Rarely Shown Work of Sag Harbor Artist Mark Heming Featured in Montauk Show

The selected work of Mark Heming, an artist privately collected by many artists including David Salle and Eric Fischl but little known to the public, will be shown by Keyes Art in an exhibit at The Depot Gallery in Montauk opening August 3.

Mark Heming (1907 to 1999) was a self-taught and extremely private artist who worked from his home in Sag Harbor from the late 1940s until his death. Working without models or photographs, the many figures Heming painted, drew and etched were not portraits, but rather a reflection of his lifelong fascination with the human face and the human condition.

Heming was born on East 79th Street in New York City. His family owned the Brooklyn brewery that produced Rheingold beer. During the Great Depression, he was deeply affected by the faces of the destitute people he observed standing on bread lines. From these observations, both on the streets of New York and during his time abroad in Europe, Heming began to log in his memory the faces that would be revealed many years later in his work.

“My father was an extremely private man, and only his closest friends knew he was an artist,” says daughter Sarah Heming. “But despite his obscurity, he was incredibly prolific and produced his art without the need for any public acclaim or encouragement.”

“Mark Heming had the gift of seeing soul to soul… and painting it,” added Julie Keyes, owner of Keyes Gallery in Sag Harbor and curator of the show.

The selected work of Mark Heming will be featured alongside that of Mustafa Maluka and James Dela Volpe at The Depot Gallery, 285 Edgemere Street, Montauk, from August 3 to 17. For more information visit juliekeyesart.com.