Show Preview | Mark Eberhard

Jackson, WY
Astoria Fine Art, September 11-19

Mark Eberhard, Social Distancing, oil, 24 x 24.

This story was featured in the September 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

AS A COUPLE from the Midwest stood in front of a Mark Eberhard painting of a raven with the Tetons in the background, they found themselves reminiscing about a drive they had taken on Moose-Wilson Road just outside Grand Teton National Park. The painting presented a view they recognized from that drive. They laughed about the notoriously rough, potholed dirt road—and bought the painting.

Among Eberhard’s newest works are some that again incorporate perspectives of Yellowstone and the Tetons that viewers who have been to those places may recognize. Other pieces, especially the artist’s acclaimed bird imagery, pull the focus in closer, using branches and vegetation to create graceful, finely detailed compositions.

Both approaches are on view during Eberhard’s fourth annual solo show at Astoria Fine Art in Jackson, WY, which runs September 11-19. The highly anticipated show takes place during the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival. It features as many as 10 new paintings, ranging in scale from 10 by 10 to 48 by 48 inches. (“I like the square format,” Eberhard says.) Because of high demand from collectors around the country, names of all those interested in each piece will be drawn, with the winner gaining the right to purchase. Also attesting to the painter’s deep connection with nature and his skill at rendering what he loves: His work is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of Western Art, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art. At the latter he was honored with the Trustee Purchase Award in 2011 and 2019—the only artist to have won it twice.

Since he’s been spending more time in his Ohio studio this year as a result of travel restrictions, Eberhard turned to reference material from previous visits to some of his favorite western landscapes. ANTELOPE FLATS portrays a single pronghorn antelope up close, with others behind it, spotted by the artist near the scenic Antelope Flats loop between Jackson Hole and the mountain town of Kelly, WY. Another mammal painting, SOCIAL DISTANCING, similarly positions a magnificent resting buffalo in the foreground, judiciously separated from the rest of the herd.

Many of the birds depicted in this year’s show required little or no travel to see. Eberhard’s home, just down the road from where he grew up, is situated in the lush Little Miami River valley about a half-hour from Cincinnati. Bird feeders outside his studio windows attract a continuous source of inspiration for an artist whose love of the avian world began at age 5, when his grandparents gave him his first bird book. His talent was honed through a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the University of Cincinnati, a master’s degree in fine art from Yale University, and many years of observing and painting the creatures who wander onto his property. Among those making an appearance in paintings at Astoria this year are a raven, barn swallows, Bohemian waxwings, and a barred owl.

“Mark has a style that appeals to a broad audience, including collectors of both contemporary and traditional art,” notes Greg Fulton, partner at Astoria Fine Art. “Beautiful realism, contemporary compositions, faultless execution, and wonderful color harmony sums up his style.” —Gussie Fauntleroy

contact information
307.733.4016
www.astoriafineart.com

This story was featured in the September 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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