The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is pleased to announce the opening of Realism's Allure: Walter R. Garver (b. 1927), Donald R. Haug (1925-1999) and Catherine Catanzaro Koenig (b. 1921) on July 12 (members' preview, July 11) and runs through September 28, 2003. The exhibition features over 80 works, from 28 collections in six states, which represent the long and successful careers of three of Western New York's most prominent realist painters.

"The Burchfield-Penny Art Center is dedicated to the art and artists of Western New York," said Ted Pietrzak, executive director, Burchfield-Penney Art Center. "It is our honor and privilege to exhibit the work of Walter R. Garver, Donald R. Haug and Catherine Catanzaro Koenig - three marvelous examples of the artistic legacy that Western New York embodies and that the Burchfield-Penney is committed to showcasing and preserving."

Walter R. Garver, Donald R. Haug and Catherine Catanzaro Koenig meet again in Realism's Allure after exhibiting together at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's tribute to the history of painting in Buffalo, The Wayward Muse, in 1987.

"Today, sixteen years later, it is a post-modernist, post-9/11 sensibility that informs us. We do not shy away from the figurative, the representational, the historical, the recognizable, the organic or the indigenous. Each of these artists joins the abstract, the realistic and the regional. Each is a supreme master of technique and works at the interstices of the public and the private," said Joan Vita Marotta, curator of public programs, Burchfield-Penney Art Center and organizer of Realism's Allure. "They are of the same generation, shaped by the bohemianism and cultural politics of their time. They were trained at the Albright Art School of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo State College and the University at Buffalo. All rebelled against both academic orthodoxy and avant-garde conformity. As we look again at Garver, Haug and Koenig, it is realism's allure that we see, what matters in life, and in art."

"The art of Garver, Haug, and Koenig does not derive from a 'wayward muse.' It is a clear vision and a steady impulse that brings their distinctive art together," continues Ms. Marotta, "They are realistic and regional, abstract and experimental. Like Charles E. Burchfield (1893 -1967), they try to make artistic sense of the public and private worlds in which we live."

Realism's Allure will be on view at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, 3rd floor, Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY from July 12 through September 28, 2003.

Generous support for this exhibition has been provided by the Frances G. Churchill Fund, the Seymour H. Knox Foundation, Inc. and the Cameron Baird Foundation.

In tandem with Realism's Allure, the University at Buffalo's Anderson Gallery is presenting a solo exhibition of art by Catherine Catanzaro Koenig through October 12, 2003.

About the Burchfield-Penney Art Center

The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is a museum dedicated to the art and vision of Charles E. Burchfield and distinguished artists of Buffalo Niagara and Western New York State. Through its affiliation with Buffalo State College, the museum encourages learning and celebrates our richly creative and diverse community. For more information, call (716) 878-6011 or visit www.burchfield-penney.org.

High-resolution photos of works from this exhibition are available upon request.