft drinks and platters
Drinks for sale in Wiggins bar
(card only, no cash)
One of Salmagundi’s founding members is the American sculptor, Jonathan Scott Hartley. During his career he executed commissions for prestigious institutions, such as the Library of Congress, the New York State Appellate Division Courthouse, and he helped establish The Art Students League of New York. This invitational celebrates and honors Hartley for his many contributions and the artists who follow in his illustrious path of furthering excellence, beauty, and truth by creating art that has always uplifted the hearts of art lovers throughout history.
This year will be our 3rd Annual Hartley invitational, exhibiting figure, landscape, and still-life paintings, and sculptures by 62 stellar artists, who draw inspiration from nature.
The Hartley curators — comprised of artists working in the naturalist and classical/realism tradition, an art conservator, and an arts writer — with a trained eye, have carefully selected works created primarily from life and nature. Each invited artist has forged a unique vision within the naturalist tradition. Every work enhances every other piece in the exhibition, culminating in a visual symphony of beauty. This exhibition celebrates art that reveres nature, the beauty of the human form, quietude, and respect for our environment.
“You know you are looking at one of their pieces when you can’t take your eyes away from it. You are left feeling uplifted and awestruck. You are relieved and delighted because this feeling is what you expect to gain from art.”
— Milène J. Fernández, Harley Invitational curator
The current President of The Salmagundi, the artist and founder of Grand Central Atelier, Jacob Collins endorses the Hartley Invitational as a salon championing “art with a spirit of poetry.”
For the first time The Hartley Invitational exhibition will be juried by a special guest, the distinguished art historian and curator, Gregory Hedberg. He will select the “best in show” for a prize of $12,000+.
The Hartley Invitational catalog
Take the artistic excellence of the Hartley Invitational home with our catalog. Featuring the delicate beauty of David A Leffel’s “The journey” on the cover, flip through carefully curated pages of art by theme, with a special foreword from former Epoch Times arts & culture writer, Milène Fernández.
About the Juror
Gregory Hedberg is a noted authority of European art of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with a particular focus on the creative process of artists. He has published articles and organized museum exhibitions on the creative practice of Michelangelo, Millet, Albert Moore, Léger, and Degas. In his long and distinguished career, Dr. Hedberg has held fellowships and curatorships in several important museums, including The Frick Collection, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Wadsworth Atheneum. Before retiring, Dr. Hedberg was Director of European Art at Hirschl & Adler Galleries in New York from 1992 until 2021.
About the Curators
Milène J. Fernández is an arts writer, editor, and “Sunday painter,” currently serving on the Board of The Salmagundi Club as the second vice-president. Her profile articles on accomplished artists and reviews on exhibitions at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick Collection, The Morgan Library & Museum, and on works for sale at Christie’s and Sotheby’s are published in The Epoch Times. She has also contributed to Canvas (New Masters Academy’s online magazine), Fine Art Connoisseur, among other publications. In her article, Is This a Golden Age for Realism? published in the February 2023 issue of Fine Art Connoisseur, on the occasion of the magazine’s 20th anniversary, she gives a review of the state of realist art today. She also edited the third edition of Glenn Vilppu’s Drawing Manual, and written a foreword for artist Thomas Kegler’s book, The Spirit and the Brush. Currently, Milène edits for various clients, she continues learning how to draw and paint, and is writing her first book (milenejf.com).
Judith Pond Kudlow is an artist & board member of Salmagundi. Her working method is based on the nineteenth century academic tradition which emphasizes working from life to produce paintings based on precise drawing, careful modeling to produce the three-dimensional illusion, harmonious and accurate colors and values, and compositions based on time-honored rules. Her subjects include figures, portraits, still life, and landscape. Her interest in classical drapery studies has led her most recently to produce a series of paintings using contemporary draped subjects. She has studios in New York and Redding where she produces her paintings and teaches at her atelier, The NYK Academy. In the November 2011 issue of American Artist magazine, The NYK Academy was named among the top 10 Art Schools in the country. Kudlow was a finalist in the Still Life category for the 9th Annual Art Renewal Center Salon Competition.
Alex Katlan, conservator & Emeritus board member of Salmagundi has established a fully equipped conservation laboratory to provide in-depth museum quality work, documentation of fine paintings and research. He has done art conservation work on European and American paintings including microscopic fiber and pigment analysis including Infra Red Reflectography. His laboratory also has available vacuum lining tables, bioptical microscope and suction cold table. He provides art conservation services to clients located in New York City, Long Island, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties, Greenwich Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey as well as services to clients in other parts of the country.
Jacob Collins, artist and current President of Salmagundi is a leading figure in the contemporary revival of classical painting. He earned a BA in history from Columbia College, attended the New York Studio School, the New York Academy of Art, and the Art Students League. As a student, Collins also copied extensively in museums in America and Europe. His work has been widely exhibited in North America and Europe and is included in several American museums. Collins is the founder of the Water Street Atelier, The Grand Central Academy of Art, Grand Central Atelier, and the Hudson River Fellowship.
