The William Secord Gallery, in conjunction with the Artis Group, is pleased to present Barrie Barnett’s first Palm Beach exhibition: Barrie Barnett: Pastels of Dogs and Other Animals.

This exhibition and sale will include over twenty-five highly realistic pastels, portraying dogs, cats, horses and even a pig or two! Opening on January 8, it continues through January 29, 2003.

This exhibition is the fourth in a series which since 1999 has presented fine 19th an 20th century dog and animal paintings to a Palm Beach audience. William Secord, author of three comprehensive books on dog paintings, who enjoys Palm Beach as his second home, states that the town’s love of dogs and horses makes it an ideal venue for Barnett’s unique form of classical realism.

Amazed

Pastel is a highly demanding medium and Barrie Barnett is a “master of the craft,” states Secord, “Over and over again, my clients are amazed at Barnett’s technical facility, and the unique perspective that she brings to the work.” When the artist painted Mr and Mrs Thomas Clarke’s Boykin Spaniels, they were delighted. Mr Gilbert S Kahn of Coral Gables, Florida, was equally impressed with Barrie, having her paint his top winning Shih Tzu, Ch Charing Cross Ragtime Cowboy: “It’s as if Joey is about to walk out of the frame - every hair is in place, and she captured his personality exactly!”

Growing up in Baltimore, Barnett began her formal art training at the age of nine and came to be known for her portraits of people, eventually changing her focus to dogs in 1996. Her move to animals, however, was really a return to her first love, for as she states, “I have always been attracted to animals as a subject matter, and this show portrays them in their element - keeping watch for master, sniffing a breeze, or waiting for dinner.” Barnett is a member of the American Society of Portrait Artists, the Pastel Society of America, and the Washington Society of Portrait Artists.

This exhibition is the culmination of three years of preparation, and the result is a highly realistic group of pastels that present a fresh take on classical realism.