Heather James Fine Art is pleased to present Inspired, a special exhibition celebrating the female figure in art featuring works by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, RETNA, Joseph Kleitsch, Lawrence Schiller, Guy Rose, and Hippolyte Petitjean among many others. For more information, please contact Jim Carona at [email protected].

Highlights of the exhibition include an exquisite painting by Joseph Klietsch (1882-1931). Miss Ketchum is one of Kleitsch’s most elegant portraits, and perhaps his finest. It depicts an attractive, but not overtly beautiful, young woman confidently looking out at the viewer. Understated, yet smartly dressed, in a black jacket and beige blouse that is cinched at the waist with a red sash, Miss Ketchum is thoroughly modern. Not the typically passive female sitter; her slender hand is assertively placed on her hip as she sits slightly slouched in her chair. Set in a darkened room, the woman is dramatically lit from sunlight filtering through the richly textured window covering behind her. The figure of the woman is carefully rendered with controlled brushwork, while the patterned curtain reveals the influence of Impressionism.

Also on view is a fine painting by Guy Rose (1867-1925). Sunshine and Firelight represents one of the most sought after of all Early California subjects — a figurative work by the French-trained, California Impressionist Guy Rose. The painting depicts a nude, female model from behind, slightly bent towards the warmth of a glowing hearth. Though the composition is simple, Rose adds another layer of visual interest with the criss-crossing shadows, perhaps from the lattice-work of a nearby window, that blanket the scene. The vivid green tones of the interior wall provide a bold contrast to the otherwise warm palette; the soft reds and pinks of the woman’s skin call to mind the radiant flesh tones of Renoir.