71 Market Street - Brownsville, PA 15417 Telephone: 724-785-9331
The Frank L. Melega Art Museum is an equal opportunity provider.
Exhibition Postcard
Patricia Mae Young
Escape the Winter doldrums and take a journey to France, Italy, Singapore, the American Southwest, and more through the eyes and talents of artist Patricia Mae Young. "My Journey with Amy", the exhibition of pastels and oil paintings by Patricia Mae Young, opened March 12 at the Frank L. Melega Art Museum. Young is an award-winning artist who travels the world depicting nature. Her landscapes are often painted "en plein air" a term that means painted on the site, directly from nature.
The title of the exhibition “My Journey With Amy” is a tribute to a close friend and frequent painting companion who passed away last year. Ms. Young’s varied locations for her artworks is due in part to her husband, a teacher who taught around the world. At each location, Patty would paint landscapes. Among them are Singapore, France, Scotland, Spain, and Italy. The artist’s current favorite spot is Martha’s Vineyard. The pastels and oil paintings in the show are based on her extensive travels. The artist states, “My first love is pastels, but I am becoming more comfortable with oils”. Pastels are almost pure pigment making the artwork the most vibrant colors of any medium. A pastel can be in a drawing style or done in a painting style, such as the case with Young’s artworks. “Patty has so many strengths, including her drawing skills, her use of color, and composition. She approaches each subject with an honesty and freshness that creates an artwork where every viewer can share her experience,” said Patrick
Daugherty, Director of the Melega Art Museum. Also this coming March, Young’s work can be seen in New York City at the Broome Street Gallery. The juried show titled “II Chiostro” features Italian landscapes.
Patricia Mae Young
My Journey With Amy
March 12 - May 7, 2011
Barga Tuscan Grape Vine
Valley Canyon
Exhibition Postcard
David Ludwig
Frank R. Melega
Laura DeFazio
Peter West
The 2011 Frank L. Melega Artist of the Pike honoree was not an individual but instead, a group, Art Educators. The Artist of the Pike is a special recognition annually awarded by the museum.
Over forty art educators from Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties exhibited their creations. To qualify for the exhibit artists must also teach art; private lessons, workshops, or at a school or college. A wide range of materials and styles were represented including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, video art, fiber arts, and ceramics. Artworks by educators currently teaching, retired or historically significant can be seen. Included are art educators that have had a profound effect on the areas art students. Henry Koerner, Zelko Kujundzic, Herbert Olds, Sybilla Spurgeon, Madelyn Cindric, and Frank R. Melega to name a few. This year’s honoree, art educators, has a direct connection to Melega; he also conducted art workshops and classes throughout the area.
A special display honors David Ludwig, an art professor who passed away unexpectedly this year. David represented the best in art educators, giving, caring, going the extra distance for students, plus a world-class artist. Two sculptures by Ludwig are in the exhibition.
Frank L. Melega Art Demonstration at Laurel Highlands High School, Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Materkowski
Maura Koehler Keeney
Zeljko Kujundzic
Jon Radermacher
Mary Collins
The Twentieth Century had relatively few illustrators worthy of the title “Master Illustrator”. Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth come to mind. The Frank L. Melega Art Museum, located in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, will be displaying twenty-two original artworks of a true master illustrator, Antonio Petruccelli (1907-1994). Mr. Petruccelli illustrated twenty-eight Fortune magazine covers between 1933 and 1945. His creations graced the covers of The New Yorker, House Beautiful, Colliers, and Vanity Fair.
The artist is well known for his meticulous details, masterful airbrush techniques, and Art Deco inspired designs. The styles range from realistic to geometric. Visitors will have a rare opportunity to see the original illustrations exclusively at the Melega. It is the Melega Art Museum’s good fortune to have Mr. Petruccelli’s artworks at this time. Every piece in the show, in addition to being a visual delight, is an education in the art of illustration. Petruccelli is unsurpassed in his use of color, technique, composition, and story telling. Petruccelli’s career started as a textile designer. His winning entry in a competition for the cover of House Beautiful led to his being the cover artist for Fortune, The New Yorker, and other quality publications. Life magazine used his talents extensively. Working closely with Life’s team of experts, Petruccelli created complex maps populated with finely detailed images of animals, plant life or figures from history, often against the background of the planet earth, continents, or country of origin. His most famous Fortune cover from January 1937 depicts a row of champagne glasses toasting the New Year. This original artwork will not be in the Melega Art Museum show as its current whereabouts are unknown. However, this issue of Fortune magazine is one of the eighteen magazines in the show.
Seeing the cover designs that were not published may surprise those attending the exhibition. We can gain insight to the challenge of an illustrator where these magazine masterpieces were for some reason or the other not chosen by the magazine’s editor for publication. One example in the show is a New Yorker cover whose imagery comments on the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair. Considered one of the greatest by today’s historians, the fair had difficulty attracting visitors. Petruccelli’s image of a cobwebbed Trylon and Perishere, the symbols of the fair, might have been too forthright a reflection of the times.
The exhibition features twenty-two original illustrations, plus eighteen magazines featuring Petruccelli artworks, and photographs of the artist.
This is the first time the Melega Art Museum has exhibited artworks of a contemporary of Mr. Melega. It is safe to speculate that Mr. Melega was aware of and admired the illustrations of Antonio Petruccelli. Melega, a self-taught artist, studied and found inspiration in the outstanding artist’s of his day. The many connections between the two artists are also reasons the Frank L. Melega Art Museum is so excited and honored to exhibit one of America’s greatest illustrators, Antonio Petruccelli.
Antonio Petruccelli in the studio.
A friendly card game takes a
chaotic turn in this witty
illustration for Collier’s magazine.
Antonio Petruccelli: Master Illustrator
October 8 - December 4, 2011
Fortune Magazine - 1937
Exhibition Postcard
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Past Exhibitions
