Jurors

Founder and Chairman of the Art Renewal Center®, Ross is the leading authority on William Bouguereau and co-author of the published Catalogue Raisonné William Bouguereau: His Life and Works. Ross received his MA in art education from Columbia University. His speeches and essays are read by over 300,000 art professionals, educators, students and fans each year; and have become required reading in countless classrooms. He has given lectures and speeches at prominent venues including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sotheby’s NY, The Dahesh Museum, NY, the Berkshire Museum, MA, The Wadsworth Athenaeum, CT, the MEAM Museum, Barcelona, as well as university campuses among other venues. Ross is also a well-known collector of 19th Century European painting and of Contemporary Realism, being published in numerous magazine and newspaper articles including Forbes Magazine and Fine Art Connoisseur among others. Ross has also been a frequent Juror in numerous competitions and is an ARC Salon and ARC Scholarship judge.

Kara Lysandra Ross is the Co-Chair and Chief Operating Officer for the world-renowned Art Renewal Center® (ARC). She holds a BA in Art History from Drew University. As an art educator she has been a contributing writer for Collections Magazine, and Fine Art Connoisseur, and has been published frequently in other magazines and newspapers. She was the co-editor of the William Bouguereau Catalogue Raisonné and author of chapter 28 in the published second edition. In her role at the ARC she spearheaded the introduction of the live exhibition associated to the ARC Salon Competition which has traveled to prestigious venues such as Sotheby’s NY, Sotheby’s LA, The European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) and the Salmagundi Club, serving as chief organizer and curator. She is an ARC Salon Juror, and has served as juror in other competitions for organizations such as the 2nd Velázquez Painting & Sculpture competition, China, the South African Portrait Society, International Guild of Realism, IX Arts, and the Ani Academy. She is also an expert on 19th century Academic French and English painting, co-authoring William Bouguereau: The Essential Works and is currently researching and writing the catalogue raisonné on Edmund Blair Leighton, for which she is accepted as the world authority, authenticating works by this artist for Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonham's among others.

Swanson has his PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, England and was the Director of the Springville Museum of Art, Utah, where he has served for over 30 years. He is a lecturer/scholar/writer and expert on 19^th Century European Art and Russian Art through the 20^th Century. Swanson is the leading authority on Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and John William Godward and author of the Catalogue Raisonnés for both artists. In total, the number of books Swanson has published is well into the teens.

Michael John Angel is an ARC Living Master™ and regarded as one of the foremost figurative painters alive today; with his paintings hanging in both public and private collections on both sides of the Atlantic. From 1982 to 1988 he was the Director of the National Portrait Academy in Toronto, Canada, and from 1992-1995 the Assistant Director of the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. In 1997, his school, the Angel Academy was founded with the assistance of Lynne Barton. Angel Academy is now one of the most successful Atelier Schools in the world, requiring of its students the highest standards of traditional techniques.

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Juliette Aristides is an ARC Living Master™ and founding member of the Water Street Atelier with Jacob Collins, Aristides is a recipient of the Elisabeth Greenshields Grant; and founded the Classical Atelier at Gage Academy of Fine Art in Seattle, Washington. She has authored three books, Classical Drawing Atelier, Classical Painting Atelier, and Lessons in Classical Drawing, which includes an instructional DVD and quickly became a best seller. Her books have become well received guidelines for drawing and painting.

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Daniel Graves is an ARC Living Master™. He was a student of Richard Serrin at the Villa Schifanoia Graduate School of Fine Art, and studied under Nerina Simi, daughter of the Florentine painter, Filadelfo Simi, a student of Gérôme. Daniel Graves went on to found The Florence Academy of Art in 1991, where he still serves as the Academic Director. In April 2008 Daniel Graves and The Florence Academy of Art received the Excellence in Art Education Award from the Portrait Society of America. The academy’s programs in Florence, Sweden and the U.S. are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

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Anthony Waichulis is an ARC Living Master™ and is regarded as the premiere trompe l'oeil painter living today. Celebrated by critics and collectors alike, Waichulis' works have been published in nearly every major art publication worldwide including but not limited to: The Artist's Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, American Artist, American Art Review, American Art Collector, Art News and Art-Talk. Anthony has exhibited in a salvo of key venues across the country including the Smithsonian Institute, National Arts Club, Orlando Museum of Art, Butler Institute, Washington Museum of Fine Arts, The World Arts Museum in Beijing as well as many others. He is also the founder of the highly successful Waichulis Studio and co-founder and chief curriculum designer of the International Ani Art Academies project. In 2011 The Waichulis Studio merged with the Ani Art Academies project to form the domestic flagship of the Ani project, The Ani Art Academy Waichulis in Wilkes Barre, PA. Since then the Ani Art Academies project has seen the launch of international Academies in Anguilla, The Dominican Republic, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

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Patrick Wilshire is the Director of the Association of Fantastic Art, dedicated to the promotion, recognition and elevation of the art of imaginative realism. This genre includes works that were heavily influenced by the storytelling paintings of the 19^th century; artists such as Burne-Jones and John William Waterhouse. It is the organization behind the groundbreaking IlluXCon symposium started in 2008, and the Illustration Exchange, the online nexus for collectors of original paintings, drawings and sculpture from this style of realist art. In addition he is the author of Visions of Never: The Collection of Fantastic Art, (2009), The Art of the Dragon: The Definitive Collection of Contemporary Dragon Paintings (2012), and the History of Imaginative Realism. He was also honored to be the guest curator of AT THE EDGE: Art of the Fantastic, mounted at the Allentown Art Museum, PA, in June of 2012.

Former Director of the Dahesh Museum of Art, Trippi is now the Editor of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, which provides art collectors and enthusiasts with in-depth editorial coverage of historical and contemporary representational art authored by well-known experts. Mr. Trippi is also the leading authority on John William Waterhouse,(1849-1917) and the author of J. W. Waterhouse, which was published by Phaidon Press in 2002.

B. Eric Rhoads is the Founder and Chairman of Streamline Publishing, Inc., publisher of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, which provides art collectors and enthusiasts with in-depth editorial coverage of historical and contemporary representational art authored by well-known experts. Rhoads also publishes PleinAir, a magazine focused on representational landscape painting with in-depth coverage of historical and contemporary artworks painted en' plein air and in studio and the Plein Air Convention. The company also produces artist videos with many masters including ARC Living Master™ Max Ginsburg. Rhoads, an entrepreneur, founded the company in 1986 and produces other magazines and conferences. He is a well known author and blogger on art marketing, has released a DVD series for artists on art marketing, and is also a landscape and figurative painter.

Drawing upon her classical, alla prima, and plein air training, Mary Pettis’ work stands on the cutting edge of the International Contemporary Realism movement. Mary has won awards in national and international painting events and exhibitions from New York City to Scottsdale and Maui to Barcelona. In 2017, Mary became the 9th American woman painter to receive the designation ARC Living Master (ARCLM) by the Art Renewal Center®. She is a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society (AIS), the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA), and the Oil Painters of America (OPA). Her art has taken her to the far corners of the world: China, Russia, and much of Europe. She has exhibited widely, including the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and collectors of her work reach across the globe. Mary divides her time equally between the studio and outdoors. Her decades of training and the experiences from hundreds of plein air paintings are a catalyst for a symbolic visual language of expression that celebrates the beauty, dignity and worth of this world and its inhabitants. Mary and her husband Randy live along the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in Minnesota. Her work, along with information on galleries, exhibitions, and workshops can be found on her website at www.marypettis.com.

Didi (Dulce) Menendez is a Cuban-born American publisher and digital artist. She is the Marketing Director and Curator at 33 Contemporary in Chicago. Besides 33 Contemporary, she has curated group shows at Bernarducci.Meisel Gallery, NY, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, the MEAM in Barcelona, Sirona Fine Art Gallery in Florida, Flinders Lane Gallery in Australia, RJD Gallery in New York, and at the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago. She is considered a pioneer of the online poetry publishing arena since the last century. Her publications have been anthologized in the Pushcart Prize Best of the Small Presses, and Best American Poetry series. She runs a very active figurative art community at PoetsArtists. A selection of her publications are archived at the United States of America Library of Congress and with the Peregrine Collection a payload scheduled to be archived on the moon by Dr. Samuel Peralta.

Born in Manila, Philippines, 1967, D. Eleinne Basa now calls the East Coast home, having immigrated in 1994 to the USA. Eleinne’s evocative landscapes have been shown in important invitational and juried shows throughout the country, such as “The Collectors Reserve” at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa , OK , the California Art Club’s “Gold Medal Exhibition and Sale” at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, CA, the “On Location in Malibu Landscapes” show at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum in Malibu, CA, the “Settlers West Great American West” show in Tucson AZ, the “National Cowboy Museum Miniature” show in Oklahoma City, OK, the CM Russell Museum in Great Falls, MT, and the Brinton Museum in Sheridan, WY. In 2016, and 2018 she was invited to be part of the “American Masters Exhibition” at the Salmagundi club in NY, NY. She also has won multiple awards for her work, most notable is the $15,000 Grand Prize in the first Plein Air Salon hosted by “Plein Air Magazine” and the Artists Choice award and Best in Show in the 2018 American Masters Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club. Her work has also been recognized as a finalist in the 2014/2015, 2017/2018, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021 ARC Salon Competitions. In the 15th ARC Salon, she garnered two awards, the Artist’s Library Award, for “Promise of a Rainbow,” and 3rd Place Landscape Award for her work of “Snow Moon.” Both of these works participated in the 15th ARC Salon Exhibition at Sotheby’s NY, July 2021, with “Promise of a Rainbow” selling at auction in the sale “Contemporary Realism: Important 21st Century Works”. She was also awarded an Art of the West award of Excellence in the 2012 California Art club Gold Medal Show at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, CA and People’s Choice Award at the 2018 “Inaugural American Tonalist Society Show” at the Salmagundi Club, NYC.

Her works have been featured in numerous magazine publications including “Fine Art Connoisseur,” “Plein Air Magazine,” where she has been on the cover in 2012, “Art of the West,” “Southwest Art,” “American Art Collector,” “Western Art Collector,” and “Western Art and Architecture.” Eleinne Basa finds inspiration in the work of 19th-century American painters such as tonalist George Inness as well as in the delicate, muted landscapes by Spanish artist Emilio Sánchez-Perrier. Among her favorite Landscape painters are American artists, Thomas Moran, Emile Carlsen, George Inness and Hugh Bolton Jones.

Judith Kudlow is the President and Director of the ARC Approved™ NYK Academy, opened originally in 2002 with Andrea Smith, a Florence Academy graduate. Her working method is based on the nineteenth century academic tradition which emphasizes working from life to produce paintings based on precise drawing, careful modeling to produce the three-dimensional illusion, harmonious and accurate colors and values, and compositions based on time-honored rules. As an artist herself, she has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions since 1993. She is represented by Anderson Fine Art Gallery, GA, Somerville Manning, DE and Principle Gallery, VA. Her works have been published in prominent publications including American Artist Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Sun among others.

Li Xiangqun, born in 1961, is president of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, Vice-Director of China Artists Association, Professor & PhD Supervisor, Tsinghua University Academy of Art and Design, Member of the Exhibition Review Committee of the National Museum of China, Deputy Director of the National Major Theme Art Creation Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Steering Committee of Art Education in colleges and universities of the Ministry of Education in China. In addition, Li Xiangqun is a famous contemporary Chinese sculptor and educator with more than 40 years of teaching practice, and his sculptures have won many national and international honors.

Joseph McGurl was born in Massachusetts in 1958. He grew up working with his father, James McGurl, who was a muralist and his most influential teacher. He graduated from Massachusetts College of Art with a dual major in painting and education, continuing his studies in England and Italy. In search of a more solid training in drawing, he sought out Robert Cormier, a devotee of the French Academy methods, with whom he studied figure drawing. McGurl's paintings have been included in several museum exhibitions in Massachusetts, New York, California, and Rhode Island as well as being exhibited in several group museum exhibitions which travelled throughout the country. He had retrospective solo shows at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, The Cahoon Museum of American Art, and the Saint Botolph Club of Boston. He was a participant in the Sea to Shining Sea Exhibition which traveled to twelve museums over a four-year period. Representing Representation, included his work in their show at the Arnot Art Museum, and he simultaneously exhibited at the concurrent Representing Representation West which showcased at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. He also exhibited at the Salmagundi Club, NYC, Sotheby’s Los Angeles and the European Museum of Modern Art, (MEAM) in the 13th ARC Salon Exhibition. McGurl has been elected to the Guild of Boston Artists and is a former Copley Master with the Copley Society of Boston as well as a current ARC Living Master. He has won top awards from all three organizations including the John Singleton Copley Award for Artistic Achievement, 1st Place Landscape in the 9th and 13th International ARC Salon Competition, and an ARC Purchase Award for his work of Creation in Time and Space in 2013. He is also a former elected Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists.

Renée Bemis has served on the board of the Society of Animal Artists (SAA) for over 29 years with the last nine years serving as the President. She is currently​ a fellow member of the American Artists Professional League, and a distinguished member of the American Society of Marine Artists, and Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club. Renee has been a professional artist for 39 years. In 1994 Renée won her first monumental public commission "Returning on the Wings of Peace" a 16' foot sculpture depicting a Veteran with his child on his shoulders that was installed at the entrance of a Veteran's Hospital. In the ensuing years, Renée has created public monuments for Universities, Hospitals, Libraries, Parks, with one of her latest pieces being a memorial to the 9/11 Emergency Responders where Renée had steel from the North Tower as part of her design. She has won numerous awards including multiple “Best in Show”, “ Medal of Honor” and “President’s Awards” ​Renée’s sculptures have been acquired by museums for their permanent collection and are found in private collections around the world.

Arantzazu Martinez is the co-founder and main instructor of Atelier Madrid, an academy dedicated to teaching the classical art of drawing and painting in the capital of Spain since 2013. Her ability to recreate a dream world where imagination meets reality is a feature of her painting, as well as producing very careful compositions with an exceptional treatment of the human figure and light. These qualities have made her work internationally recognized. Martinez has taken part in such projects as Star Wars Visions by Lucas Film Ltd., The Images of Russia, and the IBEX Masterpieces Project. She has also been awarded the Art Renewal Center’s prestigious William Bouguereau Award and Best In Show 2015.

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A recognized authority on California Impressionism, Art Historian Jean Stern has extensive experience in the field as an author, curator, lecturer, and teacher. He is the executive director of the Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine. In over twenty-five years at the museum, he has established a national presence for the Irvine Museum in the fields of California Art and History through a noteworthy international series of books, exhibitions, lectures, articles and video documentaries. In his career, he has presented over 250 lectures and judged and juried nearly 100 art competitions. Mr. Stern has written essays for over 25 books and museum exhibition catalogues, such as all three PLEIN AIR PAINTERS OF CALIFORNIA series. He has presented tours and lectures on California Art in numerous museums including the International Cultural Center, Krakow, Poland; Mona Bismarck Foundation in Paris, France; National Academy Museum in New York as well as many others. He was a consultant to and appears in IMPRESSIONS OF CALIFORNIA, a PBS documentary video series on art in California, and on PLEIN AIR: PAINTING THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE, (PBS 2007). Since 1992, the Irvine Museum, with Jean Stern as director, has produced a number of traveling exhibitions, including SELECTIONS FROM THE IRVINE MUSEUM (1993 and 2010); ROMANCE OF THE BELLS, The California Missions in Art (1995); GUY ROSE, and more. In 2017, Mr. Stern received the prestigious CHEVALIER OF THE ORDER OF ARTS AND LETTERS by the French Ministry of Culture. He has also been presented with three LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS: by the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association in 2013; by the Plein Air Painters of America in 2014; and by PLEIN AIR MAGAZINE, at the Third Annual Plein Air Convention in Monterey, CA, in 2014.

Dan Thompson, an ARC Living Master™, has won numerous awards including Grand Prize for Best of Show in the American Society of Portrait Artist’s International Portrait Competition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Erlebacher Award from the New York Academy of Art, two Ethel Lorraine Bernstein Memorial Awards for Excellence in Painting from the Corcoran School of Art, and two Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grants.

He co-founded two schools of Art in New York City: The Grand Central Academy of Art and the Janus Collaborative School of Art. Thompson has served on the MFA faculty of the New York Academy of Art for 15 years, the Art Students League of New York and is a senior faculty member of Studio Incamminati, School for Contemporary Realist Art in Philadelphia.

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Xu Mangyao is a leading figure in contemporary Chinese realistic painting and is one of the few teachers who actively advocates study and inherit excellence in classical paintings in modern China. He has promoted the development of realistic art worldwide, by hosting a series of Classical Painting Seminars with European classical painting masters such as Antonio Lopez-Garcia, Golucho, and Odd Nerdrum in Spain, Italy and China. Xu Mangyao, was born in 1945 and is a famous contemporary Chinese painter. In 1980, he received his MFA in painting from the China Academy of Art, and later became an instructor at the CAA painting department. In 1984, Xu Mangyao continued to advance his studies at the Acaddémie des Beaux-Arts, Paris France, with Professor Pierre Carron. From November 1991 to January 1993, he returned to France as a visiting scholar for academic exchange at the National Academy of Decorative Arts in Paris (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs). In 1998, he began teaching at the Fine Arts College of Shanghai Normal University, and later became professor and dean of the Fine Arts College of Shanghai Normal University. Xu Mangyao holds the positions of Distinguished Professor and Ph. D. Tutor in the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. He has held individual exhibitions and joint exhibitions in China, Hong Kong, Macao, France, America, Britain, and Belgium. His works have been aquired by museums and collectors alike.