Dear Friends,

The Rice Polak Gallery is excited to announce our first feature exhibition of the 2023 season. We will be exhibiting the work of René Romero Schuler, Stanley Bielen & Donald Saaf.

The show previews on - Thursday July 6th and runs through Wednesday July 19th. The Opening Reception is on Friday July 7th beginning at 7pm.
As a friend of the gallery, we'd like to offer you an exclusive online preview of their work by visiting the gallery's website.

René Romero Schuler

René Romero Schuler is one of the most important and well-collected, contemporary artists to emerge out of the Midwestern United States. Schuler is creating powerful images of strength and vulnerability that speak to the heart of the human condition: love, sorrow, solitude, and heartbreak. Through these depictions of difficult subjects, she inspires her viewers with hope, fortitude, and ultimately, enduring strength.

The figures Schuler captures are equal parts self-portraiture and portraits of the range of human emotions that she has experienced in her all-too-colorful life. Her approach is personal yet universal, and essentially intimate. The work is visually and emotionally affecting; it powerfully reveals her appreciation for the struggle and triumph of the human condition and speaks to global and societal issues that continue to impact daily lives.

Stanley Bielen

Stanley Bielen honors the European heritage of still life painting. Bielen is originally from Poland and in his intimate oils, he places high color blossoms and fruit against velvety lush backgrounds. The intimacy with his subject matter begins in the garden where he grows the blossoms that he arranges in simple groupings and rich brushstrokes.

Bielen’s paintings have been compared to the still life’s of Edouard Manet. The works are loose, brushy interpretations of the subject matter rather than attempts at photographic realism. The painter is masterful in capturing dramatic half-light, while employing loose strokes of translucent color from his simple yet seductive palette.” Exhibiting regionally and nationally, Bielen’s work also appears in the collections of the Hirshorn Museum in Washington, DC and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

Donald Saaf

Donald Saaf’s paintings are inspired by his family and immediate surroundings. His work has an innocent look, reminiscent of folk art painting in which figures are simplified characters and vary from tiny to oversized in the world that Donald creates. Birds and moths become mythical, and exotic animals cavort with children. Working in oil, gouache, and collage, Saaf’s work features vibrant colors that make each painting a tantalizing environment with an oddly curious feel.

Donald Saaf is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and has been shown nationally. His work has been reviewed in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and Art New England. In addition to being an important American painter, Saaf is the author of numerous award winning children”s books a musician and puppeteer.

See Work By All Of Our Artists