New Pastels: Trees in Shadow, Winter and Yellows in Full

Here are two pastels that I began in my last workshop with the Colorado Pastel Society. These are simple compositions really but I made a real effort to push the color and complexity to create vibrancy and interest.

Both will be exhibiting at the Lone Tree Arts Center, CO with my fellow 'Expand Artists.'
Here are the exhibit details:

Group Show with the Expand Artists: Lone Tree Arts Center, CO
Artist's Reception: Saturday, December 5, 5-7pm

Running Dialogue with the "To Expand" group of artists exhibiting together again: Victoria Eubanks, Janice McDonald, Carol Ann Waugh, Mary Williams and Ken Elliott.
10075 Commons Street, Lone Tree CO. 80124 map

TREES IN SHADOW, WINTER
Pastel on sanded paper, 14 1/2 X 14 1/8 inches     $850 unframed

YELLOWS IN FULL

Pastel on sanded paper, 14 5/8 X 14 5/8 inches     $850 unframed

Exhibit: Mirada Gallery Colorado, Saturday Nov. 28

It was a big crowd for the Annual Gallery Anniversary and Holiday Reception at Mirada Fine Art in the foothills just west of Denver. This is an amazing gallery in what was formerly a log cabin trading post. All of the gallery artists were exhibiting and you can see a number of my oils behind the patrons here. Note the log ceiling in the photo. The gallery owner, Steve Sonnen is in the center wearing glasses. 

Hope you will come out, meet Steve and see the show....

5490 Parmalee Gulch Rd, Indian Hills CO 80454. Just minutes from Denver map

New Work: Wood at the Lake II, oil on panel 24 x 24 / Two December exhibits

Wood at the Lake II

Oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches sold
Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT

Wood at the Lake

Pastel on sanded paper, 15 1/2 x 14 inches

Sold, private collection

Wood at the Lake is the pastel I did as a demo for the Pastel Society of Colorado and it turned out to be the study for the 24 x 24 oil on panel.  After I got the pastel home, I began the oil and almost finished it before bringing it to the Pastel Society Workshop the following weekend. The workshop was for oils and pastels, so I brought the unfinished oil along.

I got very close to the finish but kept making it too tight. It was illuminating to discuss and work on it wth the class, pointing out the problems and possible solutions.

Once the oil was in the studio I let it dry and with a very concentrated effort, I resolved the transition between the background and the left edge of the trees. I kept adding more complexity but not in an illustrative way. Both of these images are now available as limited edition giclee prints.

It is unusual for me to do an oil this small but it is part of a display for my upcoming exhibit in the Denver metro. I'll be in Houston for my one-man show on the same December 4 date.

Group Show with the Expand Artists: Lone Tree Arts Center, CO
Artist's Reception: Saturday, December 5, 5-7pm
Running Dialogue with the "To Expand" group of artists exhibiting together again: Victoria Eubanks, Janice McDonald, Carol Ann Waugh, Mary Williams and Ken Elliott.
10075 Commons Street, Lone Tree CO. 80124 map


One-Man Show: Arden's Gallery River Oaks, Houston
Artist's Reception, Saturday, December 5, 6-9pm
2143 Westheimer, Suite B, Houston, Texas 77098 map


A very large canvas of this image will be in the works soon.
My happy  thanks to the buyer of the pastel!

New Pastel, Wood at the Lake and Workshop, Denver Metro, Nov. 21-22, 2015

Wood at the Lake

Pastel on sanded paper, 15 1/2 x 14 inches
Sold, private collection


This is a pastel I did as a demo for the Pastel Society of Colorado. It was stimulating to work in front of a group of pastellists. Frankly, it came together slowly as I was discussing the process and digressing on other topics. But in the last few minutes, big moves were made and all came out well.

There are a few spaces left for my last 2015 workshop in the Denver Metro. The information follows below. I hope to see you there!

Ken

Sat - Sun, November 21-22
The Pastel Society of Colorado, sponsor
Workshop flyer and supply list

Location:
Lakewood Cultural Center
470 S Allison Parkway, Lakewood, CO 80226
Open to artists at all skill levels and media
An indoor, two-day workshop, 9-4 pm
Limited to 20 participants, $225 payable to the City of Lakewood.

Register online at http://www.Lakewood.org/Register
(keyword search Ken Elliott) or a much easier way by phone:
303-987-7845, workshop #379401-01

FYI: Interactive Art Auction Feature - Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

Here's an interactive quiz from the NY Times

Take the quiz here

It's always interesting to see what the current art auction markets are doing. Have fun with the interactive quiz. The questions follow below.

Ken

By DANIEL McDERMON Nov. 10, 2015

Via Christie’s

A painting by Amedeo Modigliani, “Nu Couché,” sold on Monday night for $170,405,000, placing it among the most expensive artworks ever purchased at auction. The sale, at Christie’s in New York, saw 34 works change hands for a total of $491 million, including fees. But auctions can be unpredictable. See how you match up below. RELATED ARTICLE

Which of these works of art sold for more at auction in New York in the last week?

PABLO PICASSO

“La Gommeuse,” 1901

OR

PABLO PICASSO

“Nu aux Jambes Croisées,” 1903

YAYOI KUSAMA

“Infinity Nets OPRT,” 2004

OR

DAMIEN HIRST

“Rhodanine,” 2008-11

HENRY MOORE

“Mother and Child With Apple,” Conceived in 1956 and cast during the artist's lifetime

OR

JEAN ARP

“Squelette D'Oiseau,” Conceived in 1947 and cast in 1968

MARK ROTHKO

“No. 6 / Sienna, Orange on Wine,” 1962

OR

MARK ROTHKO

“Untitled (Lavender and Green),” 1952

CLAES OLDENBURG AND COOSJE VAN BRUGGEN

“Leaning Fork With Meatball & Spaghetti III,” 1994

OR

MAURIZIO CATTELAN

“Frank and Jamie,” 2002

ROY LICHTENSTEIN

“Crying Girl,” 1964

OR

ROY LICHTENSTEIN

“Nurse,” 1964

HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC

“Au Lit: Le Baiser,” 1892

OR

LUCIAN FREUD

“Naked Portrait on a Red Sofa,” 1989-1991

Note: Listed sale prices include auction fees.


Image credits: Pablo Picasso, “La Gommeuse”: Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, via Sotheby’s; “Nu aux Jambes Croisées”: Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Yayoi Kusama: Yayoi Kusama; Damien Hirst: Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved / DACS, London / ARS, NY 2015; Henry Moore: Via Sotheby’s; Jean Arp: 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Mark Rothko, “No. 6 / Sienna, Orange on Wine” and “Untitled (Lavender and Green)”: 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen: 1994, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen; Maurizio Cattelan: Maurizio Cattelan; Roy Lichtenstein, “Crying Girl” and “Nurse”: Estate of Roy Lichtenstein; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec; Lucian Freud: Via Christie's


Produced by Jon Huang, Alicia DeSantis, Laura O’Neill, Cornelius Schmid

FYI: Who Are the Top 100 Most Collectible Living Artists?

A very interesting article from the Christie's Auction house and ArtNet News by Elieen Kinsella using auction data from ArtNet.

The art market is a Very Big Place.
Ken


Eileen Kinsella, Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Orange) (1994-2000). 
Photo Courtesy of Indechs.

With the help of the artnet Analytics team, we present the current list from the artnet Price Database, tracking four years' worth of sales data

Presented below are two two intersecting lists. The first presents the highest-selling individual lots for living artists, which contains a number of entries by Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Peter Doig, and Christopher Wool, to name just a few. (Yayoi Kusama is the only female artist to make the cut.)

Guatier Deblonde, portrait of Yayoi Kusama in her Tokyo studio in 2013. 
Photo: Courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery, New York, NY.

The second list shows the top 100 living artists based on the total value of secondary market sales from January 2011 through mid-October. It ranks artists by the total value of works sold and indicates the number of individual lots. The handful of female artists on this list include Kusama, Cindy Sherman, Julie Mehretu, Cady Noland, and Vija Celmins, among others.

This list also features a number of Chinese contemporary artists who have proved to be top earners in recent years, including Zeng Fanzhi, Cui Ruzhuo, Zhang Xiaogang, and Zhou Chunyu accounting for four, or roughly half, of the top ten.

Also notable is the ranking of Howard Terpning, a painter who is prized by Western art collectors. Terpning is known for creating realistic, highly detailed historic paintings depicting 19th-century Native American life. He ranks at number 91, with cumulative sales of over $22 million for just 83 works.

See the artists who made the list below.

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