THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The Kwan Fong Gallery of Art and Culture at California Lutheran University will open its fall season with a show of new romantic figurative paintings from several prominent artists in the Novorealist movement.

An opening reception for the “The New Romantic Figure: Paintings by Michael Lynn Adams, Peter Adams, Jeremy Lipking, Cyn McCurry, Michael Pearce, Tony Pro, Alexey Steele and Mia Tavonatti” will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20. An artists’ reception is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept.10. The exhibit will continue through Friday, Sept. 30.

The illustrious tradition of figurative painting was almost lost in the 20th century, but a revolutionary revival in the new millennium has produced exceptional artists in Southern California, including those in this group show. Proving that grace and beauty are alive and well in contemporary art, the featured works bring a 21st-century point of view to the Victorian charm, Pre-Raphaelite romance and classical techniques of romantic oil painting.

Lipking, Pro and Steele are the founding members of the Novorealist group. Lipking, of Agoura Hills, has received many awards in the last decade including Best of Show at the Portrait Society of America International Competition in 2006 and first place the following year. Steele, who was born in Ukraine and is now based in Los Angeles, coined the term Novorealism to describe the revolution of new realism that has gained momentum in the last few years. As one critic observed, Steele “pours the old wine of classical art into new bottles of the 21st century.” Pro, an adjunct faculty member at CLU, painted the portrait of the first female member of the California Senate that hangs in the state Capitol and has sold paintings to collectors throughout the world.

Peter Adams has served as the president of the prestigious 3,000-member California Art Club, a leading proponent in the traditional-realist art movement, since 1993. The Los Angeles-born artist is particularly interested in Oriental objects and antiquities and combines Eastern design concepts with a Western sense of depth.

Tavonatti is a Santa Ana artist whose mosaic work won the $100,000 Art Prize in 2011. Her works are in many collections including those of Marriott Resorts and Harrah’s Casinos. Pearce, chair of the CLU art department and an outspoken proponent of traditional painting, creates figurative paintings with alchemical narratives. McCurry, a Texas resident and former artist-in-residence at CLU, paints intimate and autobiographical works that are dominated by feminine themes. Michael Lynn Adams, a CLU alumnus and adjunct faculty member who lives in Woodland Hills, is a well-known member of the California figurative painting community.

The Lois and Allan Friedman Family Foundation and the CLU Art Department are sponsoring the free exhibit.

The Kwan Fong Gallery is in Soiland Humanities Center, which is on the south side of Memorial Parkway at Regent Avenue on the Thousand Oaks campus. It is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call Pearce at (805) 444-7716 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu/kwan_fong.