Berkshire artist Bart Elsbach is one of America’s premiere landscapists. Influenced by the Hudson River School and Dutch Golden Age painting, Elsbach’s beautifully lit works innovate on the Dutch Masters’ romantic Italianate landscape – revealing New England locales in new light. Born in 1961 and raised in Manhattan, Elsbach graduated from The Dalton School and went on to earn his Bachelors degree from Hamilton College. After attending the Art Students’ League of NY, he completed his MFA at New York University. Over the years Elsbach has shown in solo and group exhibitions nationally, and frequently in New England galleries. He also teaches, both through private instruction and at institutions such as the Berkshire School in Sheffield MA and at The Interlaken School of Art in Stockbridge.

Artist Statement:

"Although we seem desperate to distinguish ourselves from nature and hold ourselves removed, we cannot escape the deeper reality that we are a product of nature and tied to her inextricably. The river, as both a physical realty and powerful metaphor, is a limitless source of inspiration and solace. Despite our disrespect and disregard for her, she flows on patiently and powerfully."

-Bart Elsbach

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

1997: Solo Exhibition Wheatleigh, Lenox, MA

1995: Solo Exhibition Canyon Ranch, Lenox, MA

1994: Solo Exhibition Chaiwalla, Sharon, CT

Solo Exhibition Cove Castles, Anguilla, BWI

1993: Solo Exhibition The Carnegie Library, Clarksdale, MS

1991: Solo Exhibition Berkshire Medical Plaza, Great Barrington, MA

1988: Solo Exhibition The Barney Building, New York, NY

Solo Exhibition New York Society of Trading Analysts

Juried Shows:

Springfield Art League 1989, 1988

Sheffield Art League 1999 (Juror), 1992 (Award for Oil Painting), 1990, 1989, 1988

Pittsfield Art League 1988

Kent Art League 1993 (Juror), 1992 (Best in Show, Graphics), 1989, 1988

Commissions:

1996: Interlaken School of Arts

Sheffield Land Trust

Fellowships:

2002: Malilangwe Artists Trust, Zimbabwe

2001: World Views, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

Assistantships:

1987, 1986: Lamar Briggs, New York, NY

1987, 1986: Lisa Mackie, New York, NY

1987: Joseph Scorcello, New York, NY

1986: Idelle Weber, New York NY

Since moving from New York to Alford, Massachusetts in 1969, Filmus has continued to paint the enchanted Berkshire landscape. Working in pastels and oils, his drawings and paintings have captured the quiet beauty of these western hills. Filmus studied at the Art Students League in New York and in an apprenticeship with his father, the artist Tully Filmus. His work is in numerous private and public collections including: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Berkshire Museum, The Butler Institute of American Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He has been represented in New York by Hirschl & Adler Galleries and by David Findlay Jr Fine Art. Filmus lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Arden Gallery Ltd., Boston, MA

Atrium Gallery, Simon’s Rock College, Great Barrington, MA

Becket Arts Center, Becket, MA

Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA

David Findlay JR Fine Art, New York, NY

Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

Harbor Gallery, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY

Sanford Smith Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA

Welles Gallery, Lenox, MA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Art in the Embassies, American Embassy, Rabat, Monaco

Audubon Artists, New York, NY

Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA

David Findlay JR, New York, NY

Graham Gallery, New York, NY

Lauren Clark Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA

Minnesota Museum of Art, MI

Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY

Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

Scott Bundy Galleries, Kennebunkport, ME

White Gallery, Lakeville, CT

“Making artwork is the closest I’ve come to having my life make any sense at all. It’s both indulgent and essential. It’s about balancing freedom and discipline, gut and brain, in order to explore this temporary existence, to consider the sensuality of nature and my personal connection to it.”

Ann Getsinger is known for her oil paintings and drawings. Born on Oct. 22, 1956, Ann grew up in Watertown, Connecticut. As the youngest of five in a creative household, her earliest memories are of making artwork. She spent time at the dairy farm next door, at a nearby horse farm, and in the surrounding woods and fields where connections to nature influenced her powerfully.

After studying at Paier School of Art in New Haven, CT, and the San Francisco Art Institute, she settled permanently in western Massachusetts where she studied with realist artist Sheldon Fink.
The Artist’s home and studio, since 1988, is in the rural Berkshire town of New Marlborough, Massachusetts. She also works regularly in the mid-coast area of Maine.

Ann’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries and hangs in hundreds of homes.

STUDIED
1980 Artist, Sheldon Fink, Alford, MA 
1979 The San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
1975, 1976 Paier School of Art, New Haven, CT 

AWARDS and GRANTS
2010 First Prize, Landscape. Art in the Fields. HVAL/ Egremont Land Trust Exhibit. Sheffield, MA
2008 Award. Artist Designed Gates.  The Norman Rockwell Museum. Stockbridge, MA
2004 Honorable Mention. Housatonic River Summer.  The Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
1998 The Artist’s Resource Trust Grant. The Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Great Barrington, MA
1995 Award of Distinction. The American Academy of Equine Artists, Lexington, KY 

SELECTED EXHIBITS
2010   Woodland Style.  Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
2009 Farm.  Gallery at Stonover Farm, Lenox, MA
2008 The Collective Perspective.   Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, Maine
2006 Play.   Gallery at Stonover Farm, Lenox, MA 
2006   Small Work.   Art 101Brooklyn, NY 
2005 Windblown.   The Norman Rockwell Museum, Glendale, MA 
2004 Art and the River.   Geoff Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA 
2004   Housatonic River Summer.   The Norman Rockwell Museum, Glendale, MA 
2003   Art as Activism.  The Meetinghouse Gallery, New Marlborough, MA 
2003 Bugged.   Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY 
2003   Prime Time Miniatures.   The Tremaine Gallery, Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT 
2002 Botanical.    Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY 
2002   Maine/ Maritime International Flatworks. Reed Art Gallery, University of Maine, Presque Isle, ME(catalogue) Curated by Suzette McAvoy.
2001   18th Annual Exhibit.   Maplebrook School,  Amenia, NY    
2000 Landscapes and Still Life.   Carrie Haddad Gallery,  Hudson, NY 
1999 Berkshire Artists.   Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY    
1997 Artist’s Self Portraits.   Front Street Gallery, Housatonic, MA  
1997 Berkshire Artists: Recent Works.    Koussevitzky Arts Center, Pittsfield, MA  
1997 Recent Still Life.    Berkshire Art Gallery, Great Barrington, MA 
1996 Twenty-One New England Artists.   The Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA  
1996 Still Life Painters.    The Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA 
1996 Wet Paint.    The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA 
1995. 2000, 2002 Artists View Nature.  The Academy, Salisbury, CT 
1993 River Images.  Stockbridge, MA.

1979 Invitational Exhibit. Intersection Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

 
 
SOLO EXHIBITS
2014 Boat Bed   Koussevitzky Art Gallery, Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA., Gallery Talk.
2013 Ann Getsinger, New Work   Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME.
2012 Panoptica and The San Francisco Calendar.  Jackson-Hillman Gallery,  Simons Rock at Bard College. Gallery Talk.
2011 The Pedestal Series.   Lauren Clark Fine Art,  Housatonic, MA.
2011 Sky Slice.  Infinity Gallery at Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT.  
2009 Panoptica.  The Norfolk Library,  Norfolk, CT. Gallery Talk.
2008 Art 101, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
2007 Gallery On The Green,  Pawling, NY.
2006 Fifty New Works.  Open Studio-  New Marlborough, MA.    
2004 Recent Work.  Becket Art Center,  Becket, MA.    
2004 Between Fact and Fiction.   The Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT.    
2003 Open Studio.  New Marlborough, MA.    
2001 Blue Glove, Conductor Fox.    The Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT.    
2001 Clear Sightings.  Tokonoma Gallery   Housatonic, MA.    
1999 Earth, Sky, Water.    Berkshire Art Gallery   Great Barrington, MA.    
1998 Oh, That the Moon Doth Glow.    Tokonoma Gallery,  Housatonic, MA. 
1997 Atrium Gallery. Simon’s Rock College, Great Barrington, MA. 
1997 Carrie Haddad Gallery,   Hudson, NY. 
1994 The Gallery at Gedney Farm, New Marlborough, MA. 
1993 The Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY. 

EXHIBITED
Frost Gulley Gallery, Freeport, Maine

Wiscasset Bay Gallery, Wiscasset, Maine
Camilla Richman Fine Arts, Osterville, MA
Art 101, Brooklyn, NY
Lauren Clark Gallery, Housatonic, MA
Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, Maine.
Gallery at Stonover Farm,  Lenox, MA
Gallery at Four India Street,  Nantucket, MA     
The Millbrook Gallery,  Millbrook, NY
Store Hill Gallery,  South Egremont, MA
Cavalier Gallery,  Greenwich, CT
Hoorn-Ashby Gallery,  New York City and Nantucket, MA
Berkshire Art Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Carrie Haddad Gallery,  Hudson, NY
The Charlestown Gallery,  Charlestown, RI
Tokonoma Gallery,  Housatonic, MA
Ridge House Gallery, Lubec, Maine.

FILM
2010 Panoptica by Larry Burke. (12 minutes).  Can be seen on Youtube, Vimeo, or at the artists' website.

IN PRINT
Cover art for Our Berkshire Times. October 2014
“The Canvas” Feature article and full page repro. Maine Home and Design, Aug. 2014.
Book Cover. Woodland Style by Marlene Marshall 2010.
CD Cover and Interior. Ellis- Right On Time.  2010
CD Inside Cover. Ellis- Break The Spell. 2008
CD Cover. Ellis- Undefended Heart.  2008
Color reproductions. Food in Art.  The Country and AbroadMarch 2007
Cover Art.  The Country and Abroad, Sept. 2007
Color reproduction. Pomegranate Roads by Dr. Gregor Moiseyevich Levin.  2006 Floreant Press
Color reproduction.  Artist’s Resource Trust- the First Ten Years.  2005 Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
Cover photo and article.  The Women’s Times   July 2004
Color reproductions and article. The Paintings of Ann Getsinger. The Country and Abroad   Nov. 2000
Earth, Sky, Water- Art of Ann Getsinger.  The Artful Mind   Oct. 1999. Reproductions and feature article.

Art and the River- Views and Visions of the Housatonic.  2004 Housatonic Valley Art League. Color reproduction.
Shell Chic by Marlene Hurley Marshall.  2002 Storey Books. Color reproductions.

Clear, Classic.  The Paper, Sept.1998. Reproductions and article.

“I think of my paintings; which are situated between abstraction and recognizable form, as explorations in beauty and the spiritual presence found in nature.”

"I live along the banks of the Housatonic River, an ever-changing yet gentle force of nature. From my windows, I can see how the swift-moving water catches the colors of the sunrise, the afterglow of early evening, and the silver-gold shimmer of the moonlight. Each day on the river is different from the last, and like the unexpected turns of life itself, the coursing waters always bring fascinating and sometimes breathtaking experiences into view: The migration of birds traveling over this liquid highway; the arcing fish that break up the ice in early spring, when thousands of shards flow down the river in lily-like clusters. This life force, a gift from nature, deserves to be restored and protected for all time and shared with the generations to come.

The paintings I made for this exhibition celebrate the magical play of light on the waters of the Housatonic, this river that I love.”

Berkshire-based artist, Mary Sipp Green has been living as a painter for most of her adult life.  She began drawing and painting as a child at her father’s studio in Manhattan. She went on to earn a degree at FIT where she studied apparel design before moving to the Berkshires with her family in the 1970's. Here, inspired by the local landscape, she returned to her love of painting. Sipp Green’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in both galleries and museums throughout the United States. She is represented by the Findlay Galleries in New York City, NY  and Palm Beach FL. ,The Granary Gallery in Martha's Vineyard and ,locally, at the Greylock Gallery in Williamstown, MA. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of various museums in America. A monograph titled 'Every Hour of The Light , The Paintings of Mary Sipp Green was published by The Artist Book Foundation and is available for purchase online.

**All images and work herein © Mary Sipp-Green. No reproduction or use in any form without express written permission from the artist. All rights reserved.

Selected Public Exhibitions:

2014: “Recent Acquisitions: Butler Pastel Collection” , Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

2005: “Re-Presenting Representation” , Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY

“Mary Sipp-Green, Selected Works (1990-2004)” , Solo Exhibition, Springfield Museum of Fine Art, Springfield, MA

“The Power of Place: The Berkshires” , Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA

2004: “Housatonic River Reflections” , Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA

1994: 169th Annual Museum Juried Exhibition, National Academy Museum, New York City, NY

1992: 167th Annual Museum Juried Exhibition, Received the Adolph and Clara Obrig Prize, National Academy Museum, New York City, NY

1990: 165th Annual Museum Juried Exhibition, National Academy Museum, New York City, NY

Northampton-based painter Scott Prior has lived as a working artist in the area since 1971, the year of his graduation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BFA in printmaking. A founding member of a small cohort of painters known as the “Valley Realists,” Prior is a Contemporary Realist who paints “contemporary Americana” (Ann Wilson Lloyd, Art in America, July 2002) with a style and finesse informed by his admiration for the Flemish and Dutch Masters. One of the many remarkable facets of the artist’s work is the way in which, in the spirit of Luminist influence, Prior casts the emotional tones of each of his scenes with beautiful variations on light. His paintings are not simply reproductions of what he views, but rather each is a vision – a landscape of sentiment with intricate details that beckon contemplation. Scott Prior has shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad. His artwork hangs in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the DeCordova Museum, the Danforth Museum, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Rose Art Museum, and other major public and private collections.

Artist Statement:  

“In New England we live in a world of changing seasons, which, I think, invites an almost sensual awareness of time and its effects. The New England landscape is small and intimate and directs our attention to things close at hand…I learned about making art by studying these things and capturing their surfaces, but always with an awareness that there was something hidden underneath. Although I have never been much of a celebrant of the unconscious I am grateful for the Surrealists’ reminder of the disconnect between objects and their meaning… I have always been fairly comfortable with the isolation and solitude of being an artist. At times I have been described as being detached, but with a sense of humor, of the mordant sort. Like a scientist, I have been an observer, striving to understand things. For many years my paintings were of unpeopled landscapes, tourist places off-season, empty rooms, and discordant still life subject matter. It wasn’t until I saw a lot of Edward Hopper’s paintings in one place that I recognized the significance and emotional power of light. That was thirty years ago, and I am still fascinated by the varied and countless effects of light on the tangible world of my experience.”

Education:

BFA University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

SELECTED COLLECTIONS:

American Express, New York, New York

Berkshire Art Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Boston Public Library

W.C. Bradley Co., Columbus, Georgia

Comptroller of the Currency, Washington, D.C.

Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, Massachusetts

DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts

Fidelity Investments, Boston, Massachusetts

Gardner, Carton and Douglas, Chicago, Illinois

Graham Gund, Cambridge, Massachusetts

IBM, New York, New York

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut

New England Life, Boston, Massachusetts

On Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Ropes & Gray, Boston, Massachusetts

Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts

St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York

Texaco, White Planes, New York

Wellington Management, Boston, Massachusetts

Ruth and John D. West Collection, The Rahr-West Art Musuem, Manitowic, Wisconsin

William Brinks Old Hofer Gilson & Loine, Chicago, Illinois

Berkshire-based artist Jim Schantz has been painting the Western Mass landscape since he moved to the area in 1982. Schantz is best known for his staggering land, sea, and skyscapes that frame and share emotion as well as outdoor scenes. His work confronts the viewer with the sublimity of nature. Sometimes subtle and tranquil, sometimes tempestuous, Schantz’s paintings ponder through the depths of human feeling, each eliciting an immediate, almost primal reaction. Although influenced by a Romanticist appreciation for the greatness of nature, and a hint of Fauvist color-boldness, Schantz’s art never capitulates to gloom or agitation. Portraying mood with variations in light, he renders strong emotion, concealing and revealing in turn through careful layers of oil paint, through the coloration of each cloud and the twist of each rivulet. Schantz’s work imparts his vision, instilling in any observer the admiration and reverence for nature that he so tangibly experiences.

Schantz studied at the Hornsey School of Art at the Middlesex Polytechnic Institute in London and Syracuse University in New York, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in painting (1977). After attending the Brooklyn Museum School and then the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Schantz went on to attain his Masters of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of California – Davis (1981). He has exhibited internationally and throughout the United States. His works can be found in many public collections, including the Berkshire Museum, Center for Spiritual Life at Emerson College, Lowe Art Museum, Syracuse University, the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts, Nelson Museum, U.C. Davis, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Skidmore College, Simon’s Rock of Bard College, and University of Massachusetts. Schantz’s paintings have been featured in exhibitions at the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, the Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, the Albany Institute of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum and the Berkshire Museum.

EDUCATION:

1981 Master of Fine Arts, University of California, Davis, CA

1980 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, MA

1978 Brooklyn Museum School, Brooklyn, NY

1977 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

1975 Hornsey School of Art, Middlesex Polytechnic Institute, London, England  

SELECTED PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS

Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY

Arno Maris Gallery, Westfield State College, Westfield, MA

Atrium Gallery, Simon’s Rock of Bard College, Great Barrington, MA

Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA

Binney Art Gallery, Wilbraham and Monson Academy, Wilbraham, MA

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

California State College, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA

Fairbanks Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

Fuller Museum, Brockton, MA

Ghetto Museum Terezin, Terezin, Czech Republic

Gorman Museum, University of California, Davis, CA

Hayward Arts Center, Hayward, CA

Heritage State Park Museum, Holyoke, MA

Leighton Studios, Banff Art Centre, Banff Alberta,

Canada Lowe Art Museum, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

Memorial Union Gallery, University of California, Davis, CA

Normal Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA

Pucker Gallery, Boston, MA

Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY

South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA

Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA

Teikyo Post University, Waterbury, CT

The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA

The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA 

University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, WI

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA