Born on December 28, 1949, in Masnou, Spain, a coastal town in the Maresme district near Barcelona. Ribas spent hours on the beach tracing his first drawings in the sand. His mother dreamed of a life for him that would be less difficult than that of a fisherman. At nine years of age he began studying drawing and painting with Jose Maris Martinez. He entered the “Escuela Massana” in Barcelona when he was 13.  In 1975, at the age of 25, Ribas held his first one-man exhibition which immediately earned him international acclaim. Since, Ribas has continued to show his works in some of the most prestigious galleries in Europe and the United States. To date, five books have been published about his paintings.

Ribas is one of the best known luministas of contemporary Spanish art. His profound knowledge of the secrets of light, shade and opaqueness are present throughout his work. His female forms are classics – brilliantly executed and exquisitely drawn. His palette contains a wide range of colors which give his paintings their great beauty.

The son of fishermen parents, Ribas learned the vicissitudes of a life dependent upon the sea at an early age. In spite of this, he always felt an affinity for the beach as it represented a point of departure for the horizon that marked the beginning of an adventure across the waters.

As a young artist, Ribas chose the sea, with its continuous harmonic movement as another favorite theme, which he translates to his canvas with an emotional precision few have mastered.

For Ribas, time is not important. He is an artist who prefers to work slowly – continuously defying his vision in a never-ending search for aesthetic. Although his successful career already spans more than twenty years, Ribas does not produce the quantity of paintings that others may, but each canvas is highly desired by galleries and collectors alike. Ribas is not a prolific painter.  His disciplined manner of painting requires years of planning for an exhibition.

Findlay Galleries proudly presents an exhibition of new works by the renowned French post-impressionist André Hambourg. The exhibition also features works by important Normandy painters, from Camille Pissarro and Eugene Boudin, to more recent painters of the group, such as Gaston Sébire and Isabelle de Ganay.

During their lifetime, few artists attain the international acclaim that has been accorded to André Hambourg. His paintings hang in more than fifty museums, and his name is synonymous with the highest standards of French art. Hambourg is that rare creative talent, a complete artist. Apart from his oils, pastels, watercolors and drawings, he has developed an enviable reputation in lithography, engravings, ceramics, mural decorations and illustrations. Year after year, his one-man shows in Paris, Honfleur, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Brussels, London, North Africa and the United States added to his fame and stature in the art world.

For a more comprehensive text about André Hambourg and The School of Normandy painters, please click to view the online catalogue.

Findlay Galleries proudly presents an exhibition of new works from the Danish contemporary artist Henrik Simonsen. Simonsen continues his exploration of time, memory, and the human experience as understood through his unique lens and remarkable talent conveyed through his exploration of highly detailed and often vividly colored plants and trees.

Henrik’s work is executed entirely freehand. Although his work sometimes gives the appearance of stenciling, this is merely the result of a master draftsman who is as talented with a brush as with a pencil. Stencils would be stifling and deadening. For Simonsen, each work is an organic creation, a mystery unfolding, the end result a revelation even to the artist himself.

“Whether it is a thicket in the proximity of his childhood home or a patch of wild grass on a far-away continent, Henrik Simonsen finds the often overlooked and unremarkable fragments of nature and portrays it in all its splendour.” – Henrik Riis, Eyestorm, 2023

Belynda Henry

Belynda Henry was born in New South Wales, Australia, and studied sculpture and painting at Sydney College of the Arts. She first gained recognition as a leading landscape painter in Australia after being named a finalist for the Wynne Prize. Henry is now a multiple finalist of both the Wynne and Archibald Prizes, among other prestigious awards and more than 30 solo exhibitions. Her work has been shown alongside some of Australia’s most prominent and influential artists, including Fred Williams, Arthur Boyd, Jeffrey Smart, and Brett Whiteley. 

Henry lives and works deep within a long, lush valley with wild escarpments north of Sydney. Here, she is embedded in the landscape and exposed to its ways, witnessing the transitions of ever-changing light, texture, and soundscape. She absorbs all of this, along with her infinite fascination with the land, into her paintings. Henry’s works bring forth the internal meditative quality evoked by the landscape, illuminating these impressions in wondrous, imaginative paintings. 

Henry often sequesters herself for an intense period to bring together her rich body of fieldwork. In her paintings, she references the deep structure, shifting shapes and pure colors of the landscape through a meditative state rather than a literal one. Her process isn’t limited to painting – photographing the landscape, recording sounds, making small sketches, and painting on paper with watercolors, gouache and pastels are also part of her daily studio practice. After experiencing the landscape during daylight, she returns to her studio with sketches, notes, and an openness to imagery, allowing the works to form at night. Henry says her process allows her works to “imagine themselves, like a dream sequence,” taking us to the precipice of total abstraction yet masterfully holding the viewer with spare pieces of evidence caught within the work, innately fusing the classic and traditional techniques with the modern colors and textures that are her signature.

Henry’s work has been acquired by private collections in the United States, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, New Zealand, Ireland, Hong Kong, Greece, France, and England. Her work appeared in the acclaimed Thames & Hudson tome on Australian art, A Painted Landscape. Findlay Galleries is proud to present the works of contemporary Australian painter Belynda Henry and to welcome her to our stable of contemporary artists.

During his long life that spanned every decade of the twentieth century, a Ukrainian immigrant became a photographer, a New York fashion illustrator, an American war hero, and a celebrated abstract painter. Simeon Braguin was possessed by a dual passion for sailing and painting. Quietly and privately, Braguin painted daily and produced a significant body of work in various mediums. Although he regularly exhibited at Yale Art School, he garnered much more critical acclaim posthumously than he did while alive. Today, Simeon Braguin’s works are highly regarded for their clever use of color, softness, and diversity of forms.

 After Braguin’s second solo show at Poindexter Gallery in New York in 1975, he began increasingly working with tinted colors, allowing them to take over his previously white backgrounds. He was reaching a new peak in the maturity of his style. From the early 1980s onwards, Braguin introduced smaller elements and linear patterns that complemented his carefully balanced geometric shapes. 

 This exhibition explores Braguin’s refreshing use of color and the strength of his compositions. He aimed for simplicity in design, allowing color to take center stage. The translucency of his color fields reveals his equal concern for detail and nuance, which he incorporated into the overall picture. He drew his inspiration from a deep personal well of experience and was aided in his pursuit of harmony by the beautiful environs of the Connecticut River near Essex Harbor.

Findlay Galleries is proud to present One of a Kind, an exhibition featuring paintings by Camille Bombois, Orville Bulman, Henri Maïk, Ljubomir Milinkov and Gustavo Novoa at our Palm Beach gallery.

While the first Naïf painters made an appearance in the 1600’s, the work of Henri Rousseau in the late 1800’s strongly influenced a future generation of artists who desired a primitive freshness in their work. The unfettered creativity that came with being self-taught defined the Naïf painter. As modern living reached all continents in the 20th century, the art world developed an affinity for the sophisticated simplicity of Naïf paintings, contrasting the graying and troubled world outside.

Beginning in 1931 with an exhibition at his Chicago gallery, Wally Findlay was the first US art dealer dedicated to developing and representing European Naïf painters. Findlay Galleries’ first selection of works by Rousseau and Bombois eventually expanded to include contemporary artists such as Maïk, Ollivary, and Novoa. This new group used the Naïf style of painting to create art outside traditional realms; objects, landscapes, and creatures exist in an everlasting Eden. While different from their predecessors, they remained true to the craftsmanship, manifest sense of composition, expressive use of color, and solid foundation of design typical of Naïf painters. Findlay Galleries is delighted to share their creativity with you in this exhibition.

Isabelle de Ganay was born in Rouen, France in 1960. Art and nature very quickly occupied a predominant place in her life. De Ganay discovered the same magic of the Normandy landscape that inspired the great artists of the French Schools of Impressionism, Rouen, and Normandy before her.

A naturally gifted painter, de Ganay was accepted into the famous l’École des Beaux-Arts de Rouen at the age of fifteen. This was a rare honor bestowed on someone so young, and she was quickly noticed by Albert Malet, the last impressionist painter of Rouen. A leader of the l’École de Rouen, Malet had been a student of Robert Antoine Pinchon and would become Isabelle’s mentor.

After graduating first in her class at the Académie Julian and l’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, de Ganay returned to Rouen and began exhibiting throughout France. She was subsequently discovered by Wally Findlay Galleries, which began exhibiting her work in Chicago, New York, Palm Beach, East Hampton, and Beverly Hills.

The year 1986 was a turning point in the young career of de Ganay as well as in the leadership of the traditional l’École de Rouen. Albert Malet, who had always been aware of her gifts as a painter, designated de Ganay as his successor. Upon his death that year, she assumed his position and became Maître de l’École de Rouen, a position never held by a female artist.

L’École de Rouen was suddenly a school ahead of its time. From this point forward, a woman artist was now responsible for passing on the knowledge, technique, and practice of one of the oldest French schools of art. Thus, she followed the trailblazing steps of other female Impressionist artists like Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Marie Bracquemond, and Paule Gobillard.

“What I wish, above all, is to continue progressing. To be ever closer to nature and to better translate it onto canvas. One doesn’t impose oneself on a subject. It is futile to take up the brushes if you haven’t felt the emotional impact, which leads to creation. As for me, it is in nature that is born the irresistible desire to paint.” – Isabelle de Ganay

Like the previous masters, Isabelle de Ganay is a passionate disciple of plein air painting. The plein air practice created and championed by the Schools of Rouen and Normandy allows her to fully sense the changes in atmosphere and light, translating onto canvas the ephemeral moments of the changing landscape. Today, de Ganay continues to promote the Rouen tradition. The artist is often found alone or with her students, traveling the French countryside looking for the light to illuminate her canvases.

De Ganay has had numerous successful exhibitions worldwide. Her position as a member of the Société des Artistes Français and the presence of her works in prestigious collections across France and the rest of the world is affirmation of her continually expanding reputation as one of the most accomplished contemporary impressionists.

Findlay Galleries is honored to have represented Isabelle de Ganay exclusively for the past 27 years. We are proud to present a new collection of works by the uniquely talented and highly praised French artist.

In the United States Nicola Simbari’s work has become widely known through the frequent exhibitions presented by Wally Findlay Galleries.

He was born in San Lucido, a fishing village in Calabria, but when he was three years old his father moved the family to Rome, where he was employed as an architect and builder in the Vatican museums, and by the time he was seven he knew and loved the Michelangelo frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine frescoes are a monumental blend of architecture and painting, and during the fours years Simbari spent at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Rome, he studied both painting and architecture, excelling in the latter to such degree that he was made a member of the Accademia’s faculty in architecture. But painting was his real interest and soon he relinquished the post in order to concentrate on painting.

Simbari’s first one-man show of paintings was in Rome in 1953, and in that same year he won an award for best stage design for a musical, “Tarantella Napoletana,” produced in Rome. In 1954 the Italian State awarded him a gold medal for a poster entered in a national competition. Three years later, he had his first one-man show in London and in 1958 he won the coveted honor of being commissioned to paint the murals for the Italian Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Brussels.

Simbari gradually developed the style now recognized as Simbaresco, it is his own, and so is his technique in painting. He is meticulous and exacting in the choice of materials: he accepts only the finest canvas and prepares it with care; he has his colors ground by a family in northern Italy who have been engaged in this work for three hundred years; he mixes his own pigment. He is continuously developing new graduations of color or new colors and exults when he has succeeded in adding a more brilliant one to the range of his palette.  When he uses a brush, it is only to create the background of the painting, which is then completed with palette knives of which he has about twenty-five sizes ranging from very tiny ones to huge ones. There are no superfluities in his paintings. Nothing could be removed from what he calls “the explosion” or “the action” without destroying the total impact of the painting. Light; dramatic quality; brilliant color — the three combine to produce the style called Simbaresco. He defines himself as a figurative artist who went through Abstract Expressionism, Geometric Abstraction, and a number of other styles of painting, but who has always been and still is a figurative painter because his greatest interest is in people.

Since his first one-man show in Rome in 1953, many important private collectors both in Europe and America have acquired Simbari’s paintings. They form part of the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Liberty Company in London, and the Christian Dior Collection in France.

British-born American abstract painter Gordon Onslow Ford (1912-2003) was an important bridge between the Parisian Surrealist and Abstract Expressionist movements, exploring interests in spontaneous creation and metaphysical ideas like the collective unconscious.

After serving in the Royal Navy, Onslow Ford departed for Paris and worked briefly with André Lhote and Fernand Léger. Roberto Matta introduced him to André Breton, Max Ernst, and other Parisian Surrealists. During this period, Onslow Ford abandoned the pictorial images of his early work and embraced psychic automatism.

In 1941, he lectured on Surrealism at the New School for Social Research in New York. Audience members included Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. In the same year, he traveled to Mexico and lived among the Tarascan Indians until 1947. “Resigning” from Surrealism in 1943, his spontaneous gestures expanded first into more studied, map-like compositions. These eventually resolved into simple geometries that led him to an awareness of line, circle, and dot as the root forms of the universe. 

Returning to San Francisco, Onslow Ford exhibited in two shows at the San Francisco Museum of Art. A solo show in 1949 was followed by his inclusion in the landmarkDynaton exhibition in 1951. In the following decades, his paintings were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon Guggenheim Museum, Tate Gallery, Whitney Museum, and several other important institutions.

Over the course of his long career, Onslow Ford’s work evolved from the earthly into the cosmic. The outer becomes inner, as the constellations self-manifest in the shared consciousness, stopping briefly to mark the canvases of Gordon Onslow Ford.

“Painting in the instant is the direct manifestation of the unknown through the painter as an instrument. The painter disappears in the instant, and reappears in the painting. It is the nature of the mind to be creative.”  – Gordon Onslow Ford, Painting in the Instant, 1964