World’s Best ‘Landscapes With Life’ Named By America’s 25 Best Galleries: PRUYS, DAI, MERLINO, GHETIU, SEEREY-LESTER, YUAN, ROSSOUW, FENG, XU, ZHANG, KUPERMAN & GAVALCHIN / 2021 AMERICAN ART AWARDS

Thom Bierdz
6 min readOct 3, 2021

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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.

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

Winners in Category 36 are from CHINA, CANADA, USA, LITHUANIA & SOUTH AFRICA.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Cher Pruys, ASAA SCA, IGOR, AAPL, CSAA, AMS, LMS, OSA, MAA, CFA, NOAPS.

“To take my inner visions with my hands and create a work of art for you the viewer …. That is the ultimate in self expression.”

Cher Pruys was born in Regina. Over the years she lived in many places including Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Fort Frances, settling into her present home in Devlin, on the banks of the Rainy River with her husband Mark, 4 dogs and 2 cats. By age three, Cher was seldom found without a drawing tool in hand. She worked in pencil, charcoal and ink over the years, until, she picked up a paintbrush at the age of 35. Beginning with oil paints, she found her chosen mediums in acrylic, water color and gouache.

Although self taught, her dedication and talent has seen her work juried into 161 International exhibits, as well as exhibits in numerous non juried shows. She has 162 awards for her work in the International Juried Exhibits.

In 2020 she was awarded with the most wins in The American Art International Awards. She has had 14 solo exhibits. Cher is also an avid fused glass artist, and a certified teacher of piano and guitar. Her painting “The Bubble” had the honour of being part of the Masterworks from The International Guild of Realism Tour. Her work has graced the covers of 3 books, 26 magazines, the latest being The Best Of Acrylic Fall 2021, and has-been featured in over 106 international publications. Cher’s works have found a permanent home in private and public collections worldwide. www.artbycher.ca

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Dai Gang, born in 1960, graduated from the Department of Literature and Art of Shanghai Jiaotong University in 1987, majoring in Western Painting, under the tutelage of Teacher Zhang Kaixian. From 2013 to 2016, he studied in the Mural Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, under the tutelage of Hou Yimin. In 2018, he studied in the Oil Painting Department of the Surikov Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow and the Oil Painting Department of the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg.

ARTIST CONTACTS FOR ART COLLECTORS:

Category 36. REALISM OR IMPRESSIONISM — LANDSCAPE WITH LIFE

1st Place-Tie GANG DAI CHINA daigangart@126.com
“St. Mark’s Cathedral” 40x50cm Oil on linen.

1st Place-Tie CHER PRUYS CANADA www.artbycher.ca “Kissing Cousins” 11x8” Acrylic on paper.

2nd Place-Tie JOHN MERLINO USA https://merlinocreations.wixsite.com/website “Light Of A New Day” 19x26.75” Egg tempera.

2nd Place-Tie SERGHEI GHETIU LITHUANIA https://www.saatchiart.com/all?query=serghei%20ghetiu
“Catch Me If You Can!” 75x60cm Oil on canvas.

3rd Place CHER PRUYS CANADA www.artbycher.ca “Girlfriends” 13x12” Acrylic on paper.

4th Place-Tie SUZIE SEEREY-LESTER USA http://www.Seerey-Lester.com “Walking The Rails” 42x26" Acrylic on panel.

4th Place-Tie CHUNMING YUAN CHINA 66092549@qq.com
“Lifestyle / The Impressions Of Old Street, №1” 100cx140cm Oil on linen.

4th Place-Tie ROELOF ROSSOUW SOUTH AFRICA www.art.co.za/roelofrossouw “The Sheep Farm” 24x36" Oil.

5th Place-Tie FEI FENG CHINA fayefeng136@163.com
“Outside The Window” 30x40cm Tempera.

5th Place-Tie QINGYUE XU CHINA 735998626@qq.com
“Build Dreams” 110x255cm Oil on linen.

6th Place-Tie YONG ZHANG CHINA https://yongzhangart.com/ 100x120cm “Busy Farming Season” Tempera on wood board.

6th Place-Tie EUGENE KUPERMAN USA http://www.kuperart.com
“Vita” 24x30" Oil on linen.

6th Place-Tie MAXIMILIAN GAVALCHIN USA mgavalchin@gmail.com
“Daydream” 12x16” 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.

ART COLLECTORS: all winning images and corresponding contact info of all the artists will soon be uploaded to this page:

This year’s 25 Best Galleries & Museums asked to vote on art were:

BEST IN ARIZONA: Exposures International Gallery of Fine Art

BEST IN CALIFORNIA: Revolver Gallery

BEST IN COLORADO: Mirada Fine Art

BEST IN FLORIDA: Art Fusion Galleries

BEST IN HAWAII: Sunshine Arts

BEST IN ILLINOIS: Trickster Cultural Center

BEST IN IOWA: Moberg Gallery

BEST IN KANSAS: Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery

BEST IN KENTUCKY: E&S Gallery

BEST IN LOUISIANA: Jonathan Ferrara Gallery

BEST IN MASSACHUSETTS: Boston Sculptors Gallery

BEST IN MISSOURI: Hilliard Gallery

BEST IN MONTANA: Dana Gallery

BEST IN NEBRASKA: Kiechel Fine Art

BEST IN NEVADA: Metropolitan Gallery Las Vegas Art Museum

BEST IN NEW JERSEY: Evalyn Dunn Gallery

BEST IN NEW YORK: LIK SOHO

BEST IN NEW MEXICO: GF Contemporary

BEST IN NORTH CAROLINA: The Arts Council of Fayetteville| Cumberland County

BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Mary Martin Galleries Of Fine Art

BEST IN SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota Art Museum

BEST IN TENNESSEE: Stanford Fine Art

BEST IN TEXAS: Ao5

BEST IN WASHINGTON: Maryhill Museum of Art

BEST IN WEST VIRGINIA: Parkersburg Art Center

ENTER OR GET AN OFFICIAL GALLERY RATING:

www.AmericanArtAwards.com

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Thom Bierdz

One of Medium’s TOP ART CONTRIBUTORS, award-winning author, actor, film-maker, painter. 12 books: 6 on art. President of WAA & AAA & ACCA.