Sarah Webb

2023 Book Release

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 17:40:44 GMT

Sarah Webb: A Contemporary Realist Abroad

The Artistic Legacy, LLC is pleased to announce the long-awaited release of “Sarah Webb: A Contemporary Realist Abroad,” an intimate account of a young woman’s artistic journey abroad, as she seeks to find her visual voice and become a modern-day master of realism. Best known for her portrayal of contemporary European society and figurative studies of the modern woman, this beautiful and comprehensive hardbound volume—with eighty-five full-color reproductions—captures the grandeur and masterful draftsmanship of Sarah Webb’s work over a period of twenty years.

2017 Sophisticated Living (Nashville), Jul/Aug 2017, p. 108

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 19:33:03 GMT

2017 Sophisticated Living (Nashville), May/Jun 2017, p. 25

Sun, 06 Jun 2021 21:10:59 GMT

2017 Sophisticated Living (Nashville), March/April 2017, p. 104.

Sat, 05 Jun 2021 21:05:57 GMT

2016 Sophisticated Living (Nashville), Nov/Dec 2016, p. 12.

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 21:13:44 GMT

2016 "Visiting Artist Series: Sarah Webb." Nashville Lifestyles Magazine, May.

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 21:15:43 GMT

To Read this article follow the link - Nashville LifeStyles

2016 "Through the Lens of an Artist." Nashville Arts Magazine, April 2016.

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 21:18:05 GMT

2015 "ARTSEE." Nashville Arts Magazine, October 2015, P. 109

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 20:52:00 GMT

2015 Harrington, Jessica. "Becoming the Muse of Sarah Webb." Sophisticated Living (Nashville), November/December 2015, p. 129.

Thu, 20 May 2021 16:53:48 GMT

BECOMING THE MUSE OF SARAH WEBB

Written by Jessica Harrington

What is a muse? A muse is someone who inspires an artist—like Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia, and Picasso’s mistress, Dora Maar, who were transformed by artistic genius into symbols of all womanhood. But, how does one become an artist’s muse? For me it all started with one simple statement, “You should stick around and meet her Jess.”

Sarah Webb, the acclaimed international artist had just returned from Europe and was on her way over, at that very moment. It was no secret that she had asked my friends Melissa and Amy to pose for her. It was all the girls had been talking about for days. Sarah was coming to look at their cloths for the shoot the next day and the girls were all chattiness and giggles. Even though I hadn’t met Sarah, in hindsight, I was a little jealous I wasn’t included in their fun.

At the time, I was twenty years old and taking eighteen hours that semester, which meant plenty of homework. Plus, I had to complete the paperwork for my study abroad program, which was due in two days. In short, in my world it was school, work and occasionally sleep. I had no room for art in my brain. I was the general population, but I was also intrigued and stayed.

I remember the first time Sarah walked through the door. She had the most piercing blue eyes I had ever seen. They seemed to take in every detail around her. When we were introduced, I had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. It really threw me off at first and I found myself following her into Amy’s room. It was like I was drawn to her. As the girls pulled out cloths and started trying them on, Sarah and I chatted.

Then she asked me the question that would change my life forever. “Have you ever posed for an artist?” I about came unglued with excitement! I wanted to play it cool so I told her I had posed once for a friend who was a photography student. Her eyes lit up and I just knew she was going to ask me to pose too. I didn’t even consider asking my boyfriend what he thought. This had nothing to do with him—this was all about me. So before she could even get the entire question out, I was saying, “Yes, I would be honored!”

The next day I modeled with my friends. I’m not sure how well I did but over the next fifteen years I would pose for her hundreds of times—wherever we traveled, be it London, Paris, LA, Chicago or places in between. I learned the "physical" act of creating together. How to loosen up and pose naturally, allowing the light to wrap around my body and play shadow games with its beams. Knowing that what she needs to see is the perfect combination of light, color and flesh.

Over the years, as we have both grown in our own individual ways, we have also grown into this friendship that knows no spiritual boundary. Our connection will rival any in art history. I know what she wants before she even speaks it. In my mind’s eye I can see what she sees, and it creates this burning desire in me to help her get what she wants—a masterpiece. I understand that it is not my physical self that she seeks, but to capture the soul that is truly who I am at that exact moment. I freely give it to her.

What’s it like to be a muse? For me it’s been the biggest blessing in my life. It's hard to explain how the simple act of feeling free while in various states of undress could be such a pure, liberating and life altering experience. Because of that artful enlightenment, I look at my entire life in a different manner. Now all I see is light, color and expression.

Can you imagine, all that just because she saw something that I did not see in myself? Her passion drew out my passions and helped me love who I was and who I was to become. Yet that is only one of the many things I have learned from Sarah on this journey.

Memories are hard to organize when I try to think of all of our history together. Yet one thing stands out above all—we have created beauty together. I am fortunate to be part of her history—past and present. I feel truly humbled and blessed to be a part of her magnitude. Her art is a blessing to all of mankind, especially those who take the time to see the world through her eyes.

2015 Houghland, Gloria. "Capturing the Spirit of the Times." Sophisticated Living Nashville), May/June 2015, p.112.

Tue, 18 May 2021 16:47:55 GMT

CAPTURING THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES

By Gloria Houghland

From the time that Nashville native Sarah Webb was just a girl, she instinctively knew that she was destined to become an artist. At the age of 10, she distinctly remembers sitting at the family's kitchen table drawing while her mother cooked and talked to her breast-feeding sister-in-law. When her twenty-one-year-old brother entered the house and noticed that she was sketching the young mother nurturing the infant, he promptly reported this to their mother. She came over, saw exactly what Webb was drawing and admonished her son to leave his sister alone.

Webb hasn't stopped indulging her passion for figurative art since. To hear her tell it, that has always been her true passion and her greatest gift. Decades later, she remains fascinated by the beauty of the female form. Even today, Webb's realistic nudes comprise the vast majority of the artist's collection.

Following her high school graduation and a year-long wait for new husband, Gary Webb, to return from serving in Vietnam, the aspiring painter and the aspiring attorney who would also later become her manager enrolled together at the University of Tennessee. Their college days coincided with the heyday of the peace movement, so naturally the art major and the pre-law student took to the highways with gusto. Hitchhiking and backpacking extensively abroad, they quickly decided they would return to live in Europe someday soon.

With her name attached to an honors Bachelor of Arts degree and some post-graduate studies at Vanderbilt University, the artist and the attorney moved to London in 1983 and opened a studio. There she continued to explore her passion for figurative art, but also took to painting Europe's contemporary society scenes---the open-air cafes in London and Paris, England's Royal Ascot and the topless beaches in the south of France. The totality of the European experience influenced her, serving as her daily inspiration until 2004, when the world at large suddenly felt less safe.

Temporarily closing her studio in London, the Webbs relocated to Chicago. This move resulted in an unexpected and unique series of Chicago sunsets, viewed from her studio on the 57th floor just off Michigan Avenue, where the sun seemed to delicately balance on the lights, shadows and colors of the city. What Webb likes to refer to as painting the “Face of God.” After a number of years working in the Windy City, the Volunteer State seemed to be beckoning the Webbs to resettle in Nashville. They discovered a brand new Nashville with a far more vibrant artistic culture, vastly different from the city they had departed so long ago. Webb turned once again to her figurative studies of the modern woman. Webb says this collection truly has her heart. “It’s all about empowering women by expressing the beauty from within, not just the outer beauty. I really believe that the female form is one of God’s most beautiful creations, and I love capturing it on canvas,” Webb explains.

A physically fit, diminutive blonde with an outgoing personality, Webb is a master painter whose style is best described as contemporary realism or hyper-realism. While raised in the tradition of American realism, she remains committed to applying academic painting techniques to modern-day subject matter. What makes her style so recognizable is her strong emphasis on composition with a mastery of light, color, depth and half-tones. Her three-dimensional effect captures the true essence of whatever she is painting, imbuing it with enormous spirit and energy.

When asked how she located her stunning young models, she said she finds her models from all walks of life. She also confided that she once found one of her favorite models at the Kroger grocery store.

Webb is one of the lucky ones among us, having followed her heart from a tender young age. She has stayed the course and maintained a singular focus on painting. The rest is, of course, Webb’s own gratifying art history. For information, please visit www.sarahwebb.com.

1999 Bostic, Alan. Get Real. Webb Paints it Like It Is. The Tennessean, September 12, 1999, Arts & Entertainment, K-6.

Mon, 17 May 2021 16:46:34 GMT

GET REAL. WEBB PAINTS IT LIKE IT IS

Artist Sarah Webb’s credo is straightforward: get out and paint what you see.

Webb, whether working out of her Nashville studio or her flat in London, does just that. And does it well enough to support a full-time career as well as catch the eye of Belmont University’s Jim Meaders, himself an artist, who is chairman of the school’s Art Department and manages the Leu Gallery on campus.

“I'm essentially a realist myself,” Meaders said. “I particularly like late 19th- and early 20th-century American realism, and I think Sarah’s work is based on a traditional style but uses contemporary subject matter.”

Meaders enthusiasm for Webb’s work goes beyond basic cordial admiration: “If you took her and sat her in mid-19th-century England or Paris, she would probably be showing up Courbet,” he said, referring to Gustave Courbet, a French realist who inspired the American painter Whistler as well as the Impressionist.

Webb—who last exhibit work in Nashville five years ago as part of a show at Nashville International Airport—said that once she and her husband, attorney Gary Webb, began spending much of the year in London, her style changed.

“I used to paint more in an Impressionistic style, but in London I moved more into realism,” she said. “It enables me to capture the spirit of the person or place.”

Webb said some viewers associate her work with photo-realism, but “it has more of a painterly quality.”

Her favorite subjects include painting people, “especially the female form.” She does commission portraits, but also paints people in scenes drawn from London and visits to Paris.

As for the people she paints, “I seem to choose people who have the same quality—not only are they beautiful on the outside, they also have inner beauty. My paintings are soul paintings.”

As for places: “Especially in Paris, when walking down the street, I see something and then immediately I see the paining. It strikes me and it’s hard to explain. It’s almost like magic.”

Hosting Webb’s exhibit of 21 pieces in the Leu Gallery made sense, Meaders said, because members of the Leu family admired and collected Webb’s work.

1999 Belmont's Leu Gallery becomes featured Webb site. The Westview Newspaper (Nashville), September 9, 1999, p. 14.

Sun, 16 May 2021 16:45:11 GMT

BELMONT'S LEU GALLERY BECOMES FEATURED WEBB SITE

The work of Nashville native Sarah Webb will be featured Sept. 7-26 in Belmont University’s Leu Gallery. This solo exhibit, presented in conjunction with the Sept. 24-26 opening of Belmont’s new Leu Center for the Visual Arts, is Webb’s first public display in Nasheville and more than five years.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Webb began oil paining at the age of twelve. She received her formal art training at the University of Tennessee, where she graduated with honors, and later did postgraduate studies in art history at Vanderbilt University. During the 1970s and early 1980s she continue her studies independently in Europe’s leading art institutions.

1977 was the beginning of many trips to Europe, and it was there that she developed her philosophy of art and a distinct style all of her own. Since 1983, Webb has maintained a studio in London from which she makes excursions to the Continent. Dividing her time between America and Europe as enable her to capture the best of both worlds.

Webb is known for her realistic portrayals of European society and her figure studies of women. She has lived and worked in Europe for the past six (sixteen) years, except for visits back to Nashville. Webb is the recipient of numerous awards and is the first American to be inducted in the London-based Society of Women Artist.

1994 Elmore, Joe. Profiling International Artist Sarah Webb in London, England. "Tennessee Crossroads." WDCN-TV, Nashville. Aired on June 23, 1994.

Sat, 15 May 2021 16:43:09 GMT

1994 Chappell, Susan. Nashville Artist Sarah Webb Breaks Ground in Britain. Nashville Banner, March 18, 1994, Lifestyles, C-1.

Fri, 14 May 2021 16:41:49 GMT

LONDON FLIGHT: NASHVILLE ARTIST SARAH WEBB BREAKS GROUND IN BRITAIN

By Susan Chappell

Banner Arts Writer

Nashville painter Sarah Webb has been inducted into the Society of Women Artists and is the first American to become a member of the London-based organization.

The society, founded in 1855, includes professional women who make their living in the art field. Its 138 members are spread across Europe.

Webb, who has studios here and in London, first heard about the prestigious group about six years ago. She has exhibited her paintings in the societies annual show as a nonmember since 1989.

Her work is part of the organization’s 133rd annual exhibit, which is on view at Westminster Central Hall opposite the Houses of Parliament in London.

The 12-member selection committee elected Webb in January after critiquing six of her paintings. A unanimous vote of the committee is required for life membership in the society.

The 46-year-old artist is known for her realistic portrayals of European Society and her figure studies of women. The average price for her pieces is $15,000 to $20,000.

“I think of my work as contemporary realism,” says Webb in an interview from her home in Nashville. “I want to paint life as I see it today.”

A couple of the oils that helped Webb gain entry into the Society of Women Artists were part of what she calls her “blue jeans paintings.”

The idea came about seven years ago when she decided to do a series on women but didn’t want them to be complete nudes.

“I looked down, and I was wearing blue jeans, and I thought they were a universal theme. I decided it would be great to combine the two.”

Her figure studies not only focus on American women but those from various nationalities as well.

“I wanted the series to show the “new woman” or the strong, confident woman,” explains Webb, who uses real people rather than professional models for her pieces. “I think now more than ever this is the time for women, and I really want to portray that.

Artist: Series on women catch attention of art society

“It doesn't matter what nationality they are if they have the same qualities,” she continues. “That's really what counts.”

She says it was this series, which she is still working on, that attracted the attention of society president Barbara Tate.

“I’ve been to so many exhibitions and have seen a lot of degrading paintings of women,” Webb adds. “I felt like someone should do a group of paintings showing beautiful women, which I think they are.”

Webb is now included among such notable British and European artists as Rosa Bonheur, Lady Elizabeth Butler, A.K. Browning, Dame Ethel Walker and Dame Laura Knight.

The organization also is strongly supported by members of the Royal Family.

Locally, the artist received the1992 Athena Award and the 1987 Best of Show award in the Tennessee Art League’s annual Central South Art Exhibition.

“I am excited about being a member,” Webb says of the society. “I think it is a very worthwhile organization with a great Heritage.”

1994 Bostic, Alan. "ON THE ARTS." The Tennessean, March 13, 1994, Showcase, p. 12.

Thu, 13 May 2021 16:26:53 GMT

ON THE ARTS

Artist Sarah Webb, who divides her time between Nashville and London, is the first American to be named a member of the London-based Society of Women Artists, an elite organization of 138 female artists founded in 1855.

Webb, whose work will be exhibited this month at the Westminster Central Hall, opposite the Houses of Parliament, was elected by an unanimous vote of the society’s 12-member selection committee, which had viewed six of her paintings.

The committee chose Webb "after seeing the terrific flair, skill and artistry she brings to painting," said society President Barbara Tate of London. "I am honored to welcome Sarah into the society and look forward to the uniquely American input she can bring to our organization."

In Nashville, Webb, a graduate of UT-Knoxville, has won the 1992 Athena Award and the1987 Best of Show award from the Central South Art Exhibition

1991 "Jeans: Definitely Universal Language." Jeans Flash: Jeanswear Communications (Los Angles, CA), January 18, 1991, p. 6.

Wed, 12 May 2021 16:25:26 GMT

JEANS: DEFINITELY UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Nashville is best known as the country music capital of the world and home of the Grand Ole Opry. However, we recently discovered that it is also the home of an extraordinary artist by the name of Sarah Webb. Sarah and her husband actually divide their time between London and Nashville. She has been receiving notice by art critics in both cities.

Sarah was brought to our attention because of her “Blue Jeans Series.” Her explanations of these paintings was that she wanted to do a group of paintings representative of life as she sees it today. According to Sarah, “after looking around, it was readily apparent that blue jeans are the most obvious symbol of our generation. Blue jeans are the universal attire that currently crosses all cultural and geographic boundaries.”

1990 "Jean: Definitely Universal Language." The Tennessean March 3, 1990, Style, D-1.

Tue, 11 May 2021 16:23:37 GMT

JEANS: DEFINITELY UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Nashville artist Sarah Webb works in her London studio to put the finishing touches on one of her recent “Blue Jean” painting. Michele, 16, of Nashville, was the model for this and other paintings in the Blue Jean series. Webb, who divides her time between Nashville and London, is achieving notice in both cities. She has been accepted for the second year in the annual exhibition — the 129th — of the Society of Women Artists in London. The exhibition continues through March 6 at the Westminster Gallery across from Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. With her husband Gary she is in Nashville for several weeks to continue work on her “Blue Jean Series” — a painting from this series hangs in the London show. She says, “I wanted to do a series of paintings representative of life as I see it today. After looking around, it was readily apparent that blue jeans are the most obvious symbol of our generation. Blue jeans are the universal attire that currently crosses all cultural and geographic boundaries.”

1989 Hieronymus, Clara. "Sarah Webb Works to show in London." The Tennessean, May 17, 1989, Living, D-6.

Mon, 10 May 2021 16:20:25 GMT

SARAH WEBB WORKS TO SHOW IN LONDON

Sarah Webb

Maintains London studio

Works by Nashville Artist Sarah Webb, who maintains a studio in London, has been accepted in the 128th annual exhibition of the Society of Women Artists in London.

The exhibition will be held May 25-June 5 at the Westminster Gallery in Westminster Central Hall across from Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

Webb has lived and worked in Europe for the past six years, except for visits back to Nashville. Known here and in London for her commissioned portraits and European scenes, especially of Paris, she has been working on a “Blue Jeans Series,” for several years. Her most recent portrait, MICHELE, will be included in the exhibition.

1987 Hieronymus, Clara. "Nashville artist wins top prize. "The Tennessean June 7, 1987, Arts & Leisure, F-1.

Sun, 09 May 2021 17:55:17 GMT

NASHVILLE ARTIST WINS TOP PRIZE

Central South Exhibition opens today at Art League Gallery

Nashville artist Sarah Webb is the winner of the $1,000 top prize in the 1987 Central South Exhibition opening today at the Tennessee Art League Gallery, 3011 Poston Ave.

Waiting for a Friend, her oil study of a little girl standing at a window, with a pink bow in her long dark hair, was chosen as Best of Show by juror Georg Shook of Memphis.

Webb is presently in London where, with her husband Gary, she spends some six months of the year.

The $1,000 award is the Mary Hawkins Wilson Edwards Memorial given by Mr. and Mrs. Ervin Entrekin, Dr. and Mrs. William Edwards, Dr. and Mrs. John Sawyers and Dr. and Mrs. Lynwood Herrington.

The Tennessee Art League Award of $500 went to Kazi Lawrence of Memphis for Red Bandana, a watercolor portrait study with an elegantly dignified pose.

Two awards of $300 each were won by Dot Galloway (the Athena Award) for a watercolor, Summer of '86, and George Galloway (the Garland Pack Memorial Award given by the Glider Pilots Association) for a watercolor, London Square.

Robert Cowden, Trella Koczwara and Dean Shelton are recipients of $250 awards given by the Tennessee Art League and Griffin Art Supply; Carlyle Urello and Judi Ann Hostetter won the $200 prizes given by Priest Lake Women’s Cub and Grumbacher Gold Medal. Koczwara, of Cookeville, also won the $150 award given by the Dury stores, with Urello also winning the $75 prize given by Frames by U-Green Hills.

Awards of $100 each went to Yoni Sinor, Mickey Witbeck and Jack Clayton.

Artists receiving $50 prizes are Mamie Herrington, Ruth Collier, Beulah Coleman, Nancy Jane Calcutt, Gary Manson and Jane Olson (also winner of the $30 prize given by Reed’s Custom Frames). Other winning artists named by Shook, who is a distinguished watercolorist himself, are Bruce Crowe and Susie G. Miller, with awards of $25 each.

The awards were presented last night at a reception at the Art League Gallery, where the exhibition opens to the public today.

Gallery hours on Sunday are noon-4:30 p.m., and 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admittance is free.

1987 Hieronymus, Clara. "Oh, How She Loves Paris." The Tennessean, December 27, 1987, Arts & Leisure, F-1.

Sat, 08 May 2021 17:51:54 GMT

OH, HOW SHE LOVES PARIS

Artist's work to be exhibited at University Club

Clara Hieronymus

Staff writer

Nashville artist Sarah Webb home from Paris and London for a holiday visit and to open an exhibit of her paintings at University Club Jan. 8-Feb. 10.

The theme of the show is Paris: A City of Color, reflecting five years of living and working in Europe. Maintaining a studio in London, Webb goes often to Paris where her subjects are streetscapes, atmospheric scenes and, increasingly, portrait commissions.

She will include a number of English paintings, but most reflect her interest in Paris. “I love Paris,” Webb said. “There is no other city in the world like it. It’s full of vibrant colors and a vivid sense of life. I always feel free and alive when I go there, and this is the mood I try to capture on canvas.”

A prizewinner in the 1985 American Artist National Art Competition, one of her Parisian scenes was exhibited at the Grand Central Gallery in New York. This year Holiday Corporation purchased one of her cafe scenes for its Holiday Inn corporate art collection in Memphis.

Webb said she has a growing clientele for portraits, a number of which will be included in the University Club exhibition. She has been represented in group shows as well as one-man shows at Centennial Club, Leu Gallery at Belmont College, and the University Club where her January display will be her third collection there.

Webb was winner of the $1,000 prize for Best of Show in the 1987 Central South Art Exhibition.

She is an honors graduate of The University of Tennessee and has had graduate courses in art history at Vanderbilt University as well as independent study in France and England. When her show at University Club comes down, she and her husband, attorney Gary Webb, will return to their London home.

The University Club is at 2402 Garland Ave., and is open without charge from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

1985 "A Conversation with International Artist Sarah Webb." Coffee Break Show, WPLN-Radio (Nashville). Aired on February 6, 1985.

Fri, 07 May 2021 17:00:24 GMT

1985 "Sarah Webb Shows Work Thursday." The Tennessean, January 22, 1985, Living, D-1.

Thu, 06 May 2021 17:04:10 GMT

1984 The Review Appeal, (Franklin, TN), February 9, 1984, p. 13.

Wed, 05 May 2021 17:37:57 GMT

WEBB PAINTINGS AT LIBERTY BANK

Liberty Bank in Brentwood is featuring 16 paintings by Nashville artist Sarah Ann Webb during the month of February in the lobby of the bank on Franklin Road.

“I have studied art on an independent basis throughout England and France on numerous occasions,”

Webb said. “These studies have included copying works of various masters a (the Tate Gallery and National Gallery in London.”

Webb has also studied portrait painting at the Chelsea -Westminster Institute in London. For approximately five years Webb has painted professionally, working on commissioned portraits and European street scenes.

Her work has been displayed at the Centennial Club, the Leu Gallery at Belmont College, the University Club at Vanderbilt, the Hermitage Hotel and the Tennessee Art League.

1983 "One-Man Show Includes Landscapes." The Tennessean, April 21, 1983, Living, C-24.

Tue, 04 May 2021 17:35:13 GMT

ONE-MAN SHOW INCLUDES LANDSCAPES

A one-man show of portraits and European landscapes by Sarah Ann Webb is on display in Belmont's Leu Gallery through May 4. It is open to the public and may be seen without charge during classroom hours and on Saturday mornings.

Webb is a 1978 honors graduate of the University of Tennessee in Nashville, and has had graduate courses in art history at Vanderbilt as well as independent art study in France and England.

Her work consists largely of commissioned portraits though she is increasingly interested in European landscapes which include people.

SHE SAYS that people have always fascinated her and it has given her pleasure to draw and paint them.

Her work has been seen at Centennial Club, University Club and the Tennessee Art League. The Leu Gallery exhibit is her fourth one-man show.

She and her husband, attorney Gary A. Webb, plan to make London their home for the next year, and she will continue to expand her skills as a painter during their stay.

There are 22 paintings in her show at Belmont, all but two of which are oils, and the majority have been lent by private owners.

1981 McNeilly, Caroline. "Artist's Style Drawn From Masters." Nashville Banner, March 12, 1981.

Mon, 03 May 2021 17:31:39 GMT

ARTISTS STYLE DRAWN FROM MASTERS

The Art Scene

by Caroline McNeilly

Each time an artist touches paintbrush to canvas or pen to paper, he is guided, watched over and challenged by the multitude of creative geniuses who have gone before him.

For that reason, today’s artist faces a more difficult task than his predecessors

On the other hand, the artist of today as never before, is handed a treasure of knowledge upon which to expand and perfect. Looking backward he can create forward, experimenting with different styles and melding them together.

Nashville artist Sarah Webb, whose work will be featured at the University Club through April 24, has settled on a style which combines many major styles of the past.

Her subject matter — mostly depictions of women and mothers with their children — tends to be romantic, she said. “There is a definite romantic feeling behind my portraits.”

But there are also characteristics of Impressionism in Mrs. Webb’s work. Like Mary Cassatt she paints women and children, and like Degas she frames young ballerinas caught in unguarded moments.

Her palette of colors, too, is impressionistic. “I like the light effect of Impressionism,” she said.

Also, optimism — the sole appeal of Impressionism to modern eyes — is a basis for Mrs. Webb’s art.

“I love Ingres, too,” she said. Indeed, her work reflects an affinity with this French master, the leading neo-classical painter of the early 19th century. Like Ingres’ women, hers are rubbery, soft-skinned beauties. And her figure drawings are statuesque and idealized.

Mrs. Webb, a native Nashvillian who majored in art at the University of Tennessee, said she has been actively painting and drawing since her preteens and began painting on a full-time basis in April of last year.

Her exhibit at the University Club will open on Friday with a reception for the artist from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

1981 Hieronymus, Clara. "Artist Sarah Webb Plans Her Second Show." The Tennessean, March 9, 1981, Living, p. 35.

Sun, 02 May 2021 17:10:46 GMT

Artist Sarah Ann Webb: Plans Her Second Show

By CLARA HIERONYMUS

SARAH ANN WEBB, who is represented by Ambiance Galleries and Pickering Galleries, will have a one-man exhibition opening Friday at University Club.

The public is invited to the artist’s reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday and to view the show through its April 24 run. Hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; admission is free.

MRS. WEBB is a native Nashvillian and a 1978 honors graduate from the University of Tennessee; she later enrolled in graduate courses in art history at Vanderbilt.

Her independent studies have taken her on a varied itinerary, to England, Ireland and New York in 1977, and to France and England in 1978 for workshops and private studio courses.

“I have been actively painting and drawing since my pre-teen years, and began painting on a full-time basis last April,” she said. “My work consists largely of commissioned portraits, but I also have a variety of work at Ambiance and Pickering.

“IN OCTOBER 1979 I had my first one-man show at the Tennessee Art League in Nashville, and this one at the University Club is my second one-man show.”

She has been included in group shows at the Parthenon, the Heritage Foundation Ball in Franklin, the Tennessee State Fair, Tennessee Art League, UT-Nashville, and the UT-N chancellor’s residence.”

At the University Club Mrs. Webb will show tonal and figure drawings, pastels and oils. In private life she is the wife of Gary A. Webb, candidate for the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree (May 1981) and an employee of the law firm of King, Ballow and Little.

1980 Pursell, Julie. "The Art Scene." Nashville Banner, August 7, 1980.

Sat, 01 May 2021 17:03:56 GMT

The Art Scene

By Julie Pursell.

In the Parthenon, regional artists offer an unusual variety of personal views of familiar subjects in the Tennessee Art League show now on view in the galleries.

Kevin Grogan, director of the Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood served as juror in a diverse show divided into seven categories.

First place winners in mixed media were John Fine; in pastel, Beulah Coleman; in sculpture, Ann R. Davis. Graphics first prize went to Jeanette Rabold while Harold Miller took first award in watercolor. Irene Levine was a first place winner in acrylics while Sara Webb won first place in oils.

1979 "One-man show, paintings and drawings by Sarah Webb." The Tennessean November 4, 1979, E-15.

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 16:56:45 GMT