Saturday, August 9, 2014

CELEBRATING GLOUCESTER


PHYLLIS
oil/canvas
11 x 14


The Rocky Neck Gallery (RNG) is pleased to welcome Robert L. Williams as the fifth artist selected for this year’s “Summer Artist Series”.  
Williams’ new show, Celebrating Gloucester’s Heritage, opens Wednesday, August 13th and runs for three weeks until September 2nd. 
A relative newcomer to Cape Ann, Williams paints in the style of Regional American Impressionism, as seen in the work of nineteenth century New England painters, specifically those of Cape Ann.  The paintings selected for this show celebrate the heritage and tradition of the Gloucester fishing industry. 
Please join us and meet the artist on Saturday, August 16, at our gallery's reception from 6 to 8 PM


FURLING THE SAIL
oil/canvas
16 x 20

As a young man, Williams studied drawing and painting with Florence Collins, a former student of Daniel Garber, and Hugh Henry Breckenridge of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  He majored in illustration and fine art at Philadelphia College of Art.  At the age of 21, Williams was selected as one of a few to serve as an artist in U.S. Marine Corps Combat Art program in Vietnam. 
In 1972, Williams studied in Florence, Italy, working among a circle of artists, including Benjamin Long IV, apprentice to Pietro Annigoni, master fresco painter.  In the following years, Williams restored church interiors that included commissions for original paintings in and around Philadelphia.
In addition, Williams established Motion Graphics, designing and painting hundreds of commercial and residential murals.  This led to his involvement in a number of career development programs, where he taught and worked with high school students to create community murals.
His recent move to Rockport inspired Williams to capture the extraordinary beauty and richness of Cape Ann in the great tradition of American Impressionism.
RNG gallery is open daily!  Stop in Sunday - Wednesday 11 AM - 6 PM and Thursday - Saturday 11 AM- 8 PM. 

Run by twenty-five juried artist members of Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC), the RNG Artist Collective functions as a co-operative, sharing the gallery duties among the members and sharing commissions on sales with the RNAC.  RNG is the sister gallery to the Cultural Center Gallery at 6 Wonson Street.  Together they represent a program of the RNAC to showcase contemporary artists and their work to the community.

The RNAC is a non-profit arts organization comprised of artists, businesses, and community members whose mission is to nurture excellence in the visual arts and to celebrate the artistic culture of Rocky Neck.