From February 3 through March 13, the Salmagundi Club presents the 142nd Annual Members’ Exhibition, a juried show featuring the finest paintings and sculpture by the club’s member artists. To accommodate the 150-plus works and give each piece the space it deserves, the exhibition will be presented in two sequential installments. The first segment will be on view from February 3 through February 20, while the second will be on display from February 24 to March 13.
Ellen Hutchinson, Lemons, oil on canvas, 28 x 27 in.
Among the featured works is Sherry Mason’s Snowy Invitation. The piece was inspired by a midwinter drive in rural Tennessee. “An old, forgotten side path—marked by a broken gate—rested beneath a veil of soft blues and lavenders from the recent snowfall,” explains the artist. “Beyond it, a distant field glowed warm and golden in the late sun. A gentle reminder emerges—even in winter’s dreary days, beauty and hope still appear, and those winter days don’t last too long.”
Anne Johann, Ecology, oil, 10 x 20 in.
Anne Johann’s juried piece is a lush forest scene titled Ecology. “On a visit to Monhegan Island in Maine, I paused on my walk and looked down at the earth where I stood,” Johann explains. “It had rained a lot on my visit, which made the ferns appear to glow. The little pine seedlings with a form like fireworks so attracted me! I absolutely had to paint this: new life for the island woodlands.”
A realistic still life titled Lemons by Ellen Hutchinson was selected to be part of this years Annual Members’ Exhibition. “My inspiration comes from 17th- and 18th-century painters such as Clara Peeters, Peter Claesz and Luis Melendez,” shares Hutchinson. “With that acknowledgement, I wish to convey in contemporary language, the beauty that exists in the familiar.”
Hilary Baldwin’s juried work Budding Trees, Concord captures one of the artist’s favorite spots in springtime. “This is a pond in Concord, Massachusetts, that is beautiful in every season,” Baldwin says. “I have painted in the spring with the red-budded trees before they turn green, in winter after a snowfall, in summer with lily pads and autumn with the turning colors.”
Sherry Mason, Snowy Invitation, oil on Belgian linen panel, 16 x 16 in.
By Paths Unknown by James P. Cawley is a painting of Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina, which the artist says “can be ethereal on foggy days. The silence weighs heavily and the sound of the surf in the distance is muffled, and stifled in the heavy fog. Looking for a path to navigate through the areas of marsh and dead trees seems very surreal. The beach and the shoreline seem so distant and faint that it seems unreachable.”
John Michael Pelech says his photograph Man with a Hat owes a lot to being at the right place at exactly the right moment. “I was visiting my friend’s loft and we went up to her roof,” Pelech relays. “I noticed the man crossing the street was waiting for a car to pass. Casting a beautiful long summer shadow, the sun at my back, I captured this image with my Nikon film camera. A friend said there is something existential about it—a man alone, isolated, but casting a long shadow in life.”
Top: Hilary Baldwin, Budding Trees, Concord, oil, 12 x 16 in. James P. Cawley, By Paths Unknown, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 in. Bottom: Patsy Lindamood, It's Fashionable, graphite on cradled Claybord, 24 x 36 in. Leonid Gervits, Pandemic Morning (self-portrait), oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in.
Pandemic Morning is a self-portrait by Salmagundi member Leonid Gervits. He explains, “The center of my art is a human being and the surrounding world he exists in. The eternal mystery of its creation, the beauty of the human body, as well as the psychological aspects of the inevitable circumstances of our life—those are the most exciting topics, which never seemed boring or not worthy to spend my creative life…The artistic mission is to help humanity to survive and preserve our unique civilization.”
While Joseph P. Grieco may be best known for his New York cityscapes and tonal landscapes, for the last 30 years he has also created numerous ethereal, symbolist paintings and pastels. His muted, dream-like show piece Moonlight Nymph is one such example. “These works materialize through connection with the inner self or spirit and seem to be directed by a higher power,” Grieco says. “Hopefully it allows the viewer to explore their own emotions and determine meaning from the visual experience.”
Kahne Smith paints in plein air with pastel and, as she did for North Country,finds inspiration while hiking. “One cold morning, I was following the echoes of a waterfall through the mountain mist,” she says. “I walked into my breath, and looking up found the visual music painted here.”
Clockwise from top left: Joseph P. Grieco, Moonlight Nymph, oil, 22 x 24 in.; Kahne Smith, North Country, pastel, 24 x 10 in.; Thomas Kegler, Summer’s Eve, Psalms 29:11, oil on panel, 9 x 12 in.
Winter Still is rooted in Lolly Shera’s deep emotional connection to the landscape. “I am drawn to paint a momentary brush with the wild—the movement of light across water, the softness of distant hills, the stillness after snow,” the artist explains. “These moments are not merely observed; they are felt, remembered and internalized. This painting, Winter Still, reflects an intimate engagement with light, experience, and mood. The title evokes stillness and clarity, capturing an atmosphere suspended between perception and memory.”
Although Merrill French’s formal education was in the sciences, she has always considered herself an artist. Her show piece West End Ave.is a snippet of life in New York City, only a short bus ride away from where she grew up in New Jersey. “I have always loved the city and find inspiration in everything about it,” says French. “I walk in search of a subject…It could be endless blocks or just a few steps before a connection is made. That feeling between me and the subject is a very personal one. I hope that each painting also forms a personal feeling with the viewer.”
Top: Olivier Casse, Death of the Tweet, colored pencil on black paper, 19 x 27 in.; William Jobson, Old Water Street, oil on panel, 20 x16 in.; John Michael Pelech, Man with a Hat, photograph, 20 x 30 in.; Joy Wolf, Danny Blackgoat, photograph, 10 x 9 in.
Olivier Casse takes iconic ideas and symbology from modern life, and layers, stacks and reinterprets them into new conceptual realities, as evidenced by his juried piece Death to the Tweet. He defines this approach as “‘quantum mapping,’ where history, culture, psychology and design interact,” he explains. “Central to this framework are QR codes used as conceptual and technological bridges, allowing viewers to encounter a symbol’s original meaning alongside a new quantum question. Through this process, meaning expands and the work becomes a living dialogue between intention and perception, past and present, artist and audience.”
“When I met Danny Blackgoat, he was herding sheep on horseback in the Big Mountain area of Northern Arizona, sacred ground to both the Navajo and Hopi,” explains Joy Wolf about the subject of her portrait of the same name. “He had a raw sense of vulnerability and strength. He knew the terrain well and when he wasn’t herding, he played hand-crafted drums with his friends. Their lives were simple and the sheep were sustenance. Life was all about family and what the land could provide. His Navajo ancestors had lived only in this area for centuries. When I photographed him, he knew that they would soon be required to relocate to make way for coal mining.”
Lolly Shera, Winter Still, oil on linen on panel, 18 x 18 in.
It’s Fashionable by artist Patsy Lindamood explores the dynamic interplay of transparency and reflection in an urban setting. “Inspired by Boston’s Long Wharf, this graphite work captures the elegance of architectural lines and the complexity of storefront glass—revealing both the curated interior and the mirrored city beyond,” explains the artist. “A study in precision, pattern and perspective, it invites viewers to experience realism at its most intricate.”
Merrill French, West End Avenue, oil on linen, 28 x 28 in.
“In Summer’s Eve, Psalms 29:11, I explore the profound tranquility that settles over the land at twilight,” says artist Thomas Kegler. “Utilizing a tonalist approach, I layered soft ambers and deep greens to mirror the rhythmic exhale of the earth as day turns to night. The silhouette of the lone cottage and the slender trees against a glowing horizon represent a sanctuary of rest. This work is an invitation to pause and reflect on the divine promise of peace… embracing the quiet strength of the landscape, finding a spiritual stillness that transcends the canvas and settles the soul.”
Former Salmagundi Club president William Jobson will be showing a cityscape called Old Water Street. “I have always been drawn to the way the sun filters through the mesh of the city,” says Jobson. “Direct, indirect, reflected, refracted, it creates a matrix of little worlds. I could wander through the streets and alleys and each time discover some little world existing in its own moment. It would please me that others notice these moments in space, but perhaps these pieces I create will remind the viewer of what they might have missed.”
“This is where members bring their very best,” explains Salmagundi Club president Tracy Dockray. “And the Members’ Show is Salmagundi at its most authentic. Since 1871, the club has existed to bring artists together, uphold excellence and create a place where serious work is shown with care and respect. This exhibition continues that tradition, reflecting the club’s range of voices and its ongoing commitment to representational art. It underscores that Salmagundi is not just preserving a legacy—it’s actively carrying it forward.”
The exhibition will be held in the club’s Skylight Gallery. For those who cannot attend in person, all works can be viewed and purchased on the Salmagundi Club website. —
142nd Annual Members’ Exhibition
When: February 3-March 13, 2026
Where: 47 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003
Information: (212) 255-7740, www.salmagundi.org
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