Olivier Suire Verley Returns To U.S. For Addison Art Gallery Exhibition

Internationally acclaimed master artist Olivier Suire Verley will appear at an opening reception for an exhibition of his work at the Addison Art Gallery in Orleans on Saturday, Aug. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Verley exhibits throughout France, Spain, China and Japan, and in the United States exclusively at the Addison Art Gallery. Libations, nibbles by Mary’s Fine Provisions, and live music by eight-string jazz guitarist Fred Fried will add to the festivities welcoming this accomplished artist back to the States.

Gallery owner Helen Addison first met the artist on the Left Bank when John Murphy of Land Ho! fame had a show in Paris. It was an immediate match.

“Master Olivier Suire Verley was looking for representation in the states, and I was enamored of his work, its distinctive style, narratives, and captivating use of negative space,” Addison said. “Verley’s American fans look forward to his semiannual exhibitions and receptions. In addition to successfully selling, over 20 years he has developed strong personal relationships with many of us. We have become close to his wife Anne-Marie as well, and always appreciate news of his sons. The Verleys have generously entertained collectors from Massachusetts at their stunning home on Île de Ré.”

Verley expressed his sense of a connection between his home on Île de Ré and Cape Cod, noting that they both face the same body of water—the Atlantic Ocean— and they share many attributes.

“The blond sand, the endless dunes, the grasses laid down by the wind, our walks oxygenated by the sea breeze, this smell of salt, the song of the sea which roars or soothes, the tides which punctuate our lives, the blue shadows of the pines, everything brings us together, we come together and we are alike!” Verley said. “I believe that it is marine emotions that unite us, we have the same sea! (Mother and sea are pronounced the same way in French!) It is therefore no coincidence that, for 20 years, I have had a special affinity with Helen Addison, Cape Cod, and those who breathe there. It is an unwavering friendship. I share with all the painters at the Addison Art Gallery this love of maritime atmospheres. We are sailing on the same boat, and Helen is at the helm!”

In a statement about his 2024 American exhibition, Verley said he retraced his intimacy with nature and, in particular, with trees. He pointed out that the COVID period was conducive to new inspirations.

“There are expanses of swamps and forests around me which have been my model and, of course, the sea which caresses my island,” Verkley said. “It is the power and the architecture, the movement, the wind in the trees, of the conifers, which are the basis of much of my work. This does not exclude the human presence which is so dear to me. The use of blue evokes for me sobriety, inner peace, renewal, oxygen, maturity, light.”

Addison added that each year the gallery has special events for Verley’s fans and collectors, including at the French Cable Station Museum and Cape Cod Museum of Art. This year she looks forward to a Sunday Garden Reception for Verley at Provincetown’s historic Mary Heaton Vorse House on Aug. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. For tickets contact gene@provincetownartssociety.com.

Join artists, friends and neighbors on Saturday, Aug. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Addison Art Gallery to meet Verley and view an exhibition of his latest works. Addison Art Gallery is located at 43 South Orleans Rd. For more information email helen@addisonart.com or visit addisonart.com.