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May Issue 2006
The Sylvan Gallery in Charleston, SC, Features Works by William Berra
The Sylvan Gallery in Charleston, SC, proudly presents The Golden Light, featuring paintings by William Berra, on view from May 5- 31, 2006. Berra's works in oil leave one with a sense of being lifted into another dimension a dimension of soft diffused light where everything is golden.
Berra originates from Pennsylvania and now lives in Santa Fe. His interest in art began in grade school and has never abated. His training at the York Academy then the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts in Baltimore provided him with a basis with which he then trained himself. His work is strongly influenced by the Italian artists of the 1850s. Rebelling against the academic style and exploring and developing the effect of individual marks made with paint put these artists on a new journey a journey which helped lead to the modern age of art where mark making, or process, is balanced with the finished product. Corot and Courbet influenced these Italians and some believe they then foretold the painting style of the French impressionists.
Keeping the freshness and liveliness in his brushwork, Berra believes the viewer can follow the process and the sense of the artist's movement of paint across the surface. This varies from the polished finish of the academics' works and yet maintained a representational image allowing for a lovely balance between old school and modernism. His luminous color and juxtapositions of light and shadow provide a comfortable, yet exciting view of the world.
Add spontaneity coming from the plein air work and a vaguely unfinished quality enhanced by the study of the Italian painters and Berra's work resounds with a freshness unknown in most studio painting. This "impression" versus tightness also allows the viewers' imaginations to complete the scene thereby becoming part of the work itself. Berra's work is figurative and incorporates his travels without neglecting his well known beach scenes.
Berra has been featured in Southwest Art magazine and others. His paintings have been exhibited extensively in the United States and are represented in private collections in the United States as well as China, Spain, Mali, and Portugal and public collections such as the US State Department, BellSouth, and the University of Texas.
The Sylvan Gallery specializes in 20th and
21st century paintings and sculpture. The works are contemporary
versus historical and done in the traditional manner. Many of
the artists are plein air painters and all are known nationally.
The gallery is an active member of the Charleston Fine Art Dealers'
Association that created the Charleston Fine Art Weekend almost
a decade ago to promote understanding worldwide of Charleston's
place as an arts' destination.
For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings,
call the gallery at 843/722-2172 or at (www.thesylvangallery.com).
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Copyright© 2006 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
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