PALM BEACH LIGHT · 2020-06-05 · REDWORLD Sunset w/ Symbology and Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD Sunset w/o Symbology. Both paintings: 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size:

PALM BEACH LIGHTL IGHT MOMENTS | J . STEVEN MANOL IS

PALM BEACH LIGHTL I G H T M OM E N T S | J. S T E VE N MA NOL I S

PALM BEACH LIGHTL I G H T M OM E N T S | J. S T E VE N MA NOL I S

Essays by BRUCE HELANDER, DEBORAH POLLACK, ANTHONY HADEN-GUEST,

MYRTHIA NATAL IE MOORE, and J. STEVEN MANOLIS

This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition:

J. Steven Manolis, Gallery Exhibition:

Palm Beach Light,

Fritz Gallery, Palm Beach, FL

April 4–June 2, 2019

Copyright © 2019 J. Steven Manolis

Fritz Gallery

211 Royal Poinciana Way, Palm Beach, FL 33480

fritzgallery.com

Curator: Bruce Helander

Designer: Dan Ellis

Editor: Susan Hall

Book Coordinator, Elevations Design: Coco de Salazar

Administrative Assistant: Karene Telesca

Photography: Kim Sargent, J. Steven Manolis

Front and back cover: J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Light - Sunset (detail),

2019, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in. Framed size: 74.25 x 62.25 in.

This page: Ocean Avenue, Palm Beach, Florida, ca. 1897-1923, postcard,

author unknown, Detroit Photographic Company, Beinecke Rare Book &

Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Artwork Photography by Coco De Salazar.

www.jstevenmanolisart.com

www.manolisprojects.com

C O N T E N T S

8

Show of Shows Introduction by Bruce Helander

12

Artists and Palm Beach Light: A Romanceby Deborah Pollack

20

Guided by Lightby Bruce Helander

30

Knock Outby Anthony Haden-Guest

36

J. Steven Manolis: Painting Meaning Within Meaning by Myrthia Natalie Moore

44

Palm Beach Lightby J. Steven Manolis

50

Metamorphosis:A Show Within A Show by Miles Slater

53

Elevations

75

Paintings

137

Index

When I first arrived in Palm Beach as an art dealer and artist in the early ‘80s, we committed

to exhibiting talented artists worth acquiring for their high-level aesthetic appeal coupled with

a distinctive visual character that provided a solid investment potential. We presented both

recognized and emerging painters from Kenneth Noland to a young Hunt Slonem in a handsome

Worth Avenue showcase environment, and for those art collectors who responded positively to

my advice for acquisitions, the long-term profits exceeded any other type of investment. History

continues to repeat itself with a remarkable show at the Fritz Gallery by two talented friends,

J. Steven Manolis and Miles Slater, which arguably has few if any art precedents and is the most

important Palm Beach private gallery exhibition in decades. This fresh showplace also has been

universally acclaimed as arguably the most beautiful and spacious in South Florida.

Over the next thirty years, the art world experienced an explosion of new artists, many of

who were relatively unknown but whose ingenuity and hard work paid attractive dividends in

critical acclaim and increased values. I’m simply amazed at the positive comparisons and historical

connections between Manolis’ astounding current display of expressionist works and the

legendary artists who managed a unique visual voice and consequently had their work skyrocket

in prestige and value.

The current Manolis exhibition at the Fritz Gallery in Palm Beach relates admirably to other

abstract expressionist pioneers who found a breakthrough singular style in non-narrative painting.

The evidence of another innovative exhibition is currently on the walls in a show within a show,

including Slater’s tranquil and minimal carved marble sculpture coupled with Manolis’ dynamic

display of riveting energized color-saturated canvases. The combination of these two talents

who have worked with each other for decades is electrifying. This is a memorable and historic

show that incorporates interpretive natural light compositions influenced by the ever-changing

atmosphere above Palm Beach, resulting in a delightful and engagingly memorable exhibition

that is the first of its kind anywhere.

Anyone who walks through this commendable show, which has been extended twice by

popular demand, no doubt will experience a captivating environment of color and form not seen

in ages and simply is not to be missed.

Above: Real world REDWORLD Sunset,

photographer unknown.

Left page (from left):

J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Light -

REDWORLD Sunset w/ Symbology and

Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD Sunset

w/o Symbology. Both paintings: 2019,

Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size:

50.25 x 38.25 in.

9

Show of ShowsINTRODUCTION BY BRUCE HELANDER

8

From the moment pioneer artist Laura Woodward (1834–1926) first set foot on the tropical shores of

Palm Beach around 1889, she knew she had found the most beautiful setting she had ever seen. As a

Hudson River School member trained to revere and delineate nature faithfully, she was thrilled by the

dappled light on jungle trails, jewel-like sparkles on waterways, and sunlit blossoms swaying on soft

breezes. Despite the perils of sketching en plein air in an untamed frontier, Laura Woodward thought

Palm Beach was “the most paintable place in the world.” (1)

Although Woodward was the first professionally exhibiting artist in Palm Beach, George Wells

Potter (1851–1924), an illustrator who worked mostly in pen and ink, came to the island from Ohio

in 1881. Potter carefully delineated scenes of Lake Worth with its pioneers and Seminoles on both

shores, but his black and white materials limited the portrayal of Palm Beach’s golden light.

In 1893 Henry Morrison Flagler gave Laura Woodward a studio in his unfinished Hotel Royal Poin-

ciana, and years after it opened in February 1894, several artists came to Palm Beach, some emulating

Woodward by maintaining their studios at the hotel. Other artists followed and by the 1920s Palm

Beach had become a vibrant art center with many painters, photographers, and sculptors wintering

on the island annually.

While Palm Beach’s beauty attracted these artists, why specifically was the town’s light so special

to them? It’s not just because Palm Beach is relatively sunny and warm throughout the year and

situated on the Atlantic coast; so is Miami Beach. But that city’s high-rises block the sun and create an

urban, unnatural aura. It’s the combination of Palm Beach’s respect for nature, constraint in building

1312

Artists and Palm Beach Light:

A RomanceBY DEBORAH POLLACK


J. Steven Manolis, Light Moments: Palm Beach Light -

Sunrise, Palm Beach Light - 0700 HRS, Palm Beach

Light - Sunset, and Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30

Min. All works: 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in.

Framed size: 74.25 x 62.25 in. Fritz Gallery, Palm Beach,

FL. Photograph by Kim Sargent.

Sunset on Lake Worth, Palm Beach, Fla., postcard,

photographer unknown, Detroit Publishing Company,

1904, 3 x 4 ½ inches.

14

height, and unique location between the ocean and Lake Worth that stirs the air, filters the light with

moisture, and stimulates the artist’s muse.

It’s not only the light of Palm Beach that appeals to artists; it’s the interplay of brightness and

shadow—darting in and out of clouds, streaming through feathered palms, splashing on pastel

colored buildings, and mingling with royal poinciana, bougainvillea, and hibiscus blooms. It’s also the

mercurial atmosphere conditions: the somber storm cloud as it intrudes upon a Palm Beach after-

noon and changes the light from golden to silver and then charcoal; and just as quickly as the tropical

shower begins, the brightness returns—sometimes accompanied by a rainbow.

Equally inspiring are the varieties of light on the ocean—glorious in the morning and interspersed

with lengthening shadows in the late afternoon—and the twinkling glints of sunlight and moonlight

on Lake Worth. Then there are the spectacular sunsets across the lake, simultaneously creating a pink

luminosity in the eastern sky. In the beginning of each sunset, the western light is saturated with bril-

liant vermillion, gold, and coral, and at the end, hot pink, purple, and muted yellow smudge the hori-

zon. This is the famous “afterglow”—when twilight has just put the sun to bed and the world seems

at peace, famously portrayed by Laura Woodward from Lake Trail, and depicted by other painters and

photographers for over 100 years. Finally, there’s the Palm Beach night, when artists can test their skill

in portraying the cool light of the moon as opposed to the warm glow of the sun.

Painter and printmaker Zella De Milhau (1870–1954), who had attended William Merritt Chase’s

renowned Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art, was determined to capture a moonlit scene in Palm

Beach, and commented that the only other comparable sunsets to those on the island were in Egypt.

Palm Beach is on the same latitude as Algeria, Libya, and Egypt, and for a brief period in summer, dust

from the Sahara flows west to Palm Beach on upper-level winds, creating a hazy light and intensifying

sunrises and sunsets. But the arid deserts in these North African countries create little change in their

atmosphere. Indeed, sculptor/painter Thomas Shields Clarke (1860-1920), son of Palm Beach pioneer

Charles John Clarke, wrote while vacationing in the Middle East, that unlike the fleeting Palm Beach

afterglow, the sky in the desert remains yellow for an hour from the reflection of the sand. (2)

The Gulf Stream, flowing closer to Palm Beach than anywhere else in North America, contributes

to nourishing the special light of the island and differentiates it from northern Africa. As Thomas S.

Clarke expressed in an article, “Palm Beach…basks in the warm, moist air that blows over the Gulf

15

Stream and produces a wonderful sub-tropical growth of vegetation that cannot be found elsewhere

in our country.” He went on to describe Palm Beach light:

“High above, the white seagulls circle and flash in the sunlight along with the

fleecy clouds that float on the trade winds from the Caribbean. …After the

winter sun has sunk across the lake in a blaze of tropic glory, and supper has

been eaten, we walk again to the ocean beach in the twilight to sit on the sand

and watch the great red moon glide up and change to gold and then to silver

above the restless waves; then home to sleep….” (3)

Hermann Herzog (1832–1932), an American landscapist born in Germany, who lived in Palm

Beach at the turn of the twentieth century and excelled in portraying atmospheric conditions, said

that whenever the light was optimal he would paint at his easel. He created oils of the Palm Beach

jungle, and it was clear that Herzog often found the light perfect for creativity. Painter and jewelry de-

signer Daisy Erb (1875–1959), who arrived in Palm Beach by 1908, bought property along Root Trail

where a small colony of artists sketched. She wrote that the artists were drawn to the island “by the

far-famed loveliness of the resort.” Jane Peterson (1876–1965), wintering in Palm Beach by the 1910s,

learned how to depict brilliant daylight and subtle shade from such artists as Spanish master Joaquín

Sorolla y Bastida, and used this technique well in her postimpressionist portrayals of the beach, foli-

age, and tropical birds. (4)

During the 1920s, portraitist Oswald Birley (1880–1952) told the Palm Beach Daily News, “No-

where in the world have I seen so luminous quality of light as there is in Palm Beach. …I noticed that

the days [are] uncannily bright. The sea and all of the foliage has a quality of color that I have never

observed anywhere else in the world. …I firmly believe that I shall do some of my best things while I

have an opportunity to work in this sunshine.” (5)

Sir John Lavery (1856–1941), an accomplished painter of many subjects, visited Palm Beach in 1927

and rendered several works in the area, one entitled The Peoples’ Pool, Palm Beach, in which he deftly

handled the varying colors from the pool’s reflection and absorption of light. In the midst of a blazing

sunset at the end of a perfect day, a journalist interviewed Lavery at the Everglades Club, where he

Jane Peterson, Palm Beach, gouache on white paper,

17.88 x 23.88 inches (45.42 x 60.66 cm.), courtesy

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Laura Woodward, Lake Trail, Palm Beach,

ca. 1890, watercolor on paper, 10 ½ x 15 ½ inches

(sight) (26.67 x 39.37 cm.), courtesy Edward and

Deborah Pollack Fine Art.

Sir John Lavery, The People’s Pool, Palm Beach,

1927, oil on canvas, 25 x 29.9 inches (63.5 x 76

cm.), private collection, photo © Christie’s Images /

Bridgeman Images.

J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Formal (Right panel),

2018, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in. Framed size:

74.25 x 62.25 in. See page 114.

spoke of his admiration for the paradisiacal island with its ubiquitous bright light. And while Lavery kept

a winter home in Morocco, he felt it did not compare to the warmth and beauty of Palm Beach. In the

same decade illustrator “Bryan” (Charles William) De Grineau (1883–1957) said he enjoyed the island

far more than the French Riviera and added, “Palm Beach is quite a thing by itself.” Grineau especially

liked the Lake Trail, which stayed intact while the tearing down of natural beauty and replacing it with

designed elegance continued at a rapid pace. “Thank goodness we still have the Lake Trail,” Daisy Erb

remarked in 1935, and thank goodness it remains, where shade, light, and color still inspire artists. (6)

The artistic appreciation of Palm Beach’s light lasted throughout the twentieth century. British

painter/photographer/designer Cecil Beaton (1904–1980) wrote of the dazzling sunlight in Palm

Beach, blistering tourists’ shoulders and removing all ambition for ever leaving the place. In 1962

famed Dadaist Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) spoke of the beauty and tranquility of Palm Beach while

relaxing in the sunshine by the pool of one of his collectors, and added that it was a pleasure to be

among such wonderful art in such a desirable location. Celebrity surrealist Salvador Dali (1904–1989)

delighted in the aura of Palm Beach, as did mid-twentieth century modernist Bernard Buffet (1928-

1999) and his fashionable wife, Annabel. In the meantime, while Orville Bulman (1904-1978) was first

inspired by the Caribbean in the early 1950s for his whimsical, naïve works, for the next two decades

Palm Beach light influenced Bulman’s subtle gradation and nuances of color found in the skies behind

his fantastical scenes. (7)

Palm Beach light not only stimulated artistry in master colorist Nicola Simbari (1927–2012); he

also frequently sunbathed in it, and both he and his wife Elfrida loved Palm Beach’s natural beauty so

much they purchased property on the island. And in the 1990s, Palm Beach’s Renaissance man, Bruce

Helander and other contemporary artists of Root Trail, including Paul Aho and Barbara “Bunny” Jolly,

visited the ocean at sundown, doubtless seeking inspiration and relaxation from its special light. (8)

Today Palm Beach light still inspires Helander and other fine artists. Sandra Thompson, who studied

at the Cooper Union in New York, is highly praised for her expertise in contrasting sunlight and shade

on Palm Beach’s Mediterranean-inspired architecture. She commented that “the intense shadowing

and light of Palm Beach further enhances the unique beauty of the fabled enclave that I have been

privileged to paint for the past twenty years.” Another successful artist, Deborah Bigeleisen, who often

juxtaposes warm and cool hues in her work, has stated, “I love the colors of the morning light over the

waters of Palm Beach—whether it’s a sun-filled sky illuminating the blues of the water, or the grays and

dark greens of an approaching storm, the analogous colors have influenced many of my paintings.” (9)

These sentiments apply to many local artists and their work. It’s all about Palm Beach light that

brings their art to life. J. Steven Manolis can attest to this because Florida has attracted him since the

early 1980s and he painted en plein air in Palm Beach County’s Wellington for two decades. The island

of Palm Beach beckoned him by the early 2000s, where he lived seasonally at Palm Beach Towers,

offering captivating views of Lake Worth to the west and tropical foliage to the east. The light of Palm

Beach intrigued Manolis so much that he consequently stayed for year-round inspiration. Although

he relocated to Miami at the end of 2014, he has not forgotten Palm Beach or its atmospheric effects,

and in 2016 returned to exhibit a one-man show called “Color Matters” at the Paul Fisher Gallery, and

participate in a group exhibition with Bruce Helander, Miles Slater, and Jill Krutick at the Center for

Creative Education in 2017. Moreover, Manolis has returned to explore and be further inspired by Palm

Beach’s radiance, resulting in this series of vibrant paintings aptly entitled “Palm Beach Light.” (10)

— Deborah C. Pollack’s books include Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South; Palm Beach Visual Arts;

Bad Scarlett: The Extraordinary Life of the Notorious Southern Beauty Marie Boozer; Vintage Miami Beach Glamour:

Celebrities and Socialites in the Heyday of Chic; and Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed

Palm Beach, which won a women’s history award from Florida Memorial University. Her essays are in the New

Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and Central to Their Lives: Women Artists in the Johnson Collection. Articles have

appeared in such periodicals as the American Art Review, New York History Review, Tequesta, Antiques and Art Around

Florida, and The Tustenegee (the Historical Society of Palm Beach County journal). She lives with her husband, Edward, in

Palm Beach, Florida, where they own Edward and Deborah Pollack Fine Art.

NOTES: (1) Deborah C. Pollack, Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach (Blue Heron Press

with the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, 2009), 108-09; and “Palm Beach Attracts Artists,” Palm Beach Daily News, March

31, 1936; (2) Thomas Shields Clarke to family, June 28, 1914, Thomas Shield Clarke Letters, 1875–1920, Reel AAA 4235 Archives

of American Art, Smithsonian Institution; and Kimberly Miller, “Saharan Dust makes for Surreal Sunrises in South Florida this Week,”

Palm Beach Post, August 5, 2017. (3) Clarke, “An Artist’s Florida,” Country Life, Dec. 1, 1911, 49-50; and “Beauties of Florida Lure

Artists and Painters who Declare State their Mecca,” Palm Beach Post, January 16, 1929. (4) Daisy Erb, “Palm Beach Art League,”

typed manuscript, Historical Society of Palm Beach County. (5) “Catches in the Social Stream,” Palm Beach Daily News, February 9,

1926 and Pollack, Palm Beach Visual Arts (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company, 2016), 51. (6) Pollack, Visual Arts, 49, “Dis-

tinguished British Artist at Palm Beach,” Palm Beach Post, January 28, 1927; and “City Possesses Gifted Artist in Person of Daisy Erb,”

Palm Beach Post-Times, January 6, 1935. (7) Pollack, Visual Arts, 65, 96; Cecil Beaton, “Palm Beach,” Vogue, April 1, 1931, 2; Elfrida

Simbari, email to author, June 11, 2014; and “Buffets are Charming,” Palm Beach Post, February 23, 1962. (8) Pollack, Visual Arts,

130, 157. (9) Sandra Thompson, email message to author, August 1, 2017; Deborah Bigeleisen, email message to author, August 2,

2017; and “About Deborah Bigeleisen,” Artist Statement, http://deborahbigeleisen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2016-Debo-

rah-Bigeleisen-ARTIST-STATEMENT-.pdf. (10) Bruce Helander, biography of J. Steven Manolis, email to author, November 9, 2017.

Bruce Helander, Night Desert Bloom,

2016, Original acrylic on canvas with printed

background, 59 5/8 x 45 in.

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise + Ten

Minutes, 2019, Photograph by J. Steven

Manolis.

16 17

Orville Bulman, La Barque Mon Coeur, 1966, oil on

canvas, 22 x 24 inches (55.88 x 60.96 cm.), © Estate of

Orville Bulman, courtesy Edward and Deborah Pollack

Fine Art.

J. Steven Manolis’ new series of paintings on display at the Fritz Gallery in Palm Beach represents his

life-long fascination with natural light, as well as its inspiration and direct influence on his signature

work. Viewers entering the pristine, expansive gallery topped off with high ceilings no doubt will

experience a radiant glow from the white walls that support an ambitious portfolio of large-scale

canvases drenched in a multitude of assorted pigments, which capture the essence of light. The colors

are hand-mixed with precision as if the artist was a pharmacist carefully calculating the ideal prescrip-

tion for successful formula. Manolis methodically conjures up combinations that not only are refined

and singular but, in this bright series, seem to offer an authentic interpretation of blending sunlight

recollections with mastery combined with discovery. This unusual amalgamation of hue and gesture,

gracefully tinted with a delicate kiss from the sun, initiates a kind of a mystical gravitational pull to

these abstract arrangements. As a youth, the artist was fascinated by the conformational and inherent

beauty in sunsets and sunrises, which often were theatrical and seemed to go on forever, disappear-

ing over the horizon in a seemingly endless illuminated drama washing over the flat plains of Manolis’

native South Dakota. After years of investigation into the subject of light and interjecting the distinc-

tive nuances of abstract expressionism coupled with elements of color field and constructivist theory,

Manolis has corralled the inherent beauty of pure color and the glorious skies above with his signature

style. Manolis certainly is pursuing a respected and historic category in contemporary art by merging

several disciplines into one clear, concise visual abstract statement.

Natural light has been a favorite component utilized by artists for thousands of years. One of the

most famous and legendary paintings on this illuminating subject is The Separation of Light from

21

Guided by LightBY BRUCE HELANDER

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise, Worth Avenue

Clocktower, 2019, Photograph by J. Steven

Manolis.

Left: J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Light -

Sunrise, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in.

Framed size: 74.25 x 62.25 in.

20

22

Darkness, a series of nine panels completed over four years by Michelangelo. Begun in 1508 for the

Sistine chapel ceiling, it depicted the viewpoint of the Book of Genesis chronology and the divine

creation that purportedly altered night forever.

We also are affected by light every day, and without it the world as we know it would perish. Art

and life go together like a ‘horse and carriage,’ but we depend on light every day for sustenance. In

our culture, “light” also has seeped into hundreds and songs that remain memorable, such as “Blinded

by the Light” (Manfred Mann), “Shine a Light” (Rolling Stones), “In the Light” (Led Zeppelin), “Ray of

Light” (Madonna) and “2000 Light Years Away” (Green Day).

Ever since artists began to document the surrounding landscape on canvas, the position of the

sun and its effect on the sky and the earth has played an important and transformative role in the

painterly history of art. Sunset or sundown are the common terms for the daily disappearance of

the sun below the horizon due to the earth’s rotation. As the planet makes a full revolution, the sun

appears to rise out of nowhere to reveal our side of the globe. Artists have been particularly fond of

documenting this daily occurrence, as the constantly shifting skyscape remains a creative challenge

and stimulation for the artist to rise and shine. Memorable sunsets by famous artists include Claude

Monet delightful painting, Autumn on the Seine, which also masterfully incorporated the brilliant

orange echo in the Parisian river; Pierre Bonnard’s memorable Autumn View; or perhaps the most

well-known sky painting of all time, The Starry Night, by Vincent van Gogh. J.M.W. Turner’s Sunset se-

ries (1830) continues to glow with age and may have been a subliminal prompt for modern day color

field painters who were fascinated with the Turner’s ability to morph the land and the sky together.

Other artists immediately that come to mind are Georgia O’Keeffe’s dramatic interpretations of the

New Mexico desert sky or David Hockney’s breathtaking aerial views of the Grand Canyon. Edward

Hopper’s documentation of the seaside atmosphere near Wellfleet on Cape Cod remain moving

and contemplative, as well as Winslow Homer’s interpretive paintings of Key West. Closer to home,

Florida Artists Hall of Famer Laura Woodward, whose pioneering works were recently exhibited at the

Ann Norton Sculpture Garden, was an early surveyor of the vivid inherent properties of the tropical

atmosphere accented by the sun’s changing position and often juxtaposed with the exotic blooming

fire red trees. Speaking of dramatic aerodynamic color, one of the most beautiful meteorological phe-

nomena in the sky is the polychrome circular arc called a rainbow. These remarkable brilliant bands of

23

Claude Monet, Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil,

1873, Oil on canvas, 21.3 x 28.8 in. (54.2 x 73.3 cm).

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA.

Right page (from left to right, Row 1, followed by

Row 2): J. Steven Manolis, Row 1: Palm Beach Light

- 0700 HRS w/o Symbology, Palm Beach Light -

Lavender & Pink Sunset w/o Symbology, Palm Beach

Light - Sunrise w/o Symbology, Palm Beach Light

- Sunset w/o Symbology, Row 2: Palm Beach Light -

0700 HRS w/o Symbology, Palm Beach Light - 1300

HRS w/o Symbology, Palm Beach Light - 1300 HRS

w/o Symbology, and Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30

Min. w/o Symbology. All paintings: 2019, Acrylic on

canvas, 40 x 30 in. Framed size: 42.25 x 32.25 in. Fritz

Gallery, Palm Beach, FL. Photograph by Kim Sargent.

24 25

light are caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion from miniscule water droplets, resulting in a

multi-tinted spectrum of curving across the sky. The famous “Pot o’ Gold” purportedly waiting at the

end of the rainbow is wishful thinking, as this optical illusionary myth is connected to the impression

that in theory, every rainbow is a fleeting circle maintaining actual volume or at least enough to slide

down smoothly to the money!

This rich history of light-filled interpretative artworks has had a tremendous impact on contempo-

rary artists, who incorporate color field theory with an abstract expressionist genre. Not surprisingly,

the first examples of modern light as art appeared after the discovery of electricity but didn’t become

a dedicated form of expression until the late 20th century, due in part to an experimental program at

LACMA by noted artists Robert Irwin and James Turrell. After these successful pioneering efforts, other

prominent artists like Tracey Emin, Dan Flavin, Jenny Holzer, Yayoi Kusama, Mary Corse and Glenn Li-

gon, among others, enthusiastically jumped on the bandwagon and de facto light orchestra. It should

be noted that all visual art employs light in some form, including modern photography and motion

pictures. This gradual evolution of light affecting art and the interplay of dark and light have been

themes running all the way back to Greek and Roman sculpture and Renaissance painting to experi-

mental film, modern conceptual art and minimalism, as well as the important ingredients in accenting

abstract expressionist configurations.

J. Steven Manolis has been exploring the advantageous and exciting components of light in his art

for most of his adult life, and that certainly is exemplified in his latest series of abstract constructivist

canvases, where inspiration comes directly from natural light. The exhibition at Fritz Gallery in Palm

Beach, aptly titled “Palm Beach Light – From Dawn to Dusk,” manifests Manolis’ constant examination

of how light affects the complexion and application of acrylic medium coupled with the composition-

al efforts of the artist, which also produces contrasts juxtaposed with illusional space. The motiva-

tional light source for this series is theoretically from the sun, but in fact, the practical infusion of light

directly onto the canvas is developed from a carefully prepared formula of exquisitely blended acrylic

pigment with a heavy dose of zinc white.

For over a decade Manolis lived and worked on the island of Palm Beach, well-known for its

dramatic light and pristine beaches, where he became captivated by the interaction of the sun

and the nearby Atlantic Ocean as it was deflected into the heavens. From engaging watercolor studies

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise, April 4, 2019,

Photograph by J. Steven Manolis.

Jill Krutick, Dreamscape Burst, 2018,

Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72 in.

Left: J. Steven Manolis, Winter Solstice, 2019,


74.25 x 62.25 in.

completed on the sandy mid-town beach to larger paintings transferred later in the studio from initial

sketches and occasionally a photograph, he began to develop a colorful palette of canvases that

incorporated an interpretation of refracted light. Slowly but surely, the determined and dedicated

artist discovered his own personal formula for adding dazzling vitality to his paintings, these eventual-

ly evolving into the current Palm Beach Light designation. After moving to Miami, Manolis designed a

5,000 square foot working studio where he could pursue his lifetime dream of creating large neo-ab-

stract expressionist works. When entering his expansive studio environment, a viewer can’t help but

become somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer volume and ambitious mark-making on a huge scale.

These characteristics are amplified even more in the professional setting of a solo gallery exhibition,

with skilled spotlighting of canvases hung above eye level that further amplify the absolute magnitude

of these impressive surfaces. In this memorable exhibition at the Fritz Gallery, the joy of painting is

evident throughout as Manolis celebrates and salutes the unique qualities of fusing natural light with

provocative and skillful picture-making.

——Bruce Helander is an artist who writes on art, and is the guest curator for J. Steven Manolis’ exhibition at the Fritz Gallery.

He is a member of the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, a former Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Rhode Island

School of Design and the former Editor-in-Chief of The Art Economist.

The Society of Four Arts, Palm Beach, Fla.

April 4, 2019. Photograph by J. Steven Manolis.

Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, Palm Beach, FL.

Photograph by J. Steven Manolis.

Right: J. Steven Manolis, Key West—Splash—

Sunset, 2016, Watercolor, gouache and acrylic on

Arches paper, 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm).

26 27

The 38 foot hallway down which you move when entering Palm Beach Light, the show of work by

J, Steven Manolis at the Fritz Gallery, Palm Beach, is hung with a dozen canvases, abstract paintings

which capture the specific qualities of the light at moments of the day from Sunrise through Noon to

Sunset Past Thirty. Just how specific are the light qualities? Well, the hallway ends with two sunsets,

based respectively on the observation that orange and yellow dominate 80% of the sunsets hereabouts

and that 15% of the sunsets are mostly lavender and pink. This is a tasty aperitif. You now enter the

gallery’s main high-ceilinged space, which has been subdivided into three by moving walls and where

you are at once confronted by a biggie, a 75” by 123” canvas painted in 2016: Flamingo - Key West.

I know this painting. The melt of the art world model interests me greatly, as do the changes in

the traditional artist career. The trajectory of Manolis’ career is putting him in the forefront of such

changes so I have been making sporadic studio visits over the last few years and was expecting no

surprises. Wrong. Palm Beach Light is at once coherent and uncontainable, clearly the product of a

single hand and eye, but as multi-directional as a spinning compass.

Just about any hang makes the point. Consider this. Two canvases entitled Redworld hang on a

wall to the left, both painted in 2019, the smaller is 40” by 30” and the larger 84” by 72”. The smaller,

a pure abstraction, as were all of Manolis’ artworks for many years, is fluidly made in the manner he

calls Less Is More. The larger canvas is way more complex, incorporating three of the concentric circles

which have been part of his pictorial language since early 2016, which was when they and other sym-

bols, inexplicably to him, crept into his mind and entered the process. Much of the remaining picture

surface is covered with a tracery of whiplash strokes with a fine energizing effect.

31

Knock Out BY ANTHONY HADEN-GUEST

J. Steven Manolis’ work on display with Miles Slater’s

sculpture at Fritz Gallery, Palm Beach, FL, 2019. Left

painting: Flamingo - Key West, 2016.01, Gouache and

acrylic on canvas, 72 X 120 in. Framed size: 75 X 123 in.

Left page (from left): J Steven Manolis, Light Moments

Series: Sunrise, 0700 HRS, 1300 HRS, Sunset, Sunset,

and Sunset + 30 Min. painting pairs with and without

Symbology. Each painting: 2019, Acrylic on canvas,

48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in. Entry Hallway

at Fritz Gallery, Palm Beach, FL. Photograph by Kim

Sargent. See page 36 and pages 76–85 for full

painting details.

30

32

I navigated my way around Palm Beach Light looking for other canvases where Manolis has used

the whiplash – it is executed with latex Enamel – and I did find several but there are as many others on

which he has used wholly different methods of paint handling, including what he calls salt-and-pep-

per, blobs and visibly different varieties of throw and pour. The contrast with the great Ab Ex genera-

tion is striking. Yes, de Kooning was a polymorph but Rothko, Barnett Newman, Pollock, Franz Kline,

were Modernists, set on a march onwards, onwards, working in their signature manner, the abandon-

ment of which tended to signal either a crisis, as with Pollock, or, as with Guston, a rejection.

The variety in Manolis’ paint handling animates the show, and if it startles, but works, it’s

because of a felt intensity, a sureness. It is that which unites such unalike works as the deceptively

simple Less-Is-More piece, Winter Solstice, and the stand-out Splash (Pink Sands). As also a single

sculpture in the show, Metamorphosis, a piece evolved from a Manolis painting by the sculptor,

Miles Slater. There is an inventiveness, an inquisitive pictorial intelligence at work here, and this takes

me straight back to Flamingo.

Manolis made this painting in early 2016, as part of his first major series Key West: Changing

Colors, and its genesis was an Audubon print. “In 1832 the Florida flamingo was coral pink in color,”

he says. “Today all Florida flamingos are salmon orange. And the reason for that is that the diet of

the flamingo is shrimp. But pollution has changed the composition of the shrimp and as the shrimp

has changed the flamingo has changed too. So I thought it would be nice to paint a work in which

I transitioned colors from the top to the bottom to represent the passage of time. The by-product is

that these coral pinks and muted oranges make for one of the most beautiful color combinations I

have ever seen.” So why did I headline this review Knock Out? Well, no harm in being self-referential

now and again, I hope. I had a boxing match on my 80th birthday. I was not in fact knocked out then,

as I doubtless deserved, but I was knocked out by Palm Beach Light.

— Anthony Haden-Guest is a British-American writer, reporter, cartoonist and art critic based in New York and London.

Financial Times, The Art Newspaper, Vanity Fair and The Daily Beast are but a few of the notable publications that have

carried his byline, and he is the author of True Colors-The Real Life of the Art World. He also is the news editor of Saatchi

Online.

33

Art critic and artist, Anthony Haden-Guest, writing a

review for J. Steven Manolis’ solo painting exhibition,

Palm Beach Light, sitting in Fritz Gallery. Painting by

artist, J. Steven Manolis, REDWORLD Concentric,

2019.01, 2019. See page 134. Left: Miles Slater, Oculus

I (Large), 2016 (foreground sculpture), with J. Steven

Manolis J. Steven Manolis, Flamingo - Key West,

2016.01. See page 122. Photographed at Fritz Gallery,

Palm Beach, FL, 2019 Photograph by Kim Sargent.

J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD

Sunset, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in. Framed

size: 74.25 x 62.25 in. with Miles Slater, Double Helix

(Wave), 2015. Photograph by J. Steven Manolis.

J. Steven Manolis is a 3rd generation abstract expressionist. Renowned art critic, Donald Kuspit (New

York) attributes him with starting a new school within the American Abstract Expressionism move-

ment- The Miami School. “Indeed, Manolis’ color-saturated abstractions breathe fresh life—fresh

feeling—into abstract expressionism…. He’s a modern master…. His brand of Miami abstract expres-

sionism is a welcome relief from New York abstract expressionism, and just as authentic.”

Manolis does not paint his angst for he chooses to focus on the positive in life. He paints about the

natural beauty of the world. Most of his paintings are explorations of his relationship with nature and

the universe. Manolis often states that God created the most beautiful colors and color combinations.

Manolis has explored nature from the small to the big; from his jellyfish which dominate the can-

vas in glorious colors, to the magnificence of the ocean, to the vastness of Universe. He “comments”

on the affects of water pollution on the color evolution of the flamingo in his flamingo series. Lastly, in

his current Palm Beach Light show, he explores the progression of time and how it affects the colors of

the world between sunrise and sunset. He glorifies nature and its representation of the greater version

of God or Spirit with the richness of his colors and the boldness of his throws and brushstrokes. His

paintings are part of the greater search for meaning in his life beyond his actions. He is searching for

meaning through his first person perspective of his environment and the emotions it evokes.

Kierkegaard, believed to be the progenitor of existentialism, proposed that each individual, not

society or religion, is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincere-

J. Steven Manolis:

Painting Meaning Within MeaningBY MYRTHIA NATAL IE MOORE

36 37

Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30 Minutes, Palm

Beach, Fla. 2019. Photograph by J. Steven Manolis.


J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Light - Sunset +

30 Min. w/ Symbology, and Palm Beach Light -

Sunset + 30 Min. w/o Symbology. Both paintings:


50.25 x 38.25 in.

38

ly, or “authentically”. We see this philosophy in Manolis’ Red World Series which is about living life full

on; all in. It’s about finding your passion or that which gives meaning to your life and pursuing it fully

and authentically.

Manolis’ paintings have a lot in common with the works of the Argentinian writer and poet, Jorge

Luis Borges, who was well known for his use of literary symbols. Brorges’ works can be enjoyed on at

least three levels: face value (the story was good), at a metaphorical level, and at the third level-where

you find the jewel -if you understand his symbols or the metaphors within the metaphor. But, it doesn’t

really matter at which level you understand Borges’ work, you can enjoy it at any, or at all levels. Such

is the work of J. Steven Manolis. There is no doubt that his work is beautiful, energetic, and executed

with mastery. So, he certainly passes the enjoyment at the first level test. So, on to the next levels...

J. Steven Manolis’ paintings represent an interplay between his conscious and unconscious mind

that make his paintings uniquely his. His splashes and spatters are all precisely thought out. He was

trained by master colorist Wolf Kahn, who was, in turn trained by the great Hans Hoffman, the father

of American Abstract Expressionism.

Manolis took over 30 years of private art lessons with Kahn, until he was able to find his own

voice and his own techniques to master colorfield painting. Manolis’ colorfields are unique and beau-

tiful. His use of the canvas’ white space and how he works the edges of a painting are indicative of

rigorous training and knowledge of past masters’ painting techniques. All of his paintings are a study

in the optimization of visual juxtaposition: hard versus soft edges, levels of saturation, movement

versus stillness, hue, color, etc.

People frequently want to know why he first started placing symbols onto his colorfields in 2016.

Manolis simply started “seeing” symbols as he was painting his color fields, so he just placed them

onto the painting. It is important to note that Manolis did not understand that he was seeing universal

symbols that have been used throughout the ages by many civilizations. He just saw them in his head

and he placed them on the painting.

To this day, he refuses to look up the meaning of any of the symbols he paints. He prefers to allow

the interplay of his unconscious mind retrieving the symbols from the unified field of consciousness

that Carl Jung has written so much about, with the conscious field of his paintings.

39

Wolf Kahn, Sfumatura, 1978, Oil on canvas, 44 x 52 in.

J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Light - Lavender

& Pink Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on

canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Right: J. Steven Manolis, Qatari Rhapsodies -

Sonata #2, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 87 x 183 in.

Framed size: 90 x 186 in. Fritz Gallery, Palm Beach,

FL, 2019. Photograph by Kim Sargent.

40 41

Many of his paintings are playful and joyful, yet he’s like a master chess player. Before he places

his first layer of paint on the canvas, he knows what the next several layers are going to look like. He

makes his paintings look very spontaneous, yet he uses an engineers’ precision to create each layer.

He initially paints the colorfields on the floor (before finishing the canvasses vertically with a brush).

He mixes acrylic color with water to create his trademark watercolor affect. He knows precisely the

weight of each color and how it will dry on the canvas based upon the proportions of water to color.

His work creates a unique experience for the viewer. Each painting is an interaction between the

viewers’ conscious and unconscious mind with Manolis,’ as interpreted through the viewers own partic-

ular lens. These universal symbols, according to Jung, are recognized by everyone’s unconscious mind.

Manolis’ paintings are also noted for his study of multiple dimensions for one is never quite sure

which layer came first, as they are interwoven just like the multiple dimensions that simultaneously

exist on a linear plane.

Manolis’ painting, Black and White (Universe) 2019.02 is a great example of many of the premis-

es described above. Upon first glance, the viewer feels like he is standing in and interacting with the

vastness universe. The universe is also, perhaps, a metaphor for the greatness of God or Spirit. The

viewer feels the dimensions, the stars, and the planets, as though he were standing inside a 3D paint-

ing. The viewer experiences the insignificance of a single being in the greater context of the universe.

Perhaps, Manolis is telling us that we have to search for our own meaning in life in order to find our

own significance?

Manolis’ use of symbols is evolving in the Black and White (Universe) 2019.02 painting. They are

not so overt because they don’t need to be. It is no wonder that famed art critic, Donald Kuspit has

declared Manolis as Kandinsky’s heir to be.

This painting is like Borges’ poetry, it has meaning within meaning. But, the viewer has his own

unique experience with the painting because he sees it through the particular lens of his life’s experi-

ences. Generally, Manolis only explains his paintings at a very superficial level, preferring his audience

to have their own interaction, experiences, and emotions. He wants his viewers to feel.

— Myrthia Natalie Moore is J. Steven Manolis’ wife and a lifelong student of art, philosophy, and psychology. She is also a

jewelry designer and writer.

Wolf Kahn, Stripe Monotype, 1991, Pastel on paper,

12 x 14 inches

J. Steven Manolis working in his Miami, FL studio.

Left: J. Steven Manolis, Black & White - Universe,


87 x 147 in.

44 45

Henry Flagler, who founded the Florida East Coast Railroad, knew what he was doing in the early

1900s when he decided that the capital of his new Florida land development empire (from St. Au-

gustine to Key West) would be the gulf stream’s closest point to the Florida coast, which he named

Palm Beach. The gulf stream provided milder summers and warmer winters than anywhere else in

SE Florida. Moreover, Palm Beach was graced by the Atlantic Ocean on the East and the Intercoastal

Waterway (“The Lake”) on the West. What remained was his imagination in developing the perfect

island and attracting people!

As an enthusiastic global traveler, I have observed that “What God Makes” is usually pristine and

beautiful, but “What Man Makes” usually degrades it, or even worse yet, destroys it. Palm Beach is

probably one of the few places I have experienced in which man-made master planning, design, build-

ing execution, historic preservation, and sub-tropical landscaping has been accretive to what God has

made! I have never taken Palm Beach’s exceptional elements, God-made or man-made, for granted.

Henry Flagler hired Addison Mizner to do the master planning and architectural design template.

His choice was Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival. The community was world class

and immediately attracted an accumulation of both individual talent and wealth (on a seasonal basis)

which exceeded almost any other location in the United States.

A myriad of cultural institutions were birthed. The Society of the Four Arts was founded in 1936

and has been the cultural vortex of Palm Beach ever since. In April 2018, I was invited to speak at this

Palm Beach LightBY J. STEVEN MANOLIS

J. Steven Manolis, Splash, 2018, Acrylic on canvas,

72 x 120 inches. Private collection. Photograph by

J. Steven Manolis.

Left page:

J. Steven Manolis, Splash (detail), 2015, Acrylic on

canvas, 8 x 72 in.

46 47

prestigious establishment. It was a great honor. The title of my talk was “Palm Beach Light” because

one of the most beautiful natural elements of Palm Beach is the impressive changing light condi-

tions throughout the day, set against the backdrop of incredible architecture and breathtaking fauna

and flora. In my speech, I related details of my 35 years as a private painter, which in 2014 led to a

life-changing decision: to pursue painting full time and publicly for the rest of my life.

WITH MY PALM BEACH RESIDENCY CAME MY LIFETIME PAINTING MISSION

My painting mentor and teacher was Wolf Kahn, and his mentor and teacher was Hans Hoffman,

both are/were master colorists. While a full time Palm Beach resident, from 2008 to 2014, I perfected

the primary communicative element of my abstract expressionism: COLOR.

While color has remained my primary mode of artistic communication, in the last three years I

have evolved my painting by adding the use of symbols, geometric abstractions, and constructions.

These elements have strengthened my artistic mission: “I paint meaning with beauty, emotion, and

energy!” Hans Hoffman famously asked, “What is the difference between a painter and an artist?”

His answer, “a MIND!” Every single painting I complete has, to the best of my ability, “Full-On, All-In”

elements of my intellect. A third element of my paintings is the interaction of my subconscious with

the subconscious mind of the viewer. Each person has their own experience with my paintings, as his/

her subconscious mind interacts with my work.

PALM BEACH LIGHT EXHIBITION

I am thrilled to have been invited to have a solo gallery exhibition at the new Fritz Gallery on Royal

Poinciana Way in Palm Beach. After discussions with my great friend and advisor, Bruce Helander,

we have decided to theme the show around one of Palm Beach’s key aspects... its MAGICAL LIGHT.

The core works of my Palm Beach Light painting exhibition focus on five different LIGHT CON-

DITIONS: 1) Sunrise, 2) 0700 HRS, 3) 1300 HRS, 4) Sunset, and 5) Sunset + 30 Minutes. Each “Light

Condition” possesses its own color palette. In comparison, Monet’s painting of haystacks exhibit Light

Moments every five minutes beginning at sunrise.

In my 72” H x 60” W series, each Light Moment was painted with symbology. In my 48” H x 36” W

series, I paint each Light Moment as a diptych comprised of one work painted with symbology, paired

with the other work painted purely abstract. In my 40”H x 30” W series, each Light Moment is execut-

ed in pure abstraction. Finally, I received exceptional positive feedback from my collectors when I dis-

played real life photographic “Light Moments” side-by-side to my correlated Light Moment paintings.

SHOW WITHIN A SHOW

I am honored to have my great life friend, fellow Salomon Brothers partner, Manolis Projects artist

salon member, and incredibly talented sculptor, Miles Slater, whose showcase consists of nine mag-

nificent marble and granite sculptures. Importantly, we collaborated to convert a historical 2D Black &

White work of mine into a three-dimensional painting on a two-dimensional canvas. As a follow up,

Miles created an extraordinary 3D hanging, floating sculpture entitled “Metamorphosis” to complete

the troika of this artistic collaboration. While nearly everything in the history of art is derivative, our in-

vestigation has determined the creative process we went through and the sculpture we created does

not have historical precedent. If we are right, this is an exceptional achievement! We plan on doing

more of this together!

I hope that my works in this exhibition inspire and move you!

J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Light - Sunset w/

Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in.

J. Steven Manolis, REDWORLD, 2018, Watercolor

on Arches paper, 22 x 30 in.

Sunset Photography, Key West

Early one Saturday morning I called Steve and asked him if he was familiar with catalysts, “You know

Steve, a person or thing that precipitates an event. There are catalysts used in the making of steel!” Before

he could answer, I asked if he had ever seen Mikhail Baryshnikov perform Metamorphosis — his 1989

Broadway production. I had attached an image of the master performing the remarkable emergence from

a larva to a butterfly in a steel cage! “We are going to encase our forms in a cage and have it all float!”

Steve echoed, “We need to float the works?” I finished, “Yes and in an open cage, hanging from

the ceiling!”

Our vision was transmogrified from a painted canvas to a hanging sculpture all through ballet.

We offer for your pleasure and imagination the model of our first META, a journey amongst visual and

performing art expressions.

META is opening new and exciting panoramas to our works.

Enjoy, question us and think.

Steve Manolis and I often discussed how we could marry his acute sense of canvas coloration with my

discipline in marble sculpture into collaborative works of art. Our collegial ways invariably deteriorated

into frustrated debates as to which of our chosen paths into art was the grander. We intuitively knew that

these debates were grounded in mutual respect, so we persevered, as we had created as partners in a

world that could not seem more removed from our artistic challenge — Wall Street.

The initial stage was when Steve included cubist forms into his freely brushed color stroked canvases.

I explained to Steve that I could add dimension to these new paintings by drawing the forms to imagined

vanishing points (VPs). The VPs allowed us to turn circles into cylinders, squares into cubes, and rectangles

in elongated boxes. We called this step our “second dimensionality”

Unfortunately, the works still appeared on singular dimensioned canvas until we procured a potpourri

of actual 3D figures: Cylinders from PVC pipes; blocks of many sizes and shapes from pine to balsa woods;

globes from polymers and more that allowed us to replicate those original cubist forms.

Challenged! We were seemingly faced with an insurmountable obstacle: how to connect all the pieces

so they would float freely, but not mobile like, in space. Our answer, to attach the forms to vertical threaded

rods to some foundation seemed too rigid, uncreative. Plain, boring.

Metamorphosis:

A Show Within A ShowBY MILES SLATER

50 51


Miles Slater pictured with Metamorphosis installation:

META, 2019 (hanging sculpture), J. Steven Manolis,

Black & White - Universe, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,

84 x 144 in. Framed size: 87 x 147 in. and installation

photograph of Mikhail Baryshnikov captured in his 1989

performance of “Metamorphosis”. Fritz Gallery, Palm

Beach, FL, 2019. Photograph by J. Steven Manolis.

J. Steven Manolis, Black & White - Shadowbox, 2019,

Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches. Framed size: 74.25 x

62.25 inches.

This page (from left):

J. Steven Manolis, Black & White - SSM, 2018, Acrylic

on canvas, 48 x 72 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 74.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis + Miles Slater, Black & White -

3D/2D, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72 in. Framed size:

50.25 x 74.25 in.

Elevations

E L E VAT I O N SF R I T Z G A L L E R Y, PA L M B E A C H

April 4 – 30, 2019

55

Initial handwritten designed

curation by J. Steven

Manolis for painting

placement in Fritz Gallery,

Palm Beach, FL.

54

56 57

H A L L WAYWall 4: 9’9” H x 36’5” W

Right page: (Hallway: Wall 4)

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light -0700 HRS w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - 0700 HRS w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - 1300 HRS w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.


Palm Beach Light - Sunset w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in

Palm Beach Light - Lavender & Pink Sunset w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - Lavender & Pink Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30 Min. w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30 Min. w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

1. 3. 5. 7. 9. 11.

2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12.

13.5” H from floor to painting base

5’10” 5’10”

E N T R Y G A L L E R YWall 1: 9’9” H x 17’8” W

REDWORLD, 2018.01, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 in.

Framed size: 75 x 123 in


5’10”

58 59

S O U T H G A L L E R Y: R E D W O R L DWall 7: 12’ H x 16’ W

S O U T H G A L L E R Y: R E D W O R L DWall 6: 12’ H x 11’6” W

REDWORLD, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 43.5 x 120 in. Framed size: 46.5 x 123 in.

Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD Sunset, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in. Framed size: 74.25 x 62.25 in.

REDWORLD, 2018.02, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 in. Framed size: 75 x 123 in.

29” H from floor to painting base


5’10”5’10”

60 61

S O U T H G A L L E R Y: R E D W O R L DWall 16: 9’9” H x 9’2” W

S O U T H G A L L E R Y: R E D W O R L DWall 13, 14, 15: 9’9” H x 18’6” W

REDWORLD; Diptych, 2019.02, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD Sunset, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 72 in. Framed size: 86.25 x 74.25 in.

REDWORLD (MLMJ); Quadriptych, 2016.01, Acrylic on canvas, 10 x 10 in. Framed size: 11.5 x 11.5 in.

Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 in. Framed size: 42.25 x 32.25 in.

REDWORLD; Diptych, 2019.01, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

REDWORLD Concentric, 2019.01, Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 in. Framed size: 26.25 x 26.25 in.


5’10”

5’10”

62 63

S O U T H G A L L E R Y: R E D W O R L DMoveable Wall 1A: 9’9” H x 12” W

S O U T H G A L L E R Y: R E D W O R L DWall 5: 12’” H x 12’ W

Flamingo - Key West, 2016.01, Gouache and acrylic on canvas, 72 X 120 in.

Framed size: 75 X 123 in.

Eyes On - Orbs, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 44.5 x 99.5 in. Framed size: 47.5 x 102.5 in.

Orbs; Diptych (Left painting), 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 48 inches. Framed size: 74.25 x 50.25 in.

Orbs; Diptych (Right painting), 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 48 inches. Framed size: 74.25 x 50.25 in.

23.5” H from floor to painting base17” H from floor to painting base

5’10”5’10”

64 65

N O R T H G A L L E R Y: PA L M B E A C H L I G H TWall 12: 9’9” H x 29’9” W

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise, 2019,

Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in. Framed size: 74.25 x 62.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - 0700 HRS, 2019,


Palm Beach Light - Sunset, 2019,


Palm Beach Light - 1300 HRS, 2019,


Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30 Min., 2019,



5’10”

N O R T H G A L L E R Y: PA L M B E A C H L I G H TMoveable Wall 1B: 9’9” H x 12” W



Palm Beach Light - Lavender & Pink Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 in. Framed size: 42.25 x 32.25 in.


Palm Beach Light - Sunrise w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 in. Framed size: 42.25 x 32.25 in.


Palm Beach Light - Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 in. Framed size: 42.25 x 32.25 in.

Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30 Min. w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 in. Framed size: 42.25 x 32.25 in.

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3.

4.

5.

6.

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8.


5’10”

1. 3. 5. 7.

2. 4. 6. 8.

N O R T H G A L L E R Y: PA L M B E A C H L I G H TWall 10 and 11: 9’9” H x 45’3” W

66 67

Splash, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 180 in.

Framed size: 73 x 183 in.

Qatari Rhapsodies - Sonata #2, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 87 x 183 in.


17.25” H from floor to painting base29.5” H from floor to painting base

5’10”

68 69

N O R T H G A L L E R Y: PA L M B E A C H L I G H TMoveable Wall 2A: 9’9” H x 12” W

Splash (Pink Sands), 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 in.



5’10”

E A S T G A L L E R Y: M E TA M O R P H O S I SWall 8: 12’ H x 16’ 6” W

Black & White - Universe, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 144 in.



5’10”

E A S T G A L L E R Y: M E TA M O R P H O S I SWall 9: 9’9” H x 23’ 6” W

E A S T G A L L E R Y: M E TA M O R P H O S I SMoveable Wall 2B: 9’9” H x 12” W

70 71

J. Steven Manolis + Miles SlaterBlack & White - 3D/2D, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 74.25 in.

Black & White - SSM, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 74.25 in.

Miles Slater, Metamorphosis, 2019, Sculpture, Mixed media, 36 x 36 in.

Palm Beach Light - Winter Solstice, 2019,


Palm Beach Light - Summer Solstice, 2019,


Actor Mikhail Baryshnikov in scene from the Broadway Production “Metamorphosis”- 1989 New York Public Library: Photo: Martha Swope

Printing by: Micro Graphics, Jupiter FL


28.875” H from floor to painting base 15.75” H from floor to painting base 28.875” H from floor to painting base

5’10”

5’10”

S E C O N D F L O O R G A L L E R YWall 17: 9’9” H x 23’ 9” W

72 73

Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD Sunset w/ Symbology, 2019,


Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019,







17” between middle diptych and Redworld paintings


1.5” between middle diptych


17” between middle diptych and Redworld paintings

5’10”

Detail from East Gallery Metamorphosis(previous page):

Miles Slater, Metamorphosis, 2019, Sculpture, Mixed media, 36 x 36 in.

Paintings

76 77

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

Sunrise w/o Symbology,

2019, Acrylic on canvas,

48 x 36 in. Framed size:

50.25 x 38.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

Sunrise w/ Symbology,



50.25 x 38.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

0700 HRS w/o Symbology,



50.25 x 38.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

0700 HRS w/ Symbology,



50.25 x 38.25 in.

78 79

80 81

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -




50.25 x 38.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

1300 HRS w/ Symbology,



50.25 x 38.25 in.

82 83

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

Sunset w/o Symbology,



50.25 x 38.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

Sunset w/ Symbology,



50.25 x 38.25 in.

84 85

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

Lavender & Pink Sunset

w/o Symbology,



50.25 x 38.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -


w/ Symbology,



50.25 x 38.25 in.

86 87

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light - 0700 HRS,

2019, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in.


88 89

J. Steven Manolis,




90 91

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light - Sunset,



92 93

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30 Min.,



94

J. Steven Manolis, Splash, 2018,



99

J. Steven Manolis, Splash (Pink Sands),



100 101

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -




42.25 x 32.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -




42.25 x 32.25 in.

102 103

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -




42.25 x 32.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -




42.25 x 32.25 in.

104 105

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -


w/o Symbology,



42.25 x 32.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

Sunrise w/o Symbology,



42.25 x 32.25 in.

106 107

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light -

Sunset w/o Symbology,



42.25 x 32.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

Palm Beach Light - Sunset

+ 30 Min. w/o Symbology,



42.25 x 32.25 in.

108 109

J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach Light

- Summer Solstice, 2019, Acrylic on

canvas, 72 x 60 in. Framed size:

74.25 x 62.25 in.

110 111

J. Steven Manolis, Top: Eyes On - Orbs,

2018, Acrylic on canvas, 44.5 x 99.5 in.

Framed size: 47.5 x 102.5 in. Bottom

left: Orbs; Diptych (Left painting),

2016, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 48 inches.

Framed size: 74.25 x 50.25 in. Bottom

right: Orbs; Diptych (Right painting),

2016, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 48 inches.


112

J. Steven Manolis, Qatari Rhapsodies -

Sonata #2, 2018, Acrylic on canvas,

87 x 183 in. Framed size: 90 x 186 in.

113

114

This page: The Kennedy Family, Palm

Beach, Fla. Circa 1940

Foldout: J. Steven Manolis, Palm Beach

Formal, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 180

in. Framed size: 75 x 183 in.

119

J. Steven Manolis, Top: REDWORLD, 2018,

Acrylic on canvas, 43.5 x 120 in. Framed

size: 46.5 x 123 in. Bottom: REDWORLD,

2018.02, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 in.


120 121


REDWORLD Sunset, 2019, Acrylic on

canvas, 84 x 72 in. Framed size: 86.25

x 74.25 in.

122 123

J. Steven Manolis, Flamingo - Key West,

2016.01, Gouache and acrylic on canvas,

72 X 120 in. Framed size: 75 X 123 in.

124 125


REDWORLD Sunset, 2019, Acrylic on

canvas, 72 x 60 in. Framed size: 74.25

x 62.25 in.

126 127


REDWORLD Sunset w/o Symbology,



J. Steven Manolis,

REDWORLD; Diptych,

2019.01, Acrylic on canvas,


50.25 x 38.25 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

REDWORLD; Diptych,

2019.02, Acrylic on canvas,


50.25 x 38.25 in.

128 129

130 131

J. Steven Manolis, REDWORLD,

2018.01, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 in.


132 133

J. Steven Manolis,

REDWORLD, MLMJ

10.10.04, 2016, Acrylic on

canvas, 10 x 10 in. Framed

size: 11.5 x 11.5 in.

J. Steven Manolis,

REDWORLD, MLMJ

10.10.01, 2016, Acrylic on

canvas, 10 x 10 in. Framed

size: 11.5 x 11.5 in.

134 135

J. Steven Manolis, REDWORLD Concentric, 2019.01,












Index

138 139

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise, 2019,



pg. 20

Black & White - Shadowbox, 2019,

Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches.

Framed size: 74.25 x 62.25 inches.

pg. 50


w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,

48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x 38.25 in.

pg. 8

REDWORLD, 2018, Watercolor on

Arches paper, 22 x 30 in.

pg. 47


w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 8

Palm Beach Light - Sunset w/

Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,


Pg. 47 and 91 and cover detail

Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30 Min.

w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 36

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise w/



pg. 76

Key West—Splash—Sunset, 2016,

Watercolor, gouache and acrylic on

Arches paper, 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm).

pg. 27

J. Steven Manolis + Miles Slater, Black &

White - 3D/2D, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 51

Winter Solstice, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 24

Black & White - SSM, 2018, Acrylic on

canvas, 48 x 72 in. Framed size: 50.25 x

74.25 in.

pg.51

Black & White - Universe, 2019, Acrylic on

canvas, 84 x 144 in. Framed size: 87 x 147 in.

pg.40

Palm Beach Light - 0700 HRS w/o



pg. 79

Palm Beach Light - Lavender &

Pink Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019, Acrylic

on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x

38.25 in.

pg. 38 and 85

Palm Beach Light - 0700 HRS w/



pg. 78




pg. 36

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise w/o



pg. 77

140 141

Palm Beach Light - Sunset w/



pg. 82




pg. 100




pg. 81

Splash (Pink Sands), 2016, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 99

Palm Beach Light - 1300 HRS w/



pg. 80

Splash, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 180 in.


pg. 95–96




pg. 87




pg. 103

Palm Beach Light - Lavender & Pink

Sunset w/ Symbology, 2019, Acrylic on

canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: 50.25 x

38.25 in.

pg. 84




pg. 102

Palm Beach Light - Sunset w/o



pg. 83




pg. 101

Palm Beach Light - Sunset + 30 Min.,



pg. 93

Palm Beach Light - Sunset w/o



pg. 106

Palm Beach Light - Sunrise w/o



pg. 105




pg. 89

Palm Beach Light - Lavender &

Pink Sunset w/o Symbology, 2019,



pg. 104




pg. 107

142 143

Eyes On - Orbs, 2018, Acrylic on canvas,

44.5 x 99.5 in. Framed size: 47.5 x 102.5 in.

pg. 111

Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD

Sunset, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 125

Palm Beach Light - Summer Solstice,



pg. 109

Flamingo - Key West, 2016.01, Gouache

and acrylic on canvas, 72 X 120 in.

Framed size: 75 X 123 in.

pg. 123

Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD

Sunset, 2019, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 121

Qatari Rhapsodies - Sonata #2, 2018,


90 x 186 in.

pg. 112–113

REDWORLD; Diptych, 2019.02,



pg. 129

Orbs; Diptych (Right painting), 2016,



pg. 111

REDWORLD; Diptych, 2019.01,



pg. 128

Orbs; Diptych (Left painting), 2016,



pg. 111




pg. 127

REDWORLD, 2018.02, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 119

REDWORLD, MLMJ 10.10.04,



pg. 133

REDWORLD, 2018, Acrylic on canvas,

43.5 x 120 in. Framed size: 46.5 x 123 in.

pg. 119

REDWORLD, MLMJ 10.10.01,



pg. 132

Palm Beach Formal, 2018, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 115–116

REDWORLD, 2018.01, Acrylic on canvas,


pg. 131

REDWORLD Concentric, 2019.01,



pg. 134

144




pg. 134




pg. 135




pg. 134




pg. 135




pg. 135

145

146

w w w . j s t e v e n m a n o l i s a r t . c o m

&

w w w . m a n o l i s p r o j e c t s . c o m

Excerpt from the essay

“Musica Universalis: J. Steven Manolis’ Qatari Rhapsodies & Sonatas”

“When it comes to Color, and the intellectual pursuit of ‘Communicating Through Color,’ Wassily Kandinsky’s long-awaited heir-to-be is J. Steven Manolis, whose works signal an ebullient 21st century renaissance of the long absent glories of Abstract Expressionism.”

— Donald Kuspit

Leading Art Critic and Renowned Historian

New York

Documents

PALM BEACH LIGHT · 2020-06-05 · REDWORLD Sunset w/ Symbology and Palm Beach Light - REDWORLD Sunset w/o Symbology. Both paintings: 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Framed size: