The Grenning Gallery recently unveiled the Four Corners of Realism, its most recent group exhibition highlighting the latest works of Anthony Mastromatteo, Viktor Butko, Carl, Bretzke and Sarah Lamb. This exhibition will open on Saturday, September 28, with a public reception from 5-6:30PM. All are invited to attend and meet three of the four exhibiting artists.
Two artists in this exhibition hail from Water Street Atelier, a classical painting academy in New York City founded by Jacob Collins in the late 1990s. Sarah Lamb (born in 1972 in Virginia) mastered her training and has become nationally known for her striking still lives, which capture an object’s luscious texture with intricate detail, and as queen of her canvases, Lamb’s work exudes elegance. Her colors are natural, and her compositions appear somewhat traditional, yet entirely fresh.
More than two decades ago, Anthony Mastromatteo (born in 1970 in Ohio) studied alongside Lamb at Water Street Atelier. Although he received the same training under Collins, Mastromatteo has taken his paintings to an entirely different realm. His work is technically refined and beautifully composed, yet suffused with a deep knowledge of art history and philosophy. His paintings are not the typical structure for a realist painter; in contrast, they consist of bright colors, utilitarian props like masking tape and usually an element of pop culture.
Viktor Butko (born in 1978 in Moscow) received his training first from his classically trained mother and grandfather, and then formally at Moscow’s Academic Art Lyceum at the Russian Academy of Arts. In Butko’s training, he learned to paint strictly from direct observation. He applies his knowledge of value and color to compositions of the world around him. Butko spends lots of time each year on Shelter Island, painting views at their golden hours.
Carl Bretzke (born in 1954 in Minnesota) has been honing his craft as a painter for decades, without a degree from a classical atelier. Instead, Bretzke earned his skills while receiving training from Plein Air Painters of America’s signature artist, Joseph Paquet. Bretzke has won awards for his esteemed abilities as a plein air painter, but occasionally, Bretzke will take his work back to his studio. Swimming against academic traditions, Bretzke sometimes works from a photograph, which is fitting due to the cinematic quality of his compositions. grenninggallery.com