At the time when I first joined the Merrill Gallery (which later became the Merrill-Johnson Gallery), John David Phillips was embarking on his fine art career. That is how our paths met. John visited the gallery inquiring about the process to be considered for representation. Valori Merrill had just purchased the gallery, and was not particularly excited about adding new artists.
John joined our gallery, and ultimately we sold more of his work than any other artist in the gallery. In fact, I have mentioned in some of my workshops, that John is one of the few artists that I knew who sold well from the beginning of their career. John and I quickly became friends with weekly racquetball marathons. We don't do the racquetball any more, but John has remained one of my best friends in Colorado. It is always a kick to visit his studio, because his paintings keep on getting stronger and more compelling. It is interesting that someone so good twenty years ago has gotten better every year since. I believe his landscape work is some of the strongest in the state. There are hundreds of landscape painters in Colorado and there are only a few whose work really stands out. John is one of those painters. Although he is and has been represented by some of finest galleries including Merrill and Total Arts in Taos, I don't feel he has received the recognition that he deserves even though the Denver Art Museum did purchase one of his pieces a few years back. Why he as never been included in the Coors Western Show is a mystery to me. I have on many occasions remarked that if John would have painted 150 years ago, we would be seeing his work in the art history books.
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Workshops The Artist In Search Of a Gallery Sunday, March 25, 2012 Are you still looking for your first gallery? This one-day workshop gives you an insight to the minds of galleries owners with strategies and tactics to successfully recruit galleries to represent your art. Learn more. Articles Gallery or No Gallery At SellingYourArt.net For the artist launching a career in fine art, one of the most important decisions is whether to sell their own work or to seek gallery representation. Twenty years ago, the only realistic path for artists was to seek gallery representation. Today, with the development of the internet and internationalization of the art market, the industry has drastically changed. To read the complete article. Appraisals What's it Worth? Artwork acquired ten years ago has probably changed significantly in value over the last decade. In most cases, the value probably has increased so there is a good probability that it is under-insured. Why take a chance? Should you get an appraisal, give me a ring at 720-425-3178 to discuss possible options. Recent Appraisal  I had an opportunity to appraise an interesting painting recently. The piece was inherited from her family in Alaska. The painting bore the signature of "Bierstadt." Although the content of the painting was not an ordinary piece for Bierstadt, it had the feel of a Bierstadt. The condition of the canvas and the accuracy of the signature supported the Bierstadt authorship. |
Among the work that John showed us was an Italian piece picturing an old lady in black walking down a dusty village road. We were both impressed with the painting and decided to send it to a collector in North Carolina, who had been very difficult to please. In fact we had sent her about dozen paintings for her consideration without one sale. This was going to be the last piece we tried. The collector loved it, and it was the only piece she ever purchased from us. Interestingly, it was the only
gallery painting of John's that ever showed a figure.