AVERILL PARK, NY.- The C. M. Russell Museum of Great Falls, Montana, will auction two new paintings by internationally acclaimed artist Jenness Cortez at its annual exhibition and sale March 18-21, 2015. Both Cortez auction paintings pay homage to the art and life of legendary Western artist Charles M. Russell.
For centuries artists have been challenging their intellects and skills by paying homage to the painters who preceded them. Today, Jenness Cortez has emerged as the twenty-first century’s most notable exponent of this facet of art history. Her masterful work, now expanded to include the genre of Western art, gives Cortez solid footing in the colorful lineage of artists who have appropriated vintage images and woven them into their own distinctive, recognizable fabric.
In her latest work, “Unforgettable” and “Honoring Tatanka,” Cortez continues to reexamine the classic paradox of realism: the painting both as a “window” into an imagined space and as a physical object. In summarizing her creative process, Cortez explains, “Every painting begins with a vision seen in the artist’s mind. Sometimes the finished piece appears in the mind full-blown, and at other times it is amorphous––yet with some beguiling character that begs to be developed. In either case, between that first inspiration and the finished painting lie hours of research, thousands of choices and, of course, the great joy of painting. The process is organic. Even with a well-conceived composition in place, the painting has a life of its own and the best ones surprise even the artist with twists and turns that outshine the most clever of plans. It’s as if the creative spirit insinuates itself into the work, wanting to serve its own best interest with solutions that far exceed the artist’s original, limited vision.”
Like all Jenness Cortez paintings, her latest Western art creations challenge the viewers’ intellectual curiosity and celebrate the sheer pleasure of beautiful painting. In both “Unforgettable” and “Honoring Tatanka” Cortez continues to play the role of author, architect, visual journalist, art historian, curator and pundit to help open our eyes to what we might otherwise have overlooked or taken for granted. She also presents specific themes, mixing straightforward cues and obscure allusions—all complemented by references to the life and times of Charles Russell and the Old West. By continuing to masterfully present iconic works in unexpected modern settings, Jenness Cortez truly inspires us to see differently––to rediscover, revalue and reintegrate our own intuitive resources into the hurried regimen of modern American life.
Jenness Cortez was born in 1944 in Frankfort, Indiana. She received her B.F.A. from the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, apprenticed privately with noted Dutch painter Antonius Raemaekers and later studied with Arnold Blanch at the Art Students League of New York. Her work is in numerous public and private collections including those of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, HM Queen Elizabeth, II and the New York State Museum.
Perlmutter Gallery in Averill Park, New York exclusively represents Jenness Cortez.
