World’s Best Still Life Impressionists / 2023 AMERICAN ART AWARDS: ROSSOUW, PIER, MONTILLA, LEE, ZHAI, SHIM, GIL, PAK, KIM, HA, FILICHKIN & MELZACKA
Artists from 72 countries competed in the 2023 AMERICAN ART AWARDS. Twenty of the most revered galleries in the USA were sent around 2,000 online images to score in drawing, painting, sculpture, digital and photography. The 300+ winning works, 1st to 6th Place (and ties) in all 50 categories, can be seen in this series of articles.
USA’s top galleries decided winners in every medium: oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, pastel, realism, impressionism, naïve, abstract, expressionism, human figure, animal, landscape, fantasy, surrealism, pop, portrait, self-portrait, political, erotic, cubism, floral, humor, spiritual, etc..
Art collectors can see all the winning images and corresponding contact info to the best contemporary artists in the world here: https://americanartawards.com/2023-winning-artists-american-art-awards/
Winners in this category are from SOUTH AFRICA, USA, CHINA & POLAND.
BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Brian Pier
Born in Kenosha, WI in 1953 Brian spent most of his career in the construction trade before becoming a professional artist at the age of 58. By 2011 he was already exhibiting his work in New York City and in 2013 was represented and exhibiting in Floence, Italy.
Brian is primarily self taught but strongly influenced by many of the 19th century and early 20th century masters. He now spends most of his time working out of his studio and two galleries in Door County, WI. He studies and paints every day working only in oil and his passion is painting from life as he continually finds drama in the landscapes and people he paints. His paintings are all about the changing light and the way that it plays on the natural beauty that surrounds him. https://wwwbrianpierart.com
BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: ROELOF ROSSOUW IMPRESSIONIST ARTIST / CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
I was born in Benoni, South Africa in 1957. When I was seventeen my art teacher took us on a European Art Tour and I fell in love with Europe and travel. Since 1995 I have visited a foreign country almost every year, mainly England and Europe. I have painted in Italy, Kyiv, France and USA.
After three years at the School of Art in Johannesburg I gained a National Diploma in Graphic Design. In April 1982, I started my first and last salary job working for MEDUNSA (Medical University of Southern Africa) as a graphic artist and medical illustrator. During this time, I discovered modern impressionist painters such as Ken Howard and Bernard Dunstan of England and Max Agostini of France. I began studying their work which appeared in magazines I started painting seriously on a daily basis in 1992 and in 1995 I became a successful full time artist. A total of 48 solo exhibitions at top galleries in South Africa (one in UK) Numerous group exhibitions in South Africa, London, Cheltenham, Glasgow, Jersey, Galway, Montreal, San Francisco, Miami and New York
INVICTUS ARTWORK
In 2009 three of my oil paintings of South African landscapes featured as props in Clint Eastwood’s movie ‘’Invictus’’. When the great and famous director arrived on the set he decided to buy two of the paintings for his personal collection. www.roelofrossouwart.com
ARTISTS’ CONTACTS / SEE MORE OF THE ARTISTS’ WORKS:
1st Place — Tie ROELOF ROSSOUW SOUTH AFRICA www.roelofrossouwart.com “’Monet’s Painting Boat, Giverny’’ 18x24’’ Oil.
1st Place — Tie BRIAN PIER USA https://wwwbrianpierart.com “Reflections Of Tugboats” 30x40" Oil on canvas.
2nd Place — Tie RICKY MONTILLA USA www.rickymontilla.com “Excerpt From The Master’s Book, Series 1” 16x24” Oil on canvas.
2nd Place — Tie KARALYN LEE USA andreia.lee10@gmail.com “Time Apart” 14x17" Acrylic on canvas.
3rd Place — Tie YANQI ZHAI CHINA www.yqzart.com “Corner Of Window” 51x41cm Oil on canvas.
3rd Place — Tie BORAM SHIM USA artistbonkoo@gmail.com “Back To The Old Days” 12x16” Acrylic on Gesso board.
4th Place — Tie GINA GIL USA ginagil1090@gmail.com “Workplace Of Modern Witch” 48x61cm Acrylic on paper.
4th Place — Tie ASHLEY PAK USA artistbonkoo@gmail.com “Jewelry” 9x12” Pencil on paper.
4th Place — Tie EMILY KIM USA minjiemilykim@gmail.com “A Comforting Mess” 36x43cm Graphite and colored pencil on paper.
5th Place KYUNGHOON HA USA hcreativelab9@gmail.com “Faded Memories” 11x14” Graphite pencil on paper.
6th Place — Tie HYUNGSUN KIM USA sunkim159@gmail.com “Pocket Ball” 21.4x15.5” Color pencil, pencil, acrylic, paper.
6th Place — Tie TANYA FILICHKIN USA https://tanyafilichkin.artspan.com/ “End Of August” 12x12” Acrylic on canvas.
6th Place — Tie KATARZYNA MELZACKA POLAND www.artuszko.pl 50x40cm “Aromatic Morning” Acrylic on canvas.
In 2023, AMERICAN ART AWARDS had submissions from these 72 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Switzerland, Tobago, Trinidad, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, USA, Viet Nam, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
USA’s 20 Best Galleries & Museums who were asked to score online art in 2023 were:
American Art Awards 20 Best Galleries & Museums for 2023, in alphabetical order:
BEST IN ARIZONA: Exposures International Gallery Of Fine Art
BEST IN CALIFORNIA: Sparks Gallery
BEST IN COLORADO: Mirada Fine Art
BEST IN FLORIDA: MAC Art Galleries
BEST IN GEORGIA: Black Art In America™ (BAIA)
BEST IN INDIANA: Gallery Forty-Two
BEST IN KANSAS: CityArts
BEST IN KENTUCKY: KMAC Contemporary Art Museum
BEST IN LOUISIANA: Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
BEST IN MAINE: Clarke Gallery
BEST IN MONTANA: Cawdrey Gallery
BEST IN NEBRASKA: Kiechel Fine Art
BEST IN NEVADA: Elena Bulatova Fine Art
BEST IN NEW MEXICO: Thornwood Gallery
BEST IN NEW YORK: Gallery 23 NY
BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Mary Martin Galleries Of Fine Art
BEST IN TEXAS: Ao5 Gallery
BEST IN SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota Art Museum
BEST IN VERMONT: Helmholz Fine Art
BEST IN WYOMING: Gallery Wild
American Art Awards https://www.americanartawards.com/ annually awards 20 museums and/or galleries, who agree to score art and award nearly 300+ deserving contemporary artists from 60+ countries: painters, photographers, sculptors and digital artists.
