Lew Allen Galleries new artist featured this week: Brian Rutenberg applies paint in slabs to create his abstract paintings

Brian Rutenberg,​ Phlox 3, 2016, oil on linen, 82 x 60 in FEATURE OF THE WEEK For more than four decades, Brian Rutenberg has made lush paintings that enthusiastically embrace the beauty of nature. Elegant abstract orchestrations of color, line, and space create a distinctive method of compressing rich color and form into complex landscape paintings, imbuing material reality with a deep resonance of place. Rutenberg’s intention in his work is “sustained meditations on the sheer transformative power of looking.” Phlox 3 asserts the sheer lusciousness of paint and color, an example of how Rutenberg proudly declares a “deep love for excess; moderation simply isn’t in my vocabulary.” The painting demonstrates a physical immediacy and immersion, a manner that integrates the visceral and the intellectual.

MORE FROM BRIAN RUTENBERG Brian Rutenberg, Before Rain, 2018, oil on linen, 40 x 60 in Brian Rutenberg, Clambank (detail), 2023, oil on linen, 36 x 55 in Brian Rutenberg, River Diver 6 (detail), 2023, oil on paper, 22.5 x 30 in

A native of South Carolina, Rutenberg's focus on the sense of place is a core tenet of the practice. This philosophy is highlighted in his new commission for the Duke Endowment, entitled The Wild South. Rutenberg’s approach for this significant work stemmed from that used for work in his exhibition Uptergrove​ at LewAllen Galleries, in which the artist was inspired by time spent in the small village of musical hero, Glenn Gould’s, summer cottage in Ontario. Rutenberg currently resides and works in New York City. Brian and his wife Kathryn at the unveiling of The Wild South  View additional work

PREVIOUS FEATURES OF THE WEEK BEN ARONSON Chicago River View more by artist HERMAN MARIL Music in the Stuido View more by artist

Ben Aronson, Chicago River (detail), 2017, oil on panel, 38 x 52.5 Herman Maril, Music in the Studio (detail), 1985, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 in   ©2026 LewAllen Galleries | Artwork ©Artists and the Estates of the artists pictured

LewAllen Galleries 1613 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.988.3250 Mon - Fri  10 - 6 / Sat 10 - 5 Inquire #lewallengalleries#brianrutenbergartists#fineartmagazine#fineartmagazineblog.blogspot #sunstormfineartmagazine#sunstormfineartmagazine.com

Lew Allen Galleries featured artists of the week is Woody Gwyn contemporary landscape artist noted for his original style.

Woody Gwyn,​ Untitled (detail), n.d, oil on panel, 8 x 48 in FEATURE OF THE WEEK Woody Gwyn is one of America’s foremost landscape painters. He is known for his unconventional approach to composition, incredible use of detail, and the remarkable clarity of light in his scenes. His striking panoramas transform the quotidian into the extraordinary. The image's purity and vivid impact allow the experience of the painting to become the reality of the land itself. Characterized by dramatic angles, aggressive cropping, and an acute contrast between the natural and manmade, Gwyn’s work offers visually persuasive renderings of the points at which cultural history and contemporary society converge. Woody Gwyn,​ Untitled​, n.d, oil on panel, 8 x 48 in This extraordinary, panoramic work, captures the majesty of the New Mexico high country. Executed in oil on panel, its dramatic 8 x 48 inch horizontal format immediately draws the viewer across a vast, sun-drenched vista, where the scale of the earth makes everything feel wonderfully small. The horizon is anchored by a jagged spine of mountains, appearing through miles of desert haze.

MORE FROM WOODY GWYN Woody Gwyn, Condor Pass, 2022, egg tempera on panel, 48 x 84 in Woody Gwyn, Eucalyptus, 2019, hand tinted etching, 9 x 9.63 in Woody Gwyn, Sun / Sea, 2023, oil on panel, 30 x 47.25 in

Woody Gwyn was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1944, and received his arts education from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His work has been exhibited in museums including the Tel Aviv Museum in Tel Aviv, le Centre Nationale des Arts Plastiques in Paris, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery of George Washington University in Washington, DC, and the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe. Gwyn was the 2010 recipient of New Mexico’s highest artistic honor, the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts for Painting. More from Woody Gwyn

PREVIOUS FEATURES OF THE WEEK DAN CHRISTENSEN Changzhou View more by artist ETHEL FISHER The Constellation  View more by artist

Dan Christensen, Changzhou (detail), 1981, acrylic on canvas, 68 x 58.5 x 1 in Ethel Fisher, The Constellation (detail), 1957, oil on canvas, 49 x 58 in   ©2026 LewAllen Galleries | Artwork ©Artists and the Estates of the artists pictured

LewAllen Galleries 1613 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.988.3250 Mon - Fri  10 - 6 / Sat 10 - 5 Inquire