John Franklin Sommers

'Abstract in Coral and Gold'

1987

Signed, verso, 'M. Rosera' (American, 20th century) and dated 1963. A substantial mid-century abstract comprising contiguous and overlapping forms in variegated tones of coral, purp...

Signed lower right, 'V. Wicht' for John Von Wicht (German-American, 1888-1970) and painted circa 1965. Born in Germany, this abstract expressionist painter, muralist, printmaker, mo...

A substantial linear abstract comprising contiguous rectangles in primary and secondary colors contrasted against a background of scumbled chestnut and aubergine. Signed lower right...

Signed lower left, 'Norden' for Frealon Norden Bibbins (American, 1926-2013) and dated 1976. Inscribed verso, 'Blue Storm', stamped with certification of authenticity and wax seal. A substantial and dynamic work by this California Abstract painter evoking organic floral forms and comprising fluidly superimposed and adjacent, flowing layers of jade, coral and magenta set against an ivory field. This listed California artist, author and musician lived and painted in Alameda and also had a distinguished career with the San Francisco Symphony...

Geometric and gestural abstract painting on canvas in earth tones of beige, tan, and light brown with accents of dark magenta, light sienna, and neon pink Disturbances in the Field, 2019 by Jeanette Fintz 60 x 72 x 2 inches, acrylic on canvas Signed verso Hanging wire on reverse "Disturbances in the Field" is a painting in a series of work created during the year of the pandemic. The artist explains that this painting is about "giving structure to something intangible, ephemeral, in-flux or conversely, revealing the dissolving of structure that has been.” As an abstract artist, Fintz has long been interested in the contrast of hard-edged planar geometry (circles, squares, hexagons) existing within an atmospheric field where shapes can float or hold the plane, in a space that appears expansive, transient and increasingly released from the canvas’s edge. A calculated use of opacity and transparency resulting from fluid washes of acrylic create an atmosphere where fragmented geometry becomes “a vocabulary of gestures”. This work merges white and faintly gold hard edge lines with gentle washes of blue and neutrals. Working in a space between planning and chance, Jeanette Fintz presents a series of paintings that fuse gestural and geometric abstraction. This body of work continues Fintz’s use of the circle, ellipse and hexagon; motifs that embody references to nature, architecture and the decorative arts. Jeanette Fintz is an established artist working in the Hudson Valley, NY. She has taught at the School of Design Strategies at Parsons the New School for Design, SUNY Purchase, and Pratt Institute, among other American universities. Her work is collected in both private and corporate collections worldwide. To read more about her career, please scroll down for see her detailed CV and biography. Artist Statement: My paintings evolve in a space between planning & chance, systems & spontaneity, conveying contradictions that I view as metaphors for maneuvering through “real “life. In this work I play a fairly high stakes game of improvisation around a motif. Using a working method akin to jazz, I counterpoint systematically repeated elliptical shapes against gestural pours & drips and something unexpected emerges. I am drawn to create complexity, and challenged to unify multiple layers through the physicality of the paint, which fuses & knits together, as well as, ultimately, through the power of color to stabilize & resolve. The ellipse, which is hypnotic & spatial in repetition, & monumental, but not static as a shape unto itself, embodies references to nature and to the decorative arts which are both alluded to in the paintings. (The egg, the mirror, the vulva, or the shield.) Dynamic visual rhythms, in these pieces, the momentum of the repetitive ellipse, are typical of my work and help to maintain order within complexity. Their sources for me are both musical, notably the poly-rhythms of Latin jazz, Brazilian & East Indian music, and are also derived from the decorative arts, particularly textiles. The latter have been a source of excitement, often contributing a playful aspect to the paintings. I intentionally disturb the regularity of pattern, encouraging discordance & uniqueness, and then bring it back home after finding another by - way to work things through. Color is my most intuitive source of inspiration, connecting me to nature; It is also, ironically, my most passionately calculated element. In the primal struggle among sometimes apparently random components, subtlely modulated color clarifies purpose, builds context, and holds the structure together. The intuitive rhythmic order of Jeanette’s paintings prior to 2009 which featured repetitive lines, circles and ellipses clashing with fluid gestural streams of color have given way fully in the new work to a given crystalline geometric substructure that unifies all visual events. This work embraces and employs the Oneness found in sacred geometry as the underpinning for improvised pathways that give each work its uniqueness. Shapes that are found have a “role” to play, to riff off some of Jeanette’s series titles. The earlier pieces acknowledge through the unexpected visual event, the imperfection of the human condition while the newer geometries strive for the expression of spiritual wholeness and connection. About the artist: Jeanette Fintz is an abstract painter, who resides and paints in Hudson, NY. She is also an arts writer and independent curator. The intermix of being a native New Yorker and now, happily, a resident of the lush Hudson River Valley is evident in her work, which combines an urban edginess with the lyrical influences of her natural surroundings. Ms. Fintz was born in Brooklyn NY, educated at Queens College, The New York Studio School and Boston University. Her personal amalgam of NY School formalist principles, and love of natural light and color was initially forged during her summer at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture where she painted from the Maine landscape. Ms. Fintz lived and worked in the artist communities of Tribeca and Williamsburg, exhibiting regularly in NYC. Jeanette in part, credits the importance of natural light for her decision to transplant home and studio to Surprise. Ms Fintz has filtered nature through her urban sensibility, stretching color motifs towards the heightened and intensified palette often found in the realms of design and fashion. Her pieces have a rhythmic impact stemming both from her enjoyment of jazz and poly-rhythms of Brazilian and Indian origin, which she also sees displayed in the visual rhythms found in textiles and Islamic tile patterns. Jeanette’s involvement with these resources was enhanced by sabbatical travel to Spain’s Andalusia Region (2005 & 2009) to investigate patterning systems found in Moorish tiles and architecture, and to Turkey (2013), where she focused on the Iznik, Byzantine and Greco-Roman tiles and frescoes. Jeanette also had immersed herself in textile patterns and Ikat designs during her yearlong sojourn in Malaysia, where she was founding faculty in a new Parsons School of Design affiliate in Kuala Lumpur (1996-97). Selected Grants and Awards include 2015 EYP Architecture & Engineering Award, Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region 2015 Trustees Award, Albany Institute of History & Art 2013 Sabbatical, Parsons the New School For Design 2008 The Emil & Dines Carlsen Award / Painting, National Academy of Design 2005 Sabbatical, Parsons the New School for School Design 2005 Sudden Opportunity Stipend 2003 Faculty Development Award, Parsons, the New School for School for Design 1995-92 Sudden Opportunity Stipend, NYFA Rensselaer County Council for the Arts 1993 N Y F A, Artists Fellowship / Drawing 1990 E. D. Foundation Grant / Painting 1984 Ludwig Vogelstein Grant / Painting 1980 The Ingram Merrill Award / Painting 1975 Purchase Prize, Painting, Skowhegan School for Painting & Sculpture Ms Fintz has taught as an Assistant Professor of Art & Design, in the School of Design Strategies at Parsons the New School for Design for 17 years. At Purchase College, SUNY, Jeanette taught all levels of painting and drawing for 12 years as Assistant Professor in the BFA conservatory program. She also has taught at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, The University of Southern Maine, Portland, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, and SUNY, Albany. Jeanette shows her work at the Garvey Simon Gallery, New York, NY, Fox Gallery, New York, NY, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington MA, the Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham NY, Cross Contemporary Gallery, Saugerties, NY. Recent projects include a solo show at Garvey Simon Gallery, NY NY (Sept. 7 - Oct, 2017), and a curatorial project, "The Ritual of Construction," at the Kleinert James Center, Woodstock Byrdcliff Guild (May 19 - July , 2017). Ms Fintz’s Residencies and Fellowships include: The MacDowell Colony, The Millay Colony for the Arts, The Ucross Foundation, and Altos De Chavon & Ossabaw Island Project. Jeanette’s selected Visiting Artist spots include Art New England, Bennington College, Bennington, VT, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva NY. Ms. Fintz received her MFA from Boston Universtiy SFA (1975 ), and her BA from Queens College CUNY (1972). She attended the New York Studio School (1972-73), and received a scholarship to the Skowhegan School in 1975. Ms Fintz’s work can be found in many national & international collections. Collections Par Capital Management Boston MA VYV Apartments, Luxury High Rise, Jersey City, NJ Boca Raton Yacht Club, Waldorf Astoria Resort, Boca Raton, FL Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Boston, MA, and Plano, TX Robert A.M. Stern Architectural Project, Washington DC Capital G Bank Hamilton, Bermuda Brigham & Women's Hospital, Foxboro, MA Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, Boston, MA Posternak Blankstein & Lund, Boston, MA Hale & Dorr, Boston, MA Analysis Group, Boston, MA National Televison, 7 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Christmas Island Phosphate, Singapore Jewish Free Loan Association, Los Angeles CA Rabobank NYC Commerzbank, New York, NY Commerzbank 2, World Financial Center, New York, NY National Television 7, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY Skowhegan School, Skowhegan, Maine Collection of Minister of Agriculture Datuk Effendi & Datin Norwawi Collection of the Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamed of Malaysia Jim & Debbie Ellickson -Brown, Cultural Attache, American Embassy, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia (1996) Rohana Tan Sri Mahamad, Kuala Lumpur, MY Suherwan Abu, Kuala Lumpur, MY & Singapore Valentine Willie, Kuala Lumpur, MY Aloysious Goh, Singapore Betsey Swan & Chris Calder, Albuquerque NM Carrie Chen & Stanley Cohen Center Hill, Copake, NY Albert & Linda Eskenazi, Montreal, CA Barbel & Peter Starz, Toulouse, FR Clarissa & Jean Kueller, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Mr. & Mrs. Andre Keller, K L, MY & Geneva, Switzerland Shirley Greitzer, Esq. Washington DC Mark Meltzer, Los Angeles & Palm Springs, CA Joel & Fran Soroka, Aspen, Colorado Estate of Hella and Carl Ossenberg, NYC & Palm Beach, FL Estate of Gabriel Laderman, New York, NY Stephen Westfall, New York, NY Dr & Mrs Joseph Delisi, Lake Hopatcong, NJ Dr & Mrs Chris Calder & Besty Swan, Menands, NY Carol & Joachim Frank, NY, NY Mark Pettygrove, Los Angeles, CA George A Schulman, Los Angeles, CA Gerald De Silva, Los Angeles, CA Caryl Horn, Port Richmond, CA Joe & Cathy Plumber, Cold Spring, NY Molly Doland, Esq. Washington DC Bethany Beardslee Winham, Rhinebeck, NY David Fox & Associates, Inc. Briarcliff Manor, NY Eric & Carolyn Egas, Greenviille, NY & Vieques, PR Jin Zeng, New York, NY Selected Solo Exhibitions 2017 “Worldline Schreiber Paintings, plus...," Garvey/Simon Gallery 547 W 27th St, New York, NY 2016 "The Presence of the Invisible Proposition," Koussevitsky Art Gallery, Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA 2012 "Andalusian Shards," The Wall Street Journal Bldg Lobby, New York, NY 2012 "The Plaid Paintings...

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