The Cooley Gallery, 25 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, Connecticut is extraordinarily excited to announce a landmark new exhibition of pastel work by Laura Coombs Hills.  Portraits from My Garden will be the largest solo exhibition and sale of Hills’ unparalleled floral pastels in nearly seven decades.  You are cordially invited to the open house reception on Saturday, November 21, from 1-5 pm.  The show will run through January 2, 2010, and you can see a preview exhibition on November 12 at the Cooley Gallery booth at the Boston International Fine Art Show at the Cyclorama, 539 Tremont Street in Boston.  The exhibit is produced in conjuction with Vincent Vallarino Fine Art, LTD and Lepore Fine Art.

Sandra Lepore writes: “Rendering flowers in pastel became Hills primary artistic concern. Lizzie carefully cultivated and nurtured favorite specimens — peonies, lilies, larkspur, Van Fleet and tea roses, zinnias, and dahlias — at “The Goldfish.” Cut early in the morning, still glistening with dew, the blooms were carefully arranged in full sunlight for optimum vibrancy and contrast. Hills occasionally added an electric bulb to enhance the lighting effect. “It woke those lilies up,” she said, “[and] made them speak.”  Hills worked quickly, laying colors with her pinky poised for selective blending. She paid considerable attention to backdrops: employing scarves, tapestries, and fabrics she had collected on her various trips to Europe.

Beginning in 1921, Hills began an almost unbroken string of annual solo exhibits in Boston, each extremely successful from a sales standpoint. In her 1927 Copley Gallery exhibition, only five of forty-five floral pastels remained after noon on the first day.”  The image below is courtesy of Childs Gallery, Boston.