World’s Best Figure Realists Named By America’s 25 Best Galleries: CUERVO, BROGI, PRUYS, GALICANO, LIU, HAN, KUKOVEROV, SERSTINSKAJA & IRWIN / 2021 AMERICAN ART AWARDS

8 min readOct 3, 2021

Each May the American Art Awards organization selects the 25 Best Galleries and Museums in America, then in autumn these revered art institutions vote on online art to decide the world’s best contemporary artists.

The 25 Best GALLERIES + MUSEUMS In America, 2021 — American Art AwardsAmerican Art Awards

The AAA board chooses only one gallery or museum per state per year. Among other criteria, selections are based on…

www.americanartawards.com

America’s Best Galleries & Museums scored almost 2,000 works in 50 categories from 64 countries.

Winners in Category 34 are from USA, ITALY, CANADA, PHILIPPINES, CHINA, RUSSIA & LITHUANIA.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Leonardo Cuervo is a fantastic realism painter interested in exploring the human figure and bringing out its unsettling side. His work is infused with all things fantastical and esoteric, making us wander away from the reality of society to explore the unreal world in our imagination, and then, subtly, bringing us back. In the words of Artillery Magazine, “unusual and provocative in style, Cuervo’s technical skill in realism is also exquisite.”

Cuervo started as an engraving student at the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts, in Havana, Cuba but was immediately drawn to traditional oil painting techniques. During his artistic career in Havana, he presented solo shows in prestigious local institutions and constantly engaged in collective exhibitions. His early work was influenced by the XVI and XVII century European culture and artists. The enigmatic world of Brueghel, Jan Van Eyck’s elaborate execution, Rembrandt’s engravings, the strange tranquility of Vermeer’s interiors; Cuervo’s early pieces strove to make all these essences come together in a contemporary language but still indebted to the past. The image obtained was a direct reference of the old masters but within a system of fragmented images, full of the quotes, audiovisual images and chaotic information that is the contemporary world in which we live. Not surprisingly, that stage of Cuervo’s work naturally resonated with the Belgian audience during his first international solo shows in Brussels, in 2005.

Restless in his exploration to transcend beyond the traditional representation to a more precise, meticulous form, Cuervo encountered hyperrealism and the way in which this school treats the pictorial image. His origins as engraver motivated him to also embrace pencil drawing as a complete form of photorealistic expression. Still, Cuervo’s new direction do not renounce to his fantasy but brings it together with the elements of the real world. For Cuervo, it is not just about the inspiration alluded by a beggar painted by Goya or Rembrandt: it is now about the real homeless, trapped with a camera on a street in San Francisco, faithfully reproduced in a canvas or paper, and embedded in the poetic discourse that only fantasy can afford.

Upon arriving to the U.S. in 2012, Cuervo immediately inserted himself in the American art scene with his first U.S. solo show at Beverly Hills, and has been invited to present his work in the vibrant New York and San Francisco art scenes. He has been awarded second place in the “Realism-Human Figure” category of the 2016 American Art Awards.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE ARTIST: Ronnie Brogi was born on January 29, 1979 in a small town in central Tuscany called Ponte a Poppi, three steps from Florence.

“From an early age, art, in particular the works of the great masters of the Renaissance enchanted my eyes, leaving me not indifferent to their splendor … I approached painting only after many years, work and life do not allowed .. the call, however, was too strong and I gave in .. I paint at night where, astride the notes of my i pod, I create the melancholy necessary to grasp the inspiration .. I have no teachers, I am totally self-taught..I go instinctively kidnapped by something that drags me into limbo where, without an explanation and a reason, I am in turn a master..I chose portraits focusing on the gaze because I really believe that looking at them describe a soul in its every nuance.

“I tend to a realistic, hyper-realistic style where I love to alternate the marked strokes of the pastel with the more subtle ones of the pencils, I love to make them embrace in a concert of colors that give as a result an emotion that is born clean from the heart … what to say … art and lucky in the air is whoever grabs it and gives it away…”

Ronnie has participated in various exhibitions and competitions:

Pro biennale di venezia 2019, 2020 organized and presented by Vittorio Sgarbi. He won the Canaletto prize organized by spoleto arte in Venice 2019.
Won the Modigliani and Caravaggio awards respectively held in Spoleto and the island of Malta 2019. Won the critics’ award at the Lazio biennial 2019.
He has been awarded various prizes including: Salvador d’Ali award, city of Matera award, world art ambassador award, etc..

He organized a solo show at the Castello di Poppi, and a group show “from impressionism to hyperrealism, always at the Castello dei Conti Guidi di Poppi ..

The professor. Vittorio Sgarbi dedicated a personal criticism to him praising his art. The sociologist Francesco Alberoni wrote about him extolling his artistic skills.

Ronnie works on commission .. He expresses himself mainly on portraits .. His portraits are abroad and in the possession of collectors. Ronniebr79@gmail.com

ARTIST CONTACTS FOR ART COLLECTORS:

Category 34. REALISM — HUMAN

1st Place-Tie RONNIE BROGI ITALY ronniebr79@gmail.com
“Transmutation” 50x70cm Dry pastels on cardboard.

1st Place-Tie LEONARDO CUERVO USA www.leonardocuervo.com “Are We There Yet?” 8.875x13.25” Oil on paper on wood.

2nd Place-Tie CHER PRUYS CANADA www.artbycher.ca cher@artbycher.ca “Tiny Dancer” 11x11” Acrylic on paper.

2nd Place-Tie ROMULO GALICANO PHILIPPINES www.romulogalicano.com “The Sleeping Model” 35x45" Oil on canvas.

3rd Place-Tie LEONARDO CUERVO USA www.leonardocuervo.com “Pythagoras” 8x12” Oil on panel.

3rd Place-Tie XIAOWEI LIU CHINA 376818795@qq.com
“The Girl By The Window” 40x50cm Oil on linen.

3rd Place-Tie SHUAI HAN CHINA polish998@126.com
“I Come From The Mountain” 60x60cm Acrylic on linen.

4th Place-Tie SIHUA LIU CHINA 363902716@qq.com
“Flowery” 60x50cm Oil on canvas.

4th Place-TieALEXANDER KUKOVEROV RUSSIA 70x50" https://vk.com/id341349160 “Hope” Oil on canvas.

5th Place-Tie DANGUOLE SERSTINSKAJA LITHUANIA 30x25cm https://petdrawings.net “Love” Oil on paper.

5th Place-Tie LINDA IRWIN CANADA lindairwinart.calgaryab@gmail.com
“Little Miss Fashionista” 11x14" Acrylic on board.

6th Place CHER PRUYS CANADA www.artbycher.ca cher@artbycher.ca
“Gramps” 8x13” Acrylic on paper.

Click below to see the relaxing hour-long movie revealing 2021’s hundreds of winning artworks:

Artworks from 59 countries won among the 50 categories: paintings, drawings, photography, digital and sculpture. (Americans won more because Americans entered more since the competition is better known here.)

Number of winners per country: Argentina 1, Australia 12, Belarus 2, Belgium 2, Brazil 3, Bulgaria 2, Canada 30, China 85, Croatia 2, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, England 2, Finland 1, France 7, Georgia 3, Germany 18, Ghana 1, Greece 3, Hungary 2, Japan 1, India 10, Iran 1, Ireland 1, Israel 1, Italy 14, Kazakhstan 1, Kuwait 2, Latvia 6, Lithuania 27, Macedonia 5, Malaysia 2, Mexico 2, Moldova 1, Morocco 1, Netherlands 3, New Zealand 1, Nigeria 8, Norway 1, Oman 1, Pakistan 1, Philippines 5, Poland 8, Republic Of Korea 12, Romania 2, Russia 45, Serbia 1, South Africa 8, Spain 11, Sweden 3, Taiwan 7, Thailand 1, Turkey 3, Uganda 1, UK 10, Ukraine 5, USA 264, Uzbekistan 1, Zambia 1, Zimbabwe 2.