Salon Tokyo 2013-East Meets West

Niels Jongdahl

The attendees are back home and several have posted on this amazing annual event already. Salon is an annual gathering of artists from around the world sharing techniques and displaying their painted panels.

group panel

 The theme this year was "East meets West". Artists interpret the theme in their panels using traditional painting techniques of trompe l'oeil, gilding, scagliola, woodgraining and marble. A group mural is always a highlight! All the participating artists combine their talents to create a large panel displayed for all to see.

Masao Hanawa

You can see not all work submitted is traditional! Masao Hanawa did an incredible self portrait, larger than life!

Arlene Mcloughlin

American artist Arlene Mcloughlin submitted this beautiful panel of a geisha.

Lynne Rutter

Lynne Rutter (from San Francisco) created an interesting juxtaposition of East meets West with the play of a samurai warrior and a warrior of another kind! This was done over a copper gilded background.

Helen Morris

Stencil artisan Helen Morris did this incredible multi layered stencil of a geisha serving tea.

This is a chance for artists to connect with each other and paint collaboratively , not often the case as artists mostly work alone on the job site.


You can see the many ways artist interpreted "East meets West"....

Caterina Manisco

Julien Gautier

Marie Vanesse

Mats Carlsson

detail

Jeanne Santomauro Schnupp

Lotta Olsson

Lo Spazio Dipinto

Jean-Luc Sablé

Cultural events were also held including a tea ceremony...

and face painting.

Next year's event will be held in Seattle! 

Salon 2012-Hamburg, Germany

(Marco Massimiani)
Salon 2012 just concluded in Hamburg, Germany. Salon is a prestigious gathering of international decorative artisans that gather once a year to celebrate decorative ornamentation. (Decorative artists are eommonly used to embellish the walls and ceilings of prominent buildings.)

Artist work on a panel they will exhibit usually featuring faux marble or wood graining techniques sometimes combined with other decorative ornament.

The exhibits were under a glass ceiling complete with classic music to set the mood.

The faux marble, arabesques and wood graining panels shown brilliant in the sun.

The purpose of salon is to share ideas and pass on age old techniques to the next generation of artisans...

Trompe l'oeil is also prominent for subject matter of the panels. (French artist -Julien Gautier)

...and the occasional tulip by one of the Dutch artists(Michiel Van de Laar)....they paint them so well!

Pierre Finkelstein did a wonderful arabesque with a tortoise theme.

Natali Hallberg of Sweden working on a panel.

Yaeko Kurimata' panel included a dragon . Yaeko would have hosted this year's Salon in Tokyo but;  due to the tsunami, will host in 2013.

To submit a panel, one must be judged and only the best make it to be exhibited. This beautiful arabesque is by Lo Spazio Dipinto-Caterina Manisco

Special thanks to Leslie and Nicola Vigini of Vigini Studios who graciously shared their photos so we could see this incredible art!

Salon...Atlanta, Ga 2011

Anita Medina panel

No, this is not a photo of the Assyrian lions in the Louvre...this is a decorative painting done by artist Anita Medina.
  A large group of international  decorative painters just gathered in Atlanta, Ga for the 2011 Salon.

Salon exhibits the most prestigious level of art  by decorative artists.

Pierre Finkelstein

Examples of marbles and wood graining by the best of the best are on exhibit. Each year, there is a theme to the gathering...this year it was "Secrets".

Jan Berghuis

Lectures were also offered by the artists for the "insiders"that attended .

This piece by Jans Berghuis, is based on the golden rule and was elaborated on in his lecture on the secrets of the universe.

Each piece exhibited had incredible detail and only got better the closer you viewed them.

Julien Gautier

Layers of shading and highlights are painted to produce intricate folds in fabric and carved marbles.

This is a detail of Julien Gautier's work showing how precise his lines are between shadow and light.

Natali Hallburg worked on a fantastic portrait of a child.  The expression on her face was perfect!

Mats Carlson 

It is all about the illusion of depth, shadow and light and the play of three dimensional with the flat canvas. Mats Carlson did a great example of what a decorative artist does best....fool the eye!