The Visionary Eye of Allan Stone
Founded in 1960 by art dealer Allan Stone (1932–2006), the New York gallery known today as Allan Stone Projects has been admired for over half a century. Celebrated for its eclectic approach and early advocacy of pivotal artists of the 20th century, Allan Stone Gallery was a leading authority on Abstract Expressionism, the New York dealer for Wayne Thiebaud for over forty years, and showed the works of Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Joseph Cornell, John Graham and John Chamberlain. Stone also promoted the work of a younger generation of artists that were in conversation with other artists in his collection, working in the mediums of assemblage, collage and new modes of abstraction. In addition to modern masterworks and contemporary art, Allan Stone also collected and exhibited international folk art, Americana and important decorative arts and industrial design.
Adrian Martinez was born in Philadelphia in 1949 and grew up in Washington, D.C., where he took advantage of the free access to museums and galleries. He received his BFA from the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore, studied at the St. Martins School of Art in London, and received his masters from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In the early 1960s Martinez focused on abstract and conceptual art, but his studies in London inspired him to work in a realistic Western European style. Martinez has become best known for his meticulous still life paintings inspired by the Old Masters. He also worked for nearly a decade as an exhibition designer at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, which informed his artistic practice. In 2007, Martinez was commissioned by the White House to create two large landscape paintings commemorating the National Parks. The paintings are currently installed in the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, Texas. Martinez lives, works and teaches painting in Downington, Pennsylvania.
Auction Results Adrian Martinez
