Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cynthia Kundar
724 846-1130
June 3, 2005
Well-known Regional Artist R. Jean Vallieres to Exhibit at Merrick
Pittsburgh: The work of Jean (John) Vallieres portrays a new genre of American Realism focused on the Western Pennsylvania area during the early 20th century. Mr. Vallieres works in a wide variety of themes, formats and genres and has been greatly influenced by classical French, Italian and Dutch painters of the 14th through the 19th centuries. His portraits have been favorably compared by critics to those of Angelo Bronzino (1503-72) and Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-89). A number of his landscapes have been favorably linked to the styles of American artists Andrew Wyeth and Harold Altman. Mr. Vallieres’ ‘Historical Americana’ paintings display an un-previously attempted technique and color application that lends a spectacular somber vitality to each painting. “I have now reached that time when portraiture, is the genre in which I shall more emphatically devote my time. I hope to create canvases of hopefully lasting impact,” states Vallieres, “My primary goal is to focus on documenting the period of the Great American Depression in oil-on-canvas, in hope that what I produce will awaken renewed interest in this reformative period of American history when the character of our nation was tested and tempted.”
His paintings are unique for their use of a very limited color palette chose to portray the mood of the period. Mr. Vallieres very delicately portrays the American city as both a symbol of personal and social struggle. These paintings typify his interest in Western Pennsylvania’s working men, women and children and the socioeconomic environment. His works represent a somber new genre that infuses each canvas with a unique character and mood that speaks to the heart of the subject, a somber yet inspirational new way of looking at America and the American way of life in the first half of the 20th century. The viewer is not cheated to bright hues, but forced to reflect on the reality of the images. “I want the viewer to be challenged, to struggle, and to grow for the experience,” states Vallieres. He is intimately familiar with his subject matter, having grown up in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, a once prosperous textiles mill located on the Blackstone River. Most of his formative years as a painter were spent in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Also on view will be the recent acquisition of four new Vallieres oil paintings that depict scenes from 1930’s Western Pennsylvania. Completed over the past three years, the paintings form a part of a larger series of paintings that once completed are intended to highlight the history of the towns of Ambridge, Aliquippa, Baden, Rochester, and the city of Pittsburgh and the social environment surrounding these steel factory centers during boom times. The four paintings, one of which is a portrait of an Afro-American steelworker from Baden, entitled “Oft Forgotten Union Brother”, add to Merrick’s collection of American works of regional artists. Each painting is a somber yet vivid example of Vallieres’ unique style and technique of painting, and promise to be admired by the many visitors who tour the museum and view its extensive permanent collection. The paintings will eventually be displayed in a new Orientation Room of the museum, which will feature changing exhibits of works by regional, national and international artists.
This exhibit runs June 12th to July 10th. Summer hours for the gallery are 10-4 on Wednesdays through Saturdays and alternating Sundays. Merrick will be closed the Saturday through the Tuesday of the 4th of July weekend. The Merrick Art Gallery is located at 1100 Fifth Avenue, New Brighton, PA. For more information please phone 724-846-1130 or email: merrick@comcast.net.