The term contemporary art encompasses all art made from around the 1960s to the present, or after the end of the modern art period. The use of the literal adjective “contemporary” to define this period in art history is due to the lack of any recognized or dominant genre of art as recognized by artists, art historians or critics.

The Marshall Gallery offers a diverse aesthetic in many mediums. We specialize in dynamic paintings for ample spaces. We welcome you to our website where you will find original and unusual art to suit your discerning taste.

Also see our Abstract Artists for more contemporary art.

Browse our Contemporary Artists

  • Symbolism means the systematic use of symbols or pictorial conventions to express an allegorical meaning. Symbolism is an important element of most religious art. The Symbolist painters used symbols from scriptures and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul.

    Symbolists believe that art should apprehend more absolute truths, which can only be accessed indirectly. Thus, they paint scenes of the cosmos, from nature, of human activities and philosophies and all other real world phenomena in a highly metaphorical and suggestive manner.

    William Blake, Gustav Klimt, Ferdinand Knopff and Edvard Munch were Symbolists.

    Browse our Symbolist Artists

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    The word “representational,” when used to describe a work of art, means that the work depicts something easily recognized by most people.

    For example, our Douglas Fryer’s wonderful oil painting, Cathedral, depicts a rock formation in Arizona. The landmark is easily recognized, and the artist imbues the subject with a celestial light to capture the audience. Reminiscent of the majesty of an ancient cathedral, the subject is in fact a work of nature. This painting is an example of representational art.

    Representational art began millennia ago with Late Paleolithic cave paintings and carvings. Throughout our history as art-creating humans, most art has been representational; it was usually representative of something. Abstract (non-representational) art is a relatively recent invention, and didn't evolve until the early 20th-century.

    Representational art, which is thriving, often is perceived as “viewer-friendly” to the vast majority of people, when compared with abstract or conceptual art. Many people are immediately comfortable with art when something recognizable catches the eye and registers. [inspired by arthistory.about.com]

    Browse our Representational Artists
    Our gallery is pleased to feature superb landscapes and other artistic work from the present epoch that draw upon the impetus and techniques of former eras, although no particular link with “classical” antiquity is intended. In this context, our artists derive inspiration from the established masters, while employing their own unique modes of expression.

    “Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.” [Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973]

    Browse our Contemporary Classical Artists

    Sculpture is any three-dimensional form created as an artistic expression. Sculpture is primarily concerned with space: occupying it, relating to it, and influencing the perception of it. Such work may be carved, modeled, constructed, or cast in a wide variety of materials – clay, bronze, marble, wood, glass are most common.

    Sculpture is subject to all the vagaries of individual artists’ expressions, amplified by three dimensional form and the challenges imposed by materials that often are extremely resilient.

    We look to Michelangelo’s David as the very epicenter of the sculptor’s art. The Marshall Gallery’s modern masters create timeless sculpture in its own right.

    Browse our Sculptors

    "Objects damage pictures.

    The more frightening the world becomes ... the more art becomes abstract.

    Colour is the key. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many chords. The artist is the hand that, by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically.

    There is only one road to follow, that of analysis of the basic elements in order to arrive ultimately at an adequate graphic expression.

    Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colors, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential." [Wassily Kandinsky, 1866-1944]

    Browse our Abstract Artists

    The important renaissance and romantic foundations of autonomous draughtsmanship, as exemplified by Dürer, Leonardo, Rembrandt and others, find scant relevance in much contemporary art, having succumbed to the haste of modern times.

    The Marshall Gallery is proud to represent a formidable draughtsman, who excels in the art and craftsmanship of drawing for its own sake, created as self sufficient works of art. Instead of mere byproducts of the creative process, these white-on-black renderings are appreciated as important works in their own right and are highly collectable.

    Browse our Figurative Artists

    • Tyson Snow Master Figurative Draughtsman
    • Martin Poole Contemporary Impressionist
    • Kirk Richards Contemporary Figurative Artist
    • Coming Soon - Dean Mitchell Contemporary Figurative Artist

    The Marshall Gallery is one of Scottsdale’s premier galleries specializing in important works of art. As always, the gallery prides itself on the quality and condition of the works it offers for sale, whether antique or contemporary.

    Our British connections enable us to stock and supply important works of catalogued, museum-quality art and artists, including 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century works by Waterhouse, Landseer, Peppercorn, Rhoades and others.

    Not least among the collection are rare, early 17th century maps and exquisite “samplers” of 18th and 19th century England.
    We should be delighted to provide detailed answers to your questions about any of our artists or their art or how to acquire any piece featured on our website. 480-970-3111 or email us
    4168 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 • 480.970.3111 • www.marshallartsgallery.com
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