Bill Orr's paintings of Kentucky Derby-winning fillies featured in Florida, three-artist exhibit

Oct. 17, 2011 - PRLog -- EUSTIS, Fla. –  Bill Orr, renowned painter of Kentucky Derby winners, exhibits in Florida with deft peers Hal McIntosh and Maury Hurt.

This sage Florida trio showcase masterful works that reflect shared roots in the iconic Andre Smith’s Research Studio, established post WWI as a unique artists’ haven in Maitland, Fla.

ALEGORY ECHOES: HAL McINTOSH, MAURY HURT, BILL ORR opens with artists’ talks and celebration of the lives and artistry of three American living legends of the art world at Lake Eustis Museum of Art, Eustis, Fla., Nov. 4, 2011, from 6 – 9 p.m. The exhibit closes December 4.

The human-animal connection and evolution of life dominate Hurt’s magical, surreal paintings. McIntosh loves and explores the natural world with an abstract/impressionistic touch that transports viewers from a vibrant, jewel-toned-Koi pond to beyond the real world with dramatic abstractions that reveal a deeper beauty in nature’s forms and colors. At 86, Orr, of Debary, thrills equine and art lovers with dramatic, nationally admired paintings of Kentucky Derby-winning fillies and harness racers.

Seeing all surfaces as mirrors, Orlando-born Maury Hurt is a wizard of light. Objects in his paintings are created depicting his true interpretation of the colors and light as reflected back to his perceptive artist’s eye. At 77, he paints every day in his Maitland studio surrounded by art and artifacts from lost civilizations that inspire him and his unequaled works. Originally a graphic designer, Hurt, like Orr after World War II, was drawn to Smith’s campus in the 1960s to enter and emerge to rule in the realm of fine art. As teachers, both Hurt and Orr, over several decades, continue share their knowledge and techniques with emerging and established artists.

Hal McIntosh, at 84, divides his time between Winter Park and Cape Cod. In the early 1940s, he was scarcely more than a boy when invited to join Smith’s exclusive cluster of artists nurtured and inspired by Smith and fellow resident artists. Lifetime skills and friendships were forged as the ideal foundation for his prolific career as an eloquent painter and inspiring teacher. McIntosh’s artistry is influenced by the Orient and sought and collected by admirers of tranquil beauty that packs a surprising, vibrant punch.

Bill Orr’s name is the synonym for sublime equine art. A lifetime lover of horses, he found his niche as an artist with his unparalleled paintings of the few fillies that have won the Kentucky Derby and of harness racers, owners and drivers on the national scene and especially in Florida.

He usually works from photos he shoots at the track, but Orr did extensive research to find a faded newspaper image of 1915 Kentucky Derby-winning filly, Regret. This first filly to take that crown is sublimely resurrected and pulsing with life and attitude in Orr’s panting, “Regret,” which is featured in the Eustis exhibit at Lake Eustis Museum of Art, 200 East Orange Ave., Eustis, Fla.  

Smith gained renown as a battlefield artist who documented World War I. He designed the original US Distinguished Service Cross. As an artist and architect enamored with Mayan culture, in 1937, Andre Smith established his Research Studio campus as a tribute to Mayan artistry and dedicated to nurturing resident artists. Young artist McIntosh arrived in time to have a hand in bringing Smith’s architectural vision to life.

Smith’s Packwood Avenue campus, today, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Bill Orr, Hal McIntosh and Maury Hurt, in support of their experience at Smith’s Research Studio, were awarded Bok Fellowships from Smith’s primary patron, Mary Curtis Bok.

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Lake Eustis Museum of Art, Lake County Florida's only art museum, offers unique fine art exhibits, opportunities and programs to an international audience.