Masters: Young and Old

Young Old Master painting dealers Emanuele and Leonardo Piacenti are 4th generation Florentine specialists in Italian renaissance pictures. Although this will be the 3rd year the brothers have participated in Master Paintings Week, 2012 marks the inaugural show at their permanent London gallery at 10 Bury Street. In addition to this opening the brothers will be joined by NY Gallerist Jason Jacques in presenting a special exhibition “Masters: Young and Old” at the usual 8 Duke Street location. Opening on June 19th with a show featuring paintings by renaissance artists including Benedetto Gennari, Giuseppe Bezzuoli, Pier Francesco Mola, and Jacopo Amigoni and 19th century Florentine majolica master artist Galileo Chini along side fresh young master painter Martin Kline and ceramics from England’s mad potter, Gareth Mason. The goal of this exhibition is to present an exciting juxtaposition of young and old that will inspire today’s collectors of both contemporary and old master pictures to flex and experiment, all in good taste. The choice of Martin Kline at first glance is perhaps confusing in that the artist’s work is not quite figural. Yet Martin's story answers the questions one might have about this marriage.

Martin went to Ohio University and has a bachelors of Fine Arts with a double major, one in fine art, focused on print making and drawing. Coming out of a traditional fine art education Martin spent his early years drawing from life both figural and still. His second major was in Art History focused on Italian Renaissance painting. He spent last semester living in Florence and Rome studying Renaissance art. His work somewhere between abstraction and representation comes from the renaissance tradition of working from the ground up, making panels and grinding pigments, and the high end quality of making truly fine art. It is here that he found his voice in encaustic work. He often uses classical themes. APOLLO AND VENUS two works from the current show, are such works. In addition to this obvious connect is the fact the from the beginning of Martin’s career he has been collecting old master drawings.

Yet what seems most important in this exhibition is not the intellectual connections within the exhibition but the aesthetic connections. The most exciting collectors have always mixed the old and the new. Greatness and true beauty always live well together, whatever the period.