ABSTRACT
At times, one has the uneasy feeling that celebrity and financial investment opportunities have become the norms by which the public judges artists and art. Perhaps that is an unavoidable consequence in an age caught up in the din and hype of overwrought commercialism. What was once a private, meaningful experience between art connoisseurs and objective works of art has now, more often than not, evaporated into a garish scene of high-powered soirées in which art competes with the glitz and glitter of wealth and social standing for center stage. Gone, it seems, are any concerns for the more substantive issues of character and craftsmanship, imaginative insight and interpretation, spiritual enhancement and a striving towards a deeper understanding of the human experience from which the power and cultural meaning of art ultimately derive. How all the more refreshing, therefore, to come across a contemporary artist like Robert Palevitz, whose work reflects the time-honored traditions of classical fine arts painting and drawing at their very best. <italic>Degas and Peonies</italic>. Oil on canvas. 18” × 24”. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315060835/78807b30-7a54-4ef4-91f7-9b0528e92f96/content/pg3_1.jpg"/>
