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Artist of the Month: May 2018 – John Mulcahy & Alexander Schwartz

“The language of painting speaks for itself in a way that words cannot fully grasp.”

John Mulcahy was born in Wollaston, Massachusetts. John’s early inclination for drawing and making pictures caught the eyes of his grade school teachers, and at age eight his work began to be selected for exhibitions. He pursued picture making throughout his education, majoring in art and attending classes at the Museum School in Boston and Massachusetts College of Art. Formal studies continued at the Art Students League in New York City, where he studied under Hilary Holmes and Harvey Dinnerstein. In Litchfield, Connecticut, he worked closely with acclaimed landscape artist, Curtis Hanson. He has participated in local and national shows and has sold work privately and in galleries throughout New England and New York State. Currently a selection of small works are available at Helen Thomas, Simply Smashing. Many of his landscape oils are often painted entirely on the scene, in all seasons and in just about any type of weather. There is a distinct challenge to working this way. Constant variation in weather conditions and often wildly contrasting change of light can prove a trial for the ‘plein air’ painter. Still, he often employs this method of “direct observation,” choosing to work directly and at length with the best information possible. This encourages an understanding of the the essence of the scene he is attempting to translate onto the canvas. Scarcely anything is more important than this. In Mulcahy’s own words, “Direct observation develops the painting and, even more importantly, the painter.”

Education

– University of Massachusetts; BA – Boston, Massachusetts

– Massachusetts College of Art – Boston, Massachusetts

– The School of the Museum of Fine Arts – Boston Massachusetts

– Art Students League – New York, New York

Exhibitions/Galleries

South Shore Art Association – Cohasset, Massachusetts

Art Students League – New York, New York

Federal Reserve Bank – Boston, Massachusetts

Sundance Gallery – Bridgehampton, New York

The County Seat – Litchfield, Connecticut

Woodbury Library – Woodbury, Connecticut

The Birches – New Preston, Connecticut

Oliver Wolcott Library – Litchfield, Connecticut

Academics Artist Association, National Exhibition – Springfield, Massachusetts

Connecticut Landscapes – University of Bridgeport, Connecticut

Newburyport Art Exhibition – Newburyport, Massachusetts

Great Plains National Exhibition – Hays, Kansas

Pentucket Arts Association – Haverhill Massachusetts

Norfolk Library – Norfolk, Connecticut

Bethlehem Art Gallery – New Windsor, New York

Mingo Gallery – Beverly, Massachusetts

Potter and Slack – Washington, Connecticut

Powers Gallery – Acton, Massachusetts

The Gunnery – Washington, Connecticut

Cavalier Gallery – Greenwich, Connecticut, Nantucket, Massachusetts

James Cox Gallery – Willow, New York

Pierce Gallery – Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Wenham Museum – Wenham, Massachusetts

A.R.A Gallery – Wenham, Massachusetts

Stamford Museum – Stamford, Connecticut

Weir Farm Tenth Anniversary Exhibition – Wilton, Connecticut

Weir Farm – Fete Champetre II – Wilton, Connecticut

Crescent Dragon – Haverhill, Massachusetts

Danvers Art Association – Watershed Art – Danvers, Massachusetts

T. Benjamin Fiske – Painting in the moment – Milton, Massachusetts

The Salisbury Association Land Trust – Salisbury, Connecticut

The Essex Art Center – Lawrence, Massachusetts

Paintings from the Sidewalk – Amesbury, Massachusetts

Lobby for the Arts – Amesbury, Massachusetts

Display Case – Reference Area – Alexander Schwartz

The display case contains works by multi-media artist, Alexander Schwartz. alexanderschwartzart.weebly.com