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December Issue 2006
Walls Fine Art in Wilmington, NC, Offers Works by Charles Movalli
Walls Fine Art Gallery in Wilmington, NC, is presenting the exhibition, 90 Degrees in December, featuring 25 new works by Charles Movalli, on view through Dec. 23, 2006.
Movalli was born and raised in Gloucester, MA, home of the oldest continually functioning art colony in the country, the Cape Ann School. He grew up with paintings on his parents' walls by Aldro Hibbard, Carl Peters, and Emile Gruppe, painters whose works are now sought out by Sotheby's and Christie's. After earning his PhD in English, Movalli went to work for Watson Guptill, art publishers. In that position, he edited 14 art books with the painters of his home turf while developing close, mentoring relationships with them.
"Charles Movalli represents the best of the Cape Ann School. His work is nationally admired and revered. Artists have a deep, heartfelt respect for him as a man and as a master," says Trudy Allen, Gallery Director, North Shore Arts Association.
Movalli is best known by painters and still somewhat of a secret among collectors. He has authored over 70 art articles, most of which focused on lifting a contemporary painter he admired into the light for collectors' and galleries' attention.
Movalli calls himself a painterly painter which he says can be quite difficult since what a painterly painter calls finished, the average viewer might think of as a sketch. Be that as it may, he has an unerring drawing skill, no matter how large the brushstroke. Drawing is not just pencil on paper; it is also the correct placement of the correct value (dark/light) of blue paint onto the canvas. Movalli talks about brushstrokes being the penmanship of the artist and just as psychologists read one's personality from handwriting, Movalli's sense of humor and energetic joy in being alive sing out from his canvases. "The painterly painter avoids the how-to approach, suspicious as ever, that technique will obscure his or her vision," says the artist adding. "On the face of it, the easiest of all activities should be seeing what we see. In reality, it's the hardest."
Movalli, with his wife, Dale, have brought the gallery 25 new paintings which concentrate on the beach, from ice cream to fishing to reading to surfing.
On Dec 1, 2006, Movalli will present a lecture on John Singer Sargent at Brunswick Community College. Sargent was the most successful portrait painter of his day, but his portraits, outstanding as they are, are only a portion of his repertoire. I have attended a presentation of this lecture. If you have affection for Sargent, or a liking of paintings, or if you enjoy amusing stories, or if you just like being thoroughly entertained while learning something by accident, you don't want to miss this one. Movalli is nationally recognized as an expert on Sargent, and we are pleased to share him with you. Seating is limited at the community college. Please call us at 910/343-1703 to reserve your space. To get a glimpse of Movalli's work, go to (www.wallsgallery.com).
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings,
call the gallery at 910/343-1703 or visit (www.wallsgallery.com).
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