New York, NY - Robert Simon Fine Art and Grand Central Atelier present an exhibition of contemporary paintings and drawings alongside old masters works, revealing the unbroken line of fine art into the 21st Century.Art historian and art dealer Robert Simon will curate a selection of Old Master paintings and drawings paired with new works by New York-based painters, Jacob Collins, Colleen Barry, Anthony Baus, Will St. John, Edward Minoff and Justin Wood, who are all principle instructors at Grand Central Atelier, one of the world’s premier ateliers training artists in the classical tradition of drawing, painting and sculpture.
Included are select works by recent graduates Rachel Li, Savannah Tate Cuff and Dale Zinkowski. These 21st Century atelier artists are carefully attuned to the idea that in order to evince this language with roots in the ancient world, one must first be a humble observer of nature and bear witness to its nuance and sensitivity. When fully realized through years of serious commitment to study, this language possesses great power to communicate the human condition with limitless beauty and endless variation.
Robert B. Simon is an art historian and art dealer in New York, specializing in Renaissance and Baroque paintings. He received his doctorate at Columbia University with a dissertation on the portraits of Bronzino. He has published and lectured widely on both art-historical matters and on broader concerns relating to the authenticity, valuation, conservation, and commercial trade of works of art. As a dealer he has been responsible for several discoveries, including important paintings by Guido Reni, Parmigianino, and, most recently, the Salvator Mundi of Leonardo da Vinci. Significant paintings, drawings, and sculpture from his gallery are to be found in major American museums, as well as in private collections worldwide. From time to time he has tried to paint.
Jacob Collins is a native New Yorker who received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College who went on to study at the New York Academy of Art, École Albert Defois, and the Art Students League. He is the Founder and Artistic-Director of the Grand Central Atelier in New York and is an extraordinarily respected artist, teacher and role model in the field of contemporary realism. Combining a technique reminiscent of the nineteen-century American realists with a freshness of vision, Collins’ work forms that rarest of unions where classic beauty and striking originality meet as harmonious equals.
