The River Arts District (RAD) in Asheville, North Carolina has been decimated by catastrophic flooding. Most of the 26 buildings were devastated including art and the supplies and equipment used by creators.
The Artists for RAD auction takes place online now through October 26, 2024. Browse all of the artworks and bid here on paintings by Anne Blair Brown, Kyle Buckland, Richard Oversmith, Dawn Whitelaw, Jason Sacran, Larry Moore, Joe Gyurcsak, Lori Putnam, Roger Dale Brown, and more.
Richard Oversmith coordinated this auction to raise money for the artists who have lost everything at their studios in the River Arts District. He says, “I hope you will take a look and bid on anything that catches your fancy. There are some great works in here and it goes to a great cause. Please bid often!”
Lori Putnam, “Tucked Away in Erice,” oil, 11 x 14 in.
From the auction organizers:
We will be working to restore the creativity and inspiration of our beloved River Arts District. Our goal is to assist our artists as best we can with rent and supplies. The only way this is possible is with your support.
The goal of the art auction is to raise money to benefit the artists and businesses of the River Arts District in Asheville, NC. As you may know, the RAD was devastated by flooding caused by Hurricane Helene and could use our help.
Roger Dale Brown, “York Winter,” oil, 9 x 12 in.
Artist Spotlight: Leon Berkowitz
Leon Berkowitz, Algonquit No. 15 (1986) 48 x 69 inches (121.9 x 175.3 cm), Oil on canvas
Showing now at Hollis-Taggert Gallery in New York City is Leon Berkowitz (1911-1987), an outstanding American artist and educator. Berkowitz is best known for his large color field paintings and the series, The Unities. He co-founded the Washington Workshop Center, a gallery and school in D.C. Berkowitz was a leading member of the art movement the Washington Color School.
The group of Washington-based artists extended color field painting beyond its New York roots (where originators Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis were exhibiting). However, Berkowitz was not caught up in the group’s formal achievements, which he saw more as means than ends in themselves. He wasn’t just experimenting with color; he was exploring inner space.
“Although he played a pivotal role in the founding of the Washington Color group, Berkowitz would, throughout his career, eschew the positioning of his work within that movement, noting his commitment to capturing the poetics of color over the formal inquiries of the group,” says the Hollis-Taggert gallery now showing his work. “I am endeavoring to find that blush of light over light and the color within the light – the depths through which we see when we look into and not at color,” he said.
Although Berkowitz is most frequently associated with Washington D.C., he received his education across a wide range of institutions, including the recently shuttered University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the Art Students League in New York, and academies across Paris, Florence, and Mexico City.
Following the acquisition of the rights to his estate, Hollis-Taggert in New York City has become the artist’s primary representation in the United States.
