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Joan Berg Victor--Artworks for Sale. Joan Berg Victor--Portrait Commissions.
BIDDINGTON'S Still Life Gallery--More Paintings and Drawings.





Joan Berg Victor drawing with watercolor Baroque Flowers
Artists' Studio Visits at Biddington's Art Gallery

JOAN BERG VICTOR
Drawings from Nature
and Still Life Watercolors

Current Exhibition:
"The Remarkable Drawings of Joan Berg Victor"
November 15-December 16, 2005
Alastair Crawford
1044 Madison Ave. 4th Floor, New York, NY--Mon-Fri 10-6

CREATIVE PROCESS interviews artist and illustrator Joan Berg Victor in her Manhattan studio.

Editor's Comment: In the 18th-19th century heyday of botanical illustration, talents such as Redouté and Bessa turned precisely rendered drawings of plants into works of art. In addition to her clear-eyed observation, contemporary artist Joan Berg Victor brings a remarkably personal sense of portraiture to her meticulous drawings of trees, flowers and landscape. This artist depicts not a generalization of the species but the individual character of a particular plant and in doing so brings a fresh aspect to the nature drawing genre.

Joan Berg Victor "Baroque Flowers"
Click to view rose detail.  Click to view poppy detail.
Graphite and Watercolor on Paper 30" x 22"
Price on Request







Joan Berg VICTOR: I have a tremendous love and empathy for living things.


Joan Berg Victor pears drawing

Pears drawing by Joan Berg Victor


Joan Berg Victor drawing detail  Old Roses




Joan Berg VICTOR: When I draw a rose, I have such respect and admiration for that rose.

Detail from large rosa centifolia drawing
"Old Roses"
Price on Request


Joan Berg VICTOR: My works invite the viewer to enter the piece and experience my attachment with nature. People who like my work feel my deep personal involvement in the drawing.














Joan Berg VICTOR: My working process is straightforward: I set up a still life or I find my tree. I work directly on the final surface. I just begin drawing with pencil. I work very, very, very slowly.


Joan Berg Victor two drawings of one tree
Joan Berg VICTOR: Working slowly makes it very difficult, because trees leaf out and flowers die.


Two drawings of the same maple tree:
Solitary Maple (left) and Maple in Full Leaf (right)
In the drawing made two years later, the tree has thickened though its gesture remains the same.


Joan Berg Victor watercolor Still life with Brushes and Pens

Joan Berg VICTOR: I work all the time. Here in Manhattan, in my studio upstate or in St. Thomas. Even though the composition looks casual, I'm very exacting on placement.



Detail of watercolor Still Life with Brushes and Pens












Joan Berg Victor palm tree drawing detail




Detail of drawing Palm

















Joan Berg Victor still life with watercolor

Joan Berg VICTOR: In my still lifes, the inanimate objects are just a foil for the living things. The essence of a still life is all that is necessary. This is harder to do than drawing the whole thing--it's important to know what not to put in. When I leave out things, it is to engage the viewer.

Watercolor and pencil drawing
Still Life with Apples and Ceramics


Joan Berg VICTOR: Flooding the canvas with color is a way of lulling people--they see color and no longer see objects. In coloring only a part of the drawing, I've told the whole story. The viewer's mind can fill in the rest. It would be redundant to color it all.






Joan Berg Victor landscape drawing

Joan Berg VICTOR: It takes time to build up these complex landscapes and individual tree drawings. It's a balancing act to create the space--to make the darks hold the foreground and or background to create depth and the illusion of space. My recent drawings are deeper spatially than my earlier ones.
Detail of sepia drawing (left)
Into the Woods
Victor linden tree drawing detail










Detail of drawing (right)
Linden Tree in Central Park















Joan Berg Victor



Joan Berg VICTOR: If I can enable people to see nature in a way they weren't able to see it before, then I am successful.




Joan Berg Victor











In addition to exhibiting her work in New York City galleries and other public and private galleries in the US, Joan Berg Victor has created large-scale murals for the Jewish Home for the Aged as well as for numerous individual clients in New York. The artist accepts mural commissions for corporate & private venues. Joan Berg Victor's portrait illustrations have appeared in Fortune, Forbes, New York Times and The Wall Street Journal; she has written and illustrated more than 20 books for children and adults. Ms. Victor has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University.

Email Biddington's with your inquiries.


Joan Berg Victor rabbit drawing


JOAN BERG VICTOR drawings & watercolors offered for sale in Biddington's Contemporary Art Gallery.
Price range: $1000-$14,000
Joan Berg Victor drawing Homage to Dürer: Woodhare

ABOUT THIS FEATURE

CREATIVE PROCESS at Biddington's is designed as a forum for watching art in the making. Usually, this process happens in the privacy of the artist's studio. At BIDDINGTON'S--Contemporary Art Gallery & upmarket, online art & antiques auctions--we find it interesting to witness the steps leading to the end product and to hear the artists speak about their work in the relaxed surroundings of their own studios.








BIDDINGTON'S CREATIVE PROCESS Archives:
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Javier Astorga Figurative Metal Sculpture
Nancy Azara Sculptor
Tova Beck-Friedman Sculptor & Mixed-Media Artist
Todd Bellanca Abstract Painter
Carol Bruns Bronze Figurative Sculptor
James Burnett Non-Objective Painter
Garrison Buxton Abstract Paintings on Paper
Cynthia Capriata Peruvian Painter & Printmaker
Catalina Chervin Argentine Surrealist Artist
Diane Churchill Expressionist Painter
John Clem Clarke Pop Artist
Lisa Dinhofer Illusionist Painter
Michael Eastman Faux-Primitive Painter
Eduardo Fausti Natural History Paintings
Lynne Frehm New York Abstract Painter
Betsey Garand Organic Abstract Painter & Fine Art Printmaker
Mary Teresa Giancoli Personal Documentary Photographer
Debora Gilbert-Ryan New Image Painter
Janet Goldner African-Influenced Steel Sculpture
Harry Gordon Monumental Sculpture
Marilyn Greenberg Narrative Abstract Painter
Patricia Hansen Portrait and Still Life Painter
Richard Heinrich Welded Steel Sculpture
Charles Hewitt Painter & Monotype Printmaker
Diane Holland Intermedia Collage Artist
GH Hovagimyan Pop/Conceptual Artist
LA Hughes Pop Artist
Frances Jetter Bronze Sculptor & Editorial Illustrator
Scott Kahn Fantasy Painter
Susan Kaprov Digital Printmaker and Abstract Painter
Babette Katz Narrative Printmaker and Book Artist
Richard Mock Abstract Painter & Linocut Printmaker
Maureen Mullarkey Figure Paintings
Bill Murphy Contemporary Realist Painter
Jim Napierala Abstract Painter
Frances Pellegrini New York City & Fashion Photographer
Joseph Reeder Cross Media Artist Paintings & Ceramics
Laura Shechter Contemporary Realist Painter
Annemarie Slipper Figurative Ceramic Sculpture
Gary Slipper Fantasy Painter
Margaret Speer Landscape & Travel Paintings
Serena Tallarigo Marble Sculptor
Rein Triefeldt Kinetic Sculpture
Vivian Tsao Painter of Light
Nancy Van Deren Contemporary Painter
Joan Berg Victor Drawings from Nature
Edward Walsh Figurative Sculpture in Bronze, Marble & Steel
Kate Wattson Contemporary Colorist Painter
Betty Winkler Organic Minimalist Painter & Printmaker


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