News
Congratulations Sharon Sprung!
Yes! Sharon Sprung's official White House Portrait of Michelle Obama was at last unveiled in a ceremony on September 7, 2022, in the East Room of the White House.
Above: First Lady Michelle Obama, by Sharon Sprung, oil on panel, 44 x 36 inches White House Collection, Washington, DC photo credit: White House Historical Association
We are thrilled for Sharon whose beautiful oil portrait of the former First Lady is now on display in Washington, DC, as part of The White House Collection.
Sharon Sprung, imaged above, in her studio. photo credit: Lila Barth for The New York Times
Here's some of what Sharon had to say about the painting and her eight month endeavor to complete it:
"It's the longest I ever worked on one painting, and I worked on it day and night, and I said good morning to her and I said good night to her. I had swatches of all the material I was painting.
And I knew it was done when she started to breathe. That's my goal in portrait paintings - it's when the person starts to be alive to me and I can interact with them. Then I know I am close." - Sharon Sprung
Sharon has assembled a wonderful montage of pictures, press, and various media coverage on her commission to paint Michelle Obama and the unveiling of the Obama portraits. Visit her website here to view it in detail.
This is Sharon Sprung's third commissioned portrait on display in Washington, DC! Sprung also painted the portrait of the first woman to ever serve in Congress, Jeannette Rankin, and the portrait of Patsy Mink, another ground-breaking noted Representative from the state of Hawaii. Visit our post on Patsy Mink here.
Gallery Henoch will present Sharon Sprung's seventh solo show, featuring recent figurative paintings along with examples of important portrait commissions, this October, from the 6th through the 29th, in Chelsea. Visit The Art of Sharon Sprung here to learn more about Sharon's distinguished career.
Sharon Sprung’s new portrait at the U.S. Capital!
Imaged above is Sharon Sprung’s portrait of Patsy Mink, unveiled June 23, 2022, at the U.S. Capital in Washington, DC, to mark the 50th anniversary of when Title IX was signed into law.
”I was honored to be selected to paint this portrait of Representative Patsy Mink. It was unveiled in its new home at the United States Capital last week and joins the Congress’ First Series….
To create her portrait, I first immersed myself in who she was when she started in Congress. Exploring collections of videos, photos, personal writings, and personal experiences.
The final painting reveals a woman committed to hard work which she executed with enthusiasm and an overwhelming sense of optimism to make changes in Congress.
Grateful to now be a part of her story.” - Sharon Sprung, June 28, 2022
In 1964, Patsy Mink won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first woman of color and the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress, plus the first woman elected to Congress from the state of Hawaii.
In 1972, Mink co-authored the Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act, later renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002. This is the landmark civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools or other educational programs funded by the federal government.
Mink was honored posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24, 2014.
This is Sharon Sprung’s second commissioned portrait on display in Washington, DC. Sharon also painted the portrait of the first woman to ever serve in Congress, Jeannette Rankin. Visit The Art of Sharon Sprung to learn more.
Congratulations Sharon!
Sharon's Class Demo
We were delighted to welcome Sharon Sprung and a group of her students from The Art Students League on May 19th to our newly reopened Chelsea showroom on West 27th Street in NYC.
Gathered around our mixing table for a color demonstration, participants taking Sharon's Painting from Life class were keen to ask and get answers to their technical questions about paint and the painting process.
How completely different each of the white pigments mix was included as we put out on the table our pure Titanium White, pure Flake White, and pure Zinc White to show the distinct changes in value, temperature and even the physical properties of the resulting mixtures. Differences between modern pigments and the traditional earth and mineral colors were demonstrated and why all are valuable for a painter's palette.
Thank you to Je and Donna for sharing the group photos!
The Female Eye
Gallery Henoch presents The Female Eye, a group exhibition of 11 contemporary female realist painters investigating their present-day truths. The Female Eye opened on September 19th with an invite-only benefit for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and continues on view to the public through October 22, 2019, at 555 West 25th St., New York, NY.
Located in Chelsea's Gallery District, Gallery Henoch has a history of recognizing and promoting female artists since its founding in the 1960's. This exhibition of primarily oil paintings is the gallery's first attempt to do a show focused solely on the work of women.
Shown above is: Nature/Nurture, by Sharon Sprung, oil on panel, 36 x 36 inches.
A note from Sharon Sprung: "I have always felt that my paintings are diffuse self-portraits - and that particles of my inner and outer life as a female artist are reflected in my work."
Shown below is: Serendipity, by Sharon Sprung, oil on panel, 42 x 42 inches.
A detail of this work graces the cover of the accompanying catalog for the show. To learn more, visit the Gallery Henoch website. To view more of Sharon Sprung's oils, visit her website here.
Painting From Life, Portraiture
Work from Sharon Sprung's morning class, Painting From Life, Portraiture, came up for exhibition on February 4, 2019, in this year's The Student Concours at The Art Students League of New York. On view for just a week in the Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery at The League, 215 West 57th St., New York, NY, this show of primarily oil paintings can be seen Mon-Fri, 9am to 8pm and on Saturday, from 9am to 2pm when it will close.
Imaged here is an oil painting by Noah Jordan
To learn more about attending classes, workshops, or to download a current schedule, visit The Art Students League of New York website.
Visit a new post on our blog to view more images from the show.