The SMFA's Traveling Fellowship program was created in 1894 to encourage post-graduate work and travel for select SMFA artists. Though the selection criteria have changed through the years for this distinguished program, the awards have consistently provided support to launch individual careers through independent work, travel and exhibition opportunities.

From the 10 Fellows awarded funds in 2011, New-York based painter Ridley Howard (MFA 1999) has been selected for the first solo presentation of the SMFA Traveling Fellows program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). After studio visits with four finalists, the review committee—Joanna Soltan (SMFA Curator), Barbara Gallucci (SMFA faculty), Al Miner (Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, MFA) and Jen Mergel (Robert L. Beal, Enid L. Beal and Bruce A. Beal Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, MFA)—unanimously selected Ridley for the compelling strength of his work, and how he relates it to the history of painting through is research.

Ridley pares down color and geometry into delicately composed portraits, landscapes and abstractions that quote the cool psychology of paintings by Edward Hopper, Ed Ruscha and Alex Katz, with an alluring soft-edged finish that makes a knowing romanticism the unexpected subject of his works. As a Fellow he toured Florence, Rome and Milan to consider how composition related to subjects depicted in early Italian Renaissance paintings by Piero della Francesca, and the broad range of styles—from neoclassical to futurist to full abstraction—explored by Italian modernists such as Gino Severini.

Ridley's solo presentation, including new paintings, is scheduled for May 11–October 27, 2013 at the MFA. Learn more about his work over at the SMFA blog. Congratulations!

Image: Ridley Howard, Nudes, 2011. Oil on linen. 24 x 30 in (61 x 76.2 cm). Image courtesy Leo Koenig Inc., New York.