Gurari Collections is pleased to present an exhibition of themes, styles & techniques by Leon Steinmetz. Entitled NOURISHMENTS, the exhibition shows off Steinmetz’s versatility in his interpretations, both in medium and in theme, with artwork ranging from Their Majesties, Gogols’ Diary of a Mad Man, as well as, Ladies and the Devil. New, recently completed projects feature Robspierre Dreams – oil on board, Don Quixote - tempera on archival acrylic sheet, and the Horsemen – pen & ink.
H.A. Crosby Forbes, Philanthropist, Collector and Curator Emeritus of the Peabody Essex Museum, spoke of his art -
“Steinmetz is a quintessential contemporary artist; but what makes his art unique is his almost palpable connection to the Old Masters. In his works –comic or tragic, figurative or semi-abstract – he tackles the same timeless themes they did, but expresses them in an unmistakably modern language.”
There is a spirited liveliness in Steinmetz’ compositions. His cast of players are eccentric - as portrayed in his trademark – intertwining the comic and tragic complexities of the human condition. Steinmetz’s mark making, in whatever chosen medium, eyedropper with ink (Ladies and the Devil), spectracolor (Memento Mori), or brush with Sangira ink (Commedia Dell’Arte), are thoughtfully executed and playful with a dash of mischief.
Leon Steinmetz is a contemporary artist. His art is in the permanent collections of leading museums: the British Museum in London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Pushkin State Museum, Moscow, the Albertina in Vienna; the Dresden State Art Gallery in Dresden; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, among others. His last two solo Museum exhibitions were in the Pushkin State Museum, 2019-10, 2016. He has published three artist books, and has recently completed drawings, for a soon to be published, little known work by Jane Austen, called The Beautiful Cassandra, Princeton University Press.