Artist Profile: Abram Arkhipov

Abram Arkhipov was a Russian artist trained at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under Vasily Perov, Aleksey Savrasov, Vladimir Makovsky and Vasily Polenov. He joined the WANDERERS (Peredvizhniki) in 1889 and the Union of Russian Artists in 1903. While indebted to the realist painting of Perov, Arkhipov also gave particular attention to effects of light, rhythm and texture, even in his most didactic canvases, such as Washerwomen (late 1890s; two versions Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal. and St Petersburg, Rus. Mus.).



Arkhipov found a rich and diverse source of inspiration in the Russian countryside and the peasantry; he painted peasants at work, the melting of the snow, the local church and priest, the villages of the far north and the White Sea. Works such as The Lay Brother (1891) and Northern Village (1903; both Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal.) are evidence of Arkhipov’s important position in the history of late 19th-century Russian landscape painting. His concentration on plein-air painting was shared to a considerable extent by other representatives of the Union of Russian Artists such as Baksheyev, Leonard Turzhansky (1875–1945) and Sergey Vinogradov (1869–1938).



See more paintings by Abram Arkhipov at A World History of Art.

Thanks to Max Turner for this information.

Artist Profile: Felicia Forte

Felicia Forte was born in Los Angeles, California. She has lived in Florence, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco. Her influences include Sargent, Vermeer, Duveneck and Whistler. Her mode, primarily, is the portrait. She says of her work:



"When I see a portrait, I feel a connection with the subject—there is a thread that runs through time and class. And the tired old man, or the grand lady who I am allowed to stand and gaze at for as long as I'd like, are part of what we are all living today, and what others will be living some day. To be beautiful, destroyed, triumphant or simply at peace. This is what life is. When I can assist in the capturing of these moments; these truths, I feel my strongest creativity. For an instant or for a day I hold fast to that connecting thread as I paint, and thereafter each painting adds to the tapestry that is art and history."



Visit Felicia Forte's website.

Artist Profile: Max Turner

For many years I have had the privilege of calling Max Turner my friend. He is the most skilled artist I have ever known, and continues to inspire -- and awe -- his students and fellow artists alike. You may not have heard of Max, for he is a humble and unassuming fellow. But local artists know who he is. Max is the sculptor's sculptor, whose breadth and quality of work would astound you. He's the consummate draftsman, whose head and figure drawings rival those of the renaissance masters. He's the gifted painter, whose bravura style is startling and magnificent. Max is, quite simply, a master.

Growing up during the depression in the small mining town of Bingham Canyon, Utah, with no culture to speak of, somehow Max's interest in art was kindled and the creative seed was planted. It took sixty years to take root, for during the interim he was a soldier in World War II, a printer, a machinist, twice a husband, and a dedicated and conscientious foundry worker. Later he had the good fortune to meet a fine artist named Hal Reed, who encouraged him to pursue painting. Since then art has been his passion.

Over the years there have been many artists whom Max has admired, but a few that stand out in his mind are Frank Brangwyn, Sergei Bongart, Mariano Fortuny, Abram Arkhipov, Nicolai Fechin, Antonio Mancini, and the sculptor Stanislav Szukalski. Among present day artists Max appreciates the work of Richard Schmid, Dan McCaw, Peter Liashkov, and Jeremy Lipking.

Max's taste in music varies, but he enjoys listening to the Big Bands, Ellington, Billie Holiday, Gershwin, and Ray Charles, among so many others. For entertainment he enjoys watching football and Nascar on TV, and attending the Saturday workshop at the California Art Institute in Thousand Oaks, California.

Max has published two wonderful books, both of which are available on his website: Faces, a gallery of his amazing head drawings, and Figures and Faces, a marvelous compilation of some of Max's incredible figure and head drawings, plus a generous sampling of some of his sculpture and paintings.

Both books are reasonably priced and highly recommended.

Visit Max Turner's website

Artist Profile: Ed Terpening

Painting diverse landscapes “en plein air” (in one sitting, on location) is Ed Terpening's passion. California’s hills scattered with oak trees, bay marshes, and of course our beautiful coastline provide him with constant inspiration. He applies his contemporary California Impressionist skills both outdoors and in the studio for larger works.



Terpening seeks to capture the essence of a location and time by painting the movement, rhythm and color harmonies unique to that day. To his eye, the disparate elements in the landscape (land, sea, and sky) have an interchange and relationship that is fascinating and inspirational. Each effects the other and work in harmony. That’s why he’ll often paint the same location again during the year several times. As the seasonal fauna come and go, and the weather changes, the color harmonies are endless! Terpening's early music training and career established his perception of “visual rhythm,” which he strives to represent in every painting. It’s the interesting interchange between all elements of the landscape that create these rhythms and provide the perception of movement in what otherwise might be considered a photographic still.



As a collector of early California art, Terpening follows the traditions set by the innovators such as Edgar Payne, Colin Campbell Cooper, Seldon Gile, Tom Tompson and in particular the seascapes of Franz Bischoff, Paul Dougherty, Joseph Kleitsch, Armin Hansen, John O’Shea and Alfred Mitchell. He is grateful to these men and women for the inspirational legacy they’ve created. He also admires contempory plein air artists, such as Edward Seago, Fred Cuming, Ken Auster, Joseph Mendez, Ovanes Berberian, Don Stone, Ted Goerschner and Camille Przewodek.

Visit Ed Terpening's website.