After painting scenes for The Legend of Bagger Vance, renowned scenic artist William Armstrong scrapped the film business and moved to Savannah to paint the landscape of the Lowcountry. He opens new studio/gallery Oct. 12 with a retrospective of his work.
SAVANNAH GA: Armstrong and his wife Monique, who runs the couple’s Armstrong Inns, are opening a gallery/studio at 145 Habersham Street, in the shop known to longtime Savannahians as the “Day Old Bread Store.†Armstrong’s annual exhibitions have become a much anticipated social event for avid art collectors, attracting over a thousand visitors.
This year’s opening exhibit, promises to be a great party (wine, gourmet food, live music, and the new renovated gallery), and will be held October 12 from 5-9 pm and the exhibition will be open Oct. 13-14 from 1-6 pm. Most importantly, art lovers who have not met William Armstrong or seen his work will have the opportunity to meet a real artist… a man who has made a living with his paintbrush for the past 50 years.
While Armstrong is well-known in Savannah circles for his painterly landscapes, few have seen his early work, and during the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to see a computer slideshow documenting Armstrong’s paintings from the last 50 years. He will exhibit a selection of his early works from the 60s-80s, including some vibrant abstract expressionist paintings. There will also be a documentary film about Armstrong, which chronicles his rise from the crowded tenements of Newark to become a prominent scenic artist, working with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, and Woody Allen.
Armstrong’s new figurative paintings, mostly new landscapes of the Lowcountry waterways, romantically depict what many Lowcountry residents see everyday, in our back yards or as we drive to work, but never really perceive… wild cloud formations, marsh grass that takes on all the colors of the rising sun, and ocean views that glow with morning light. Armstrong sees a direct connection between his earlier abstract work, and his current figurative work, “Contemporary realism is a challenge. But if you look at my paintings, they are not realistic like a photograph; they are no more a photo than a symphony is a concerto… I’ve worked my whole life to put abstract thoughts into realistic paintings. Although realistic, my paintings aren’t highly detailed, my brushwork is very emotional, and some of my work today does have a sense of abstract design.â€