Last Dogs Hung, oil on canvas, 34"x48", Steven Rhude
                          Intervention

 Argyle Fine Art, Halifax, September 14th to October 2nd

 Opening: Friday, September 14th - 7pm. 
1559 Barrington Street, Halifax. tel. 902.425.9456 

Resistance - Last Dogs Hung

 Contemporary Realist Painting continues to evolve largely outside of the mainstream establishment. Although championed by independent artists and galleries, a new generation of Realist painters have been largely ignored by an artistic management intent on blurring the
boundary between art and life - what T.S. Elliot referred to as “the dissociation of sensibility”. Today (with a few exceptions), humanism and emotion combined with the innovation required to carry out the creation of a Realist painting, have generally been overlooked. Possibly because of an art establishment more concerned with their own shifting hagiography and the elevation of spectacle.

 As a painter, I have noted in the past that concerns exist in today's post art culture, and that globally, museum elites have established a gulf between the patron and the art exhibited. The patron becoming a disinterested third party, understandably fatigued with essential reading before approaching a work of establishment art. In this world, Realist painters can only sow the seeds. How well they grow depends on the environment and receptivity of the ground available.

 Notwithstanding this, Realism continues to purvey qualities of beauty, skill, concept, emotion, and place, that are directly engaging and relevant for the viewer in a post art world. In general, the mature principles of Realist painting have endured for over six hundred years while other movements mutate for survival. If one were to assess the larger historical picture to date, Realist painters would easily be considered one of the ‘last dogs hung.’
Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS.
To inquire about work contact: gallery@argylefa.com or 902.425.9456

Buoy at Italy Cross, oil on canvas, 19"x22", Steven Rhude


Heaven's Gate Road, oil on canvas, 30"x40", Steven Rhude





Buoy at Dublin Shore, oil on canvas, 20"x16", Steven Rhude
  
Boy and Hay Bale, oil on canvas, 27"x37", Steven Rhude
Stairway, Cape Spear, oil on board, 24"x20", Steven Rhude




Buoy at Indian Path Road, oil on canvas, 20"x16", Steven Rhude




Apparition, oil on canvas, 36"x48", Steven Rhude




Finding Arcadia - Whitehead, oil on canvas, 60"x90", Steven Rhude






Road to Lunenburg, oil on board, 20"x24", Steven Rhude





Road to Yankee Harbour, oil on board, 20"x24", Steven Rhude





Red Boat, Road to Kissing Bridge, oil on canvas, 32"x50", Steven Rhude




Road to Half Island Cove, oil on board, 18"x24", Steven Rhude




Fish Fluke, oil on canvas, 40"x72", Steven Rhude




Spring, Isle Madame, oil on canvas, 40"x60", Steven Rhude 




Buoys and Apples - After Kingsburg, oil on canvas, 20"x30", Steven Rhude




Buoy at Black Point Road, oil on  board, 18"x24", Steven Rhude

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