Only One Day Left to Bid in the Artrageous 2023 Auction!

March 31, 2023 by Sarah

There’s just ONE DAY LEFT to bid in the Artrageous 2023 Art Auction! This year’s auction is our largest to date, with contributing artists from all sectors of The Umbrella community and including the donation of an original oil painting by French Post-Impressionist landscape painter, Lucien Bleyfus (1878-1953).

Be sure to check out our in person gallery or online in our virtual 360 degree gallery before bidding closes tomorrow night!

Below is just a sampling of the many diverse artists who have contributed their unique works to this year's auction. Find these, and many other talented contributing artists, on our website.

Jean Lightman is best known for her vibrant, award-winning floral still life paintings that can be found in private collections in the US and abroad. Working in the Boston School tradition, her work combines the color and light of the French Impressionists with the accurate drawings of the 19th Century European Academies. She delights in arranging dynamic still life compositions that suggest movement in the flowers and emphasize the delicate forms and subtle color shifts in the petals. Her goal is a finished painting in which all of the parts relate to the whole, giving her work unity and breadth, the hallmarks of the Boston School painting tradition.
Lightman currently serves as the first woman president of the prestigious Guild of Boston Artists, a 106 year-old fine art gallery on Newbury Street. She has given numerous public lectures about Boston School painting, the most notable to Google that has received over 2700 views on YouTube. She has twice appeared on WCVB's Chronicle. She has maintained a studio at The Umbrella since 1988.

Jordan Kessler is a big-picture thinker, an artist who found a love and understanding for composition before growing to love the technical and mechanical mastery of still photography. Having gone to school for film making, Jordan confesses that he prefers the slow, gratifying process of working with stills. There is something about being able to hold a print in your hand, or sit with it a while as it hangs on a wall. Jordan understands the romance of being able to appreciate a brilliantly composed work and see it displayed in the best possible way. A lead printer at a prestigious fine art studio before branching off with Brandon, Jordan sees himself as an artist and a problem solver. He relishes the challenge of every piece that comes through the Pitch Black door, knowing it’s another opportunity to elevate a piece of art to its ultimate aptitude.

Ellen Mchale is the artist/owner of Nelley-Kelley Designs, an online market place for her artwork, product line and a venue to showcase her love of vintage finds and interior styling. Ellen is a self-taught artist, but has pursued continuing education throughout her years, whether in London or locally at the DeCordova in Lincoln. She was selected to be part of a juried show in 2006 at The DeCordova student gallery, and in 2010 was discovered as a new artist by Daily Grommet, which picked up her product to sell on their site. Ellen has donated some original artwork to the Concord Community Chest, The Alcott School and The Brooklyn Public Schools as well as The Umbrella’s Artrageous Gala. She co-chaired the Gala in 2015 having already served on the events committee for the Gala in 2014.
As of May 2015, Ellen was published in the popular interiors magazine “Upcycled Style” which featured her work in a 14-page spread! This fall she was featured artist in “Finish” magazine sponsored by Wagner Paints.

Lucien Bleyfus was born at Thorigny-sur-Marne near Paris, France in 1876. A pupil of Alfred Renaudin and Ernest Romanet, he attended the famous Académies Julian and Humbert. He also studied under Louis Lavallée. During the 1930’s, Lucien achieved fame as a post-impressionist painter, celebrated in particular for the immediacy and freshness of his interpretation of the French countryside.
Lucien’s artistic accomplishments have been honored throughout France. His works have been exhibited regularly at the “Salon des Artistes Français”, and at the “Salon de l’Ecole Française” where they were exempted from jury examination. His paintings were received at additional Parisian salons, including the “Salon de l’Horticulture” and the “Indépendants”.
Outside of Paris, Lucien was celebrated in many other French cities. He is shown at the Museum of Nevers. “Bridge on the Bez” was purchased by the French government for the Museum of Orléans; another, “Effet du Soir”, by the city of Clichy. Two of his canvasses, “Banks of the Loire River” and “Village near Gien” were selected to represent the province of Orléans at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris.
An exhibition and sale of his work was held in September of 1993 at the French Library in Boston. Some of his paintings have been sold by Christie’s, New York, and many are in private collections in the United States.