Sold!

Highlights of the sales and connections achieved from the pages of American Art Collector

Amanda Greive sells piece featured in a preview of an exhibition at Wausau Museum of Art
Painting the Figure Now, a preview of which ran in the October 2023 issue of American Art Collector, is a yearly group show hosted by the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art in collaboration with PoetsArtists dedicated to showcasing contemporary figurative works. Featured in the article was Amanda Greive’s showpiece An Infinite Escape, which sold shortly after the issue was released through the online platform Artsy. Greive painted An Infinite Escape after she began to take her mediation practice more seriously. “This painting was the product of my practice, as well as internal conversations about creating time and a safe space to revel in solitude,” she says. The woman holds a bounty of blooms over her face as one might use a pillow to block out unwanted stimuli. For Greive, “the flowers also serve as a symbol of her individuality, and the woman is completely immersing herself in that oneness.”

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Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe sells piece by featured artist Robin Jones
Robin Jones painted If Only We’re Brave Enough to See It for a show titled Arkteia that opened in late October 2023 at Blue Rain Gallery’s Santa Fe location.

The title of the painting comes from the poem The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman and depicts a young girl in the Gabra tribe, a semi-nomadic people who live in the highlands of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. She is accompanied by the Red-veined Dropwing, a dragonfly found across most of Africa.

The piece, which pays tribute to the Gabra, who strive to live in balance with a challenging environment, was purchased by one of Blue Rain’s long-time clients who came to the opening and was compelled to make it their own. “The client appreciates the artwork as a form of artistic expression, with the title linking to a meaningful poem by Amanda Gorman,” says Blue Rain director of sales, Merlinda Melendrez. “The combination of the visual and literary elements make the painting a unique and thought-provoking piece of art. Overall, the painting’s story adds depth and meaning to the artwork, making it not just a visual piece but a reflection of cultural significance and a statement on pressing global issues.”

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A piece by Mary Calengor sells fresh off the easel at Anne Neilson Fine Art
“Tuareg Bowls was fresh off the easel and into the gallery when an online buyer who has long admired Anne Neilson Fine Art inquired about it for her new home in Mexico,” shares gallery director Logan Sutton. The painting was inspired by authentic wooden “milk” bowls that once belonged to the Tuareg tribal people that inhabit the Saharan regions of North Africa. “The women in the tribe carve these incredible bowls out of a single piece of wood, not an easy commodity to find in the desert, and are highly prized possessions passed down from one generation to the next,” explains the artist. “They seem to always exhibit signs of heavy wear such as cracks that have been stapled together, chipped edges and a dark brown patina from various products mixed to work like glue. I found these bowls to be so beautiful and the history of the people that made and used them is just so fascinating. I knew I needed to paint them and preserve this rich history through my art form.” Sutton adds, “The collector felt so connected to the beauty in the detail, and the piece is now hanging in a place of honor in their home in Mexico.”

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Collector wasted no time in securing piece by Julia Jenkins through Modern Eden Gallery
Julia Jenkins’ painting Persephone’s Return to the Underworld was purchased a few days after the opening reception of Harvest, a group exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco in fall of 2023. “This particular piece grabbed me instantly when I saw it on Julia’s Instagram,” says collector Cindy Kennedy. “So much so that I raced over to Modern Eden’s site, terrified it would have already sold. I was desperately in love with it, both because it is her work and because the myth of Persephone is one that I’ve been attached to since I was a child—it is such a powerful story of trauma, and a mother’s grief and strength. I bought it immediately without a moment’s hesitation and felt intensely grateful I had seen it in time because I knew it would have sold quickly.”

The gallery notes, “This painting was the first piece we have shown by Julia Jenkins and we couldn’t have been more thrilled to place the painting with one of our regular customers who turns out to be a long time collector of the artist with well over a dozen works by Julia already in her collection.” —

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Interested in having your SOLD! story featured in the pages of American Art Collector magazine? Email Sarah Gianelli at sgianelli@americanartcollector.com to find out how you can share your recent sales and successes.