ART TALKS at The Artistic Forum

Think Newbury Street, Boston and you think: upscale and pricey. You think of fashionable restaurants, sidewalk cafés, clothing shops, bookstores, and myriad luxury boutiques that cater to just about every taste.

Think Newbury Street and you also think art galleries, about a dozen or so of them. There are art galleries that specialize in the works of individual artists, galleries that are quiet eclectic, galleries that sometimes confound, and, naturally, galleries that cater to more traditional tastes.

If you enjoy art as much as I do and you’re planning a trip to Boston, missing this street and what it has to offer would be to miss what makes Boston such a great city for visitors and art lovers alike.

Newbury Street is a virtual potpourri of choice intertwined with enough historic buildings and specialty shops to make it a one stop, all day, thoroughly enjoyable, unhurried experience for visitors. You can start at one end -- Arlington Street -- across from the Public Gardens, and stroll casually to the other end -- Massachusetts Avenue -- and find enough to occupy most, if not an entire day.

I spent a drizzly Friday afternoon in June - my kind of day -- taking in the sites, so to speak, and visited each gallery. I spoke with the managers and, in some instances, the manager/owners, as well as the sales personnel of several galleries. I visited their Internet sites, priced the art, and got a pretty good feel for what’s available. I should noted that this is not my first visit to Newbury Street or its galleries; it is merely the first time I have written about them in this forum.

For those interested in browsing Newbury Street for art, I would suggest that before making the trip, one should use the hyperlinks on this page to visit each site and see the wide variety of art that is available. I find Internet browsing to be easy, relaxing, and when combined on a single page such as this, a pretty useful tool, especially given the fact that a trip to Newbury Street is going to involve parking your car somewhere, and that’s going to cost about $20 for the day. It just makes sense to look first and see what interests you before making the trip or incurring the expense.

Also, because Newbury Street is rather long and packed with plenty of interesting sights to see, those interested in making a visit should plan on a mid-morning start, stopping for lunch and finishing by mid-afternoon. Why the long stretch? The answer is simple: in between gallery stops you are almost certain to find a specialty shop or two that interests and intrigues. You’re going to get tired, and you’re going to want to sit awhile, eat and rest, then you’re going to want to continue.

For the casual browser, an additional note: some of the galleries may be so limited in space that you will feel unsatisfied with the selection offered. Boston is not unique in this regard. Cost per square inch of gallery space is high in any large city. New York has numerous galleries with limited space and enormous talent on display. So, too, does Rockport, MA. Lack of space is problematic for some galleries located off the street or above the first floor. But in each of the galleries I visited, the time spent taking an elevator or short walk up a flight or two is time well spent. For example, the galleries located on the fourth floor at 38 Newbury Street compensate for lack of street visibility and space restrictions by opening their doors wide and sharing the entire floor. Because of zoning laws that restrict signage outside the building, the most you will likely see of these galleries is a copper nameplate at the front entrance directing you upstairs. If the door is open, by all means go inside. I did, and was pleasantly welcomed at each location.

Another word about visiting galleries. I still hear from gallery personnel about how they wish the invisible “intimidation” barrier could be broken down and more people would just walk in and enjoy the art. The problem becomes especially exasperating for shop owners located off the street. I can only reiterate what I have said in previous other columns on the subject: gallery owners are in the business of selling art; they expect and welcome casual browsers as well as serious buyers. Foot traffic inevitably breeds sales and gallery owners know this. It has been my experience that gallery personnel are eager to talk about the selections offered in their galleries and on more than one occasion have expressed genuine gratitude for my even asking questions.

"Her Aim was True" © by Jim Buckels is a limited edition Gicleé on canvas.
"Her Aim was True"
© by Jim Buckels is a limited
edition Gicleé on canvas.

"Yellow Swell" an original oil on canvas © by James Michalopoulos
"Yellow Swell"
an original oil on canvas
© by James Michalopoulos

Most of the galleries I visited on Newbury Street (just as elsewhere), although perfectly content to let you browse without interference, said they truly welcomed the opportunity to tell more about each artist, what their art means to them, and to talk about art in general. Art is to be enjoyed, so enjoy it!

Lastly, something should be said about prices, which can be varied considerably. Expect prices to range from modest to expensive, depending upon where you look. Newbury Fine Arts, for example, has a fine selection of fabulously framed and visually stunning Gicleé prints by Iowa artist Jim Buckles (a la Maxfield Parrish) for $125 and original paintings by various artists that hover between $2,500 and $18,000. The Arden and the Guild of Boston Artists showcase contemporary artists whose work is eminently affordable, under, say, $4,000. Even specialty shops, such as the one-man gallery of Michalopolous offers large originals below $10,000 and prints under $2,000. All shops take credit cards.

In sum, when you visit Boston, enjoy Newbury Street. Enjoy its galleries and above all else relax and feel free to browse for the sheer pleasure of the experience. You won’t be disappointed. Gallery personnel are friendly and eager to show their stuff.

There are the traditional galleries:

Copley Society of Boston: http://www.copleysociety.org

The Guild of Boston Artists: no site

The Childs: http://www.childsgallery.com

The Chase Gallery: http://www.chasegallery.com

The Vose: http://www.vosegalleries.com

There is the whimsical:

Michalopoulus Gallery: http://www.michalopoulos.com

If you want abstract try:

The Pepper Gallery: http://www.peppergalleryboston.com

The elegant Equator: http://www.equatorgallery.com (specializing in Latin American)

The MPG: no site

Contemporary galleries, always my favorite. Spend some time at:

The Arden Gallery: http://www.ardengallery.com

Newbury Fine Arts: http://www.newburyfinearts.com

Gallery Seventy-Nine: http://www.gallery79.com

Gallery NAGA: http://www.gallerynaga.com

And off street galleries, upstairs, out of public view, but certainly open to and welcoming of the public:

The Richardson-Clarke Gallery: http://www.richardson-clark.com

The Robert Klein Gallery: http://www.robertklinegallery.com

The Pepper Gallery: http://www.peppergalleryboston.com

The Acme Fine Art: http://www.acmefineart.com

Abstract art is pretty much everywhere, but Judi Rotenberg has a good gallery and even more complete site: http://www.judirotenberg.com.

Note: the Rotenberg Internet site was off line at the time of this article, as was the Copley Gallery. But keep trying, they’ll be back.