Labor Day Weekend Exhibition at Ocean Galleries to Feature Viktor Shvaiko and Thomas Stiltz

About Ocean Galleries:

For over 25 years, Ocean Galleries has provided quality art by contemporary artists to their clients while practicing the highest standards of credibility and integrity in a comfortable and unpretentious atmosphere. With locations in Stone Harbor and Avalon, New Jersey, the distinguished art galleries feature an ever-changing display of artwork that includes local artists’ watercolors, nationally recognized artists’ originals, popular beach prints and high-end reproductions. Ocean Galleries also carries fine furniture and hand-made crafts from America and around the world. For more information, please call 609.368.7777 or visit www.oceangalleries.com

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Official Press Release:

Ocean Galleries (9618 Third Avenue, Stone Harbor, NJ) hosts two exceptional artists for a Labor Day weekend exhibition: Viktor Shvaiko and Thomas Stiltz. “Wine and Romance – the Evocative Images of Viktor Shvaiko and Thomas Stiltz” opens at the gallery on Friday, August 29, 2014 and runs through Sunday, August 31, 2014.

Guests will have the opportunity to meet the two artists at receptions taking place in the Stone Harbor gallery from 7:00 PM until 10:00 PM on Friday, August 29, Saturday, August 30, and Sunday, August 31, 2014. The exhibit is free and open to the public, with all artwork available for acquisition.

“We are excited to welcome these two talented artists back to the gallery,” explained Kim Miller, owner of Ocean Galleries. “Their styles are quite different, but complimentary. Viktor Shvaiko paints cafes and intimate scenes from Italy, France, and other European destinations with a great sense of lighting and shadows in a classic style. Thomas Stiltz uses an old world technique of applying many layers of glazed oil paint to express the pleasures of sight, taste, sound, smell, and touch.”

Born in Altai, one of Russia’s most remote and off-the-beaten-track towns, Viktor Shvaiko grew up surrounded by the beauty of the wilderness. His natural inclination for fine arts and his strong urge to share his vision of nature drove him to find a way into the Novoaltaisk Artistic School, one of the most prestigious schools for the arts in the former Soviet Union, where he acquired the skills of a true artist. A strict regimen of drawing, an intricate technique of using colors, and the influence of the nineteenth century Russian artist Karl Brynllow brought Viktor Shvaiko close to a traditional academic style of painting. At this point, Viktor’s subject focus became the beautiful Altai landscapes.

The Shvaiko family later moved to Transkarpathia, the western mountainous portion of Ukraine, where Viktor became enchanted with the picturesque and breathtakingly beautiful countryside. His travels took him to Yugoslavia and then on to Italy, where he began painting various village scenes with great detail. Years later, Viktor settled in New York City. There he developed his penchant for painting quaint cafes and other intimate places from his travels that we see in his work today and that have become his trademark. His enticing mix of beauty and mystery has drawn the interest and admiration of collectors from around the world.

Thomas Stiltz received a B.A. in Fine Art and M.A. in Photography from the University of Delaware. After a highly successful career in photography and graphic design, Stiltz began his career as a painter in the mid-1990s. Stiltz was drawn initially to the still life genre, with early influences such as Cezanne, Vermeer, and the Spanish still life painters of the 1600s. He later began incorporating his skills as a photographer, exacting manipulation of materials and creating a photographic visual language through his art. Stiltz uses an old world technique of applying many layers of glazed oil paint, which gives color intensity and depth. His optimistic art creates and invents wonderful visions that strive to express the pleasures of all the senses.

Stiltz believes art should provide stability and beauty to which we can anchor our constantly changing existence. Precision and clarity define his work and give him the ability to examine his thoughts and responses to world. Stiltz’s works have been exhibited by more than 50 galleries around the United States, Canada, and China, and he has had over 40 one-man shows featuring his photography and paintings.

The “Wine and Romance – the Evocative Images of Viktor Shvaiko and Thomas Stiltz” exhibition will include original artwork and prints by the two artists, all available for acquisition. The collection will be on display at Ocean Galleries (9618 Third Avenue, Stone Harbor, NJ) on Friday, August 29 through Sunday, August 31, 2014, with special receptions from 7:00 PM until 10:00 PM on Friday, August 29, Saturday, August 30, and Sunday, August 31. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

The Stone Harbor gallery is open from 10:00 AM until 10:00 PM daily during the summer season. For more or directions, call 609-368-7777 or visit www.oceangalleries.com