François Barbâtre

“Petite pharmacie” © François Barbâtre

Name: François Barbâtre

URL: http://www.barbatre.com/introduction

Bio:  François Barbâtre claims to have been born at the age of nine. That was when he discovered, in school, that the leaf of a plane tree might be painted to resemble the real thing. From then he never looked back. At high school he became disenchanted with his art teacher, to the extent that he declined to enrol in the Paris Ecole des Beaux-Arts. It was necessary to look elsewhere for an authentic education in painting. A brief excursion to Italy lasted long enough to discover Cimabue in Florence, and the mosaics of Ravenna and Venice. Approaching thirty, he found himself a master in the person of Robert Tatin, with whom he studied Seurat, among others. In Paris, rue Rambuteau, the famous Roché pastels converted him to that medium, and he met there a kindred spirit, Sam Szafran. At the 1977 Paris Festival d'Automne he showed his paintings and acquired a dealer. His apprenticeship was over, from now on he had only his art to rely on.

Barbâtre has exhibited in France, Belgium, Austria, Germany and Brazil; his most recent exhibition was a retrospective in Galerie Jacques Elbaz, Paris. His studio is in Montmarte.

Medium: Pastel

Subjects: Still life; figurative.

Style: Pared back, minimalist. His eureka moment was seeing Cézanne watercolours at the impressionable age of sixteen.

Navigation: This website is in French. Navigation is from the top and always available.

Gallery: Oeuvre: Récentes; Aperçu.

Image View:  Thumbnails provide some information on title and dimension on mouseover. They enlarge in a  pop-up and may be scrolled and saved. Petite pharmacie is 24 x 33 cm, 1656 x 1201, 579 KB.

Blog/Demo: No

Francisco Giral

“Picadors” © Francisco Giral

Name: Francisco Giral

URL: http://www.franciscogiral.com/

Bio:  Spanish artist Francisco Giral was born in Fraga, Huesca, in 1948. He has specialised in portraiture and in painting animals, with a strong bias for horses. He works from his own photographs taken in stud farms, horse shows and polo matches.

His works are in private collections in Germany, France, UK, Portugal and Spain.

One of his exhibitions was held in the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona in 2001. To coincide with the 100th anniversary of horse racing in Zaragoza, Francisco was invited to exhibit at the Club Double F during the showjumping competitions held during the Pilar fiesta in 2002. He has also exhibited at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in 2004.

Medium: Pastel; oil; graphite; sanguine.

Subjects: Portraits; bullfighting; horses

Style: Representational.

Navigation: This website is in Spanish. Navigation is easy throughout; main menu remains available at side.

Gallery: Oleos (oils); Pastel; Grafito (drawings); Grafito Sanguina (sanguine drawings); Venta de Laminas (Prints for sale).

Image View:  Scrolling thumbnails enlarge and play in a Flash slideshow; you can choose which to view, and pause and reverse the slideshow but you may not download them.  Dimension and title are not provided.

Blog/Demo: No

YouTube: There is a video of Giral’s oils posted to YouTube by Galeria del Cuadro.

Michel Jaillet

“Danse Flamenco” © Michel Jaillet

Name: Michel Jaillet

URL: http://www.monsitedepastel.fr/accueil/index.php

Bio:  Michel Jaillet was born in Dijon, France, in 1944. He had a Eureka moment at the age of thirty when his profession of designing and fitting integrated kitchens required him to learn drawing, perspective, form etc.  He began to paint in oils for some years until he had another conversion, to pastel. Its techniques, its ability to blend, its sensual, tactile nature soon had him won over until he tried it out in still life, animals, portraits, nudes, landscapes – the whole gamut of artistic subject matter. Michel likes to work pastel both in fine, almost photographic detail, but also to exploit its ability to capture the fleeting moment.

Michel’s work is permanently on view in Vannes, Brittany, at L'atelier du cadre, 75 rue de Vincin and at Parfum d'art, 110 avenue de la Marne.
Medium: Pastel

Subjects: Just about everything. See Gallery!

Style: Representational.

Navigation: This website is in French. Navigation is easy throughout; main menu remains available at side.

Gallery: Animaux (animals); Divers (various); En mer (at sea); Flamenco; Fleurs (flowers); Le Golfe (the Gulf – of Morbihan, presumably); Musique; Nature Morte (still life); Paysages (landscape); Venise (Venice).

Image View:  Thumbnails enlarge in a Javascript viewer and may be scrolled but not saved.  Dimension and title are provided. Danse Flamenco is 80x 65 cm.

Blog/Demo: No

Lynn Goldstein

“Facing West – Steadfast ” © Lynn Goldstein

Name: Lynn Goldstein

URL: http://lynngoldstein.com

Bio:  Lynn Goldstein has been creating art professionally for nearly thirty years. After seventeen years as a graphic designer and illustrator Lynn took the plunge in 1998 to becoming a full-time fine artist work in pastel and other mixed-media. Early in her career as a graphic designer, a weekend job in a Japanese print gallery introduced her to prints and Japanese formats, which has had some bearing on her subsequent work.

Lynn graduated with a degree in Fine Art from West Virginia University, and later studied with some of the finest contemporary artists in the United States. She has earned signature membership in the Maryland Pastel Society and membership in the Pastel Society of America. She is also a juried studio artist at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia.

Lynn has taught many workshops in the mid-Atlantic region, and also workshop classes at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, where she also has volunteered her time as a docent, guiding tours of the gallery for many years. This experience has allowed Lynn to study, understand, and pass on the best of America’s art masterpieces.

Lynn has exhibited widely in nationally juried exhibitions and galleries, and her work may be found in private and public collections throughout the United States and abroad. One of her paintings is in the permanent collection in the Jean-Haffen Museum, Dinan, France, where she did an artist residency in 2011.

Her work is represented at the Washington Street Gallery in Lewisburg, West Virginia, and has been exhibited at Koehnline Museum of Art in Des Plaines, Illinois, Eleven Pleasant Street Gallery in Kennebunk, Maine, and at the Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago, among other locations. Additionally, her work, in particular her Reaching series on tree canopies, was profiled in the August 2009 issue of the Pastel Journal.

Medium: Pastel

Subjects: Landscape

Style: Representational.

Navigation: Main menu always available top of page. Sub-menus nested under Portfolios and Information

Gallery: Landscapes; Inspired by Iceland; Abstracts; Sold Work.

Image View:  Thumbnails enlarge in a Javascript viewer and may be scrolled but not saved.  Dimension and title are provided. Facing West – Steadfast is 24 x 36 ins

Blog: http://lynngoldsteinfineart.blogspot.com

Facebook: Yes

Arlene Richman

“Sitting Pretty” © Arlene Richman

Name: Arlene Richman, PSA

URL: http://www.richmanpastels.com

Bio:  ​Arlene Richman is a native New Yorker. Her education was focused on both practical art and art history, first at City College of New York, then the Fashion Institute of Technology, and finally at Tufts University, where Arlene received a Master of Arts degree. Arlene also studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Maine; and has taken workshops with various pastel masters, including Frank Federico and Albert Handell.

She is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and of the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod, as well as a member of the Salmagundi Club of New York.

A regular exhibitor in juried shows, including the annual Pastel Society (British Federation of Artists) show, at the Mall Galleries, London, 2004​, Arlene has been Prizewinner in the Pastel 100 for Abstracts, 2005 and 2012.; and most recently (2013) she won First Place – Pastels and the People's Choice Award, Cape Cod Art Association exhibition.

Medium: Pastel

Subjects: Landscape; Abstract.

Style: Arlene claims her main influences come from Post Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, and Lyrical Expressionism.

Navigation: This is a clean, uncluttered website. Main menu always available top of page.

Gallery: Abstracts; Landscapes; Chairs.

Image View:  Thumbnails enlarge in a viewer and may be scrolled. Dimension and title are visible on mouseover of thumbnails. Download is not possible. Sitting Pretty is 21 x 26 ins.

Blog/Demo: No