Spring Member Show

Paul Reuther studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, completing the 4 year certificate program and art history at The University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated (BFA) magna cum laude. Attending graduate school in Washington, DC and earning an MFA, and he studied with William Woodward and Frank Wright at The George Washington University. He was recipient of the 2014 City Arts Projects Grant, District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the 2014 Artist Fellowship Grant, District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He is the founding member of The Washington Drawing Center, a non-profit group dedicated to the discipline of drawing. He paints plein air regularly in the summer months, often in Italy and in places farther flung. He was artist-in- residence at arte studio ginistrelle, Assisi, Italy in August 2012 and again at JSS in Civita Castellana, Italy in 2014. In addition to landscape, the artist draws the figure from life. Not lining up very neatly with any particular breed of art or artist, he tends to be on the painterly side of easel painting relying upon direct observation and natural perception. Reuther teaches drawing, painting, and technical art history in the Washington area at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD and at The Corcoran School of Arts & Design, George Washington University in Washington, DC.

In the short time since I was asked to be the juror for the Spring Member Show 2020 Exhibition not only have some things changed, but perhaps everything has changed. Two very long-lived artists of importance to me have died in the space of a few months, Wolf Kahn (aged 93) on March 15, 2020 and William Bailey (aged 90) April 13, 2020. Neither men died because of the pandemic, but like so much that relates to this particular moment in time, the estimation of their lives and careers must be quietly deferred to a future date and time. I take this opportunity to pay homage to them and mark a moment of reflection in their honor. As much as I admire the work of these two artists, I am equally drawn to their long-lived-ness and the stubborn proposition that one must work hard at this most serious of avocations despite successes and failures, fame and neglect, praise and insult.…points that I would like to underscore for the artists that submitted work to the show. For the artists that are in the exhibition, congratulations and keep up the good work, the works in the show are but jigsaw pieces in an ongoing lifelong puzzle that takes shape only through time and persistence. To the artists that were not selected, I would encourage you to look upon this insult but lightly, the blame must be laid at the feet of the judge, your humble juror, rather than yourselves whose efforts must remain a cause for recognition by better arbiters of taste in the fuller light of a clearer day. In a group exhibition, one of a range of media, without theme or focus, my critical motivation tends to hew to some very basic ideas; chief among them the demonstration of a developed sense of design, skill, and visual intelligibility. If these factors are in evidence then I swiftly move to other concerns such as mood, character, inventiveness, imagination, personal vision, expression, and ownership of the endeavor. If a conventional subject is executed with exceptional skill, I will notice that, if an unconventional subject or approach is what is going on, I will take that on advisement. My strongest bias is for the products of natural perception and hand work involving pencils, inks, paints, and clay, a prejudice that will not work well for many in the show and many visitors as well. A high number of the artists in the exhibition checked off all of these boxes in many instances, but the award winners and honorable mentions and another 20 or so works just on the thresh-hold caught my eye a bit longer.