Cursed Pirate Girl HC Vol. 01Media Release -- Century Guild, the leading Art Nouveau and Symbolist gallery in the world, is opening a West Coast location with a Grand Opening December 1st with an exhibition celebrating one of the most intricate artists of any century, Jeremy Bastian.

Jeremy Bastian (b.1978) uses an ink well and brush to create works that reveal the influence of early American comic art and classical engravings (Winsor McCay, Albrecht Dürer, and Piranesi are all present) while ending in a place that is absolutely contemporary, brilliantly sensitive, and wholly unique. Like something from a cabinet of curiosities, Bastian's artworks are only inches in size; the figures and nautical scenarios contain details only visible with a magnifying glass. For example, one artwork- The Sacking of the Royal CIty of Cub- is the artist's largest work to date at only 13.5 x 19 inches and took over 500 hours of brush work. For the very first time, work from the artist's graphic novel Cursed Pirate Girl will be on display, and 100 advance copies of the new hardcover collected edition customized with an event bookplate will be available at the reception.

The exhibition will be up for viewing for two weekends, then the gallery will be rehung for a special Holiday Sale featuring period works on paper by Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, Egon Schiele, and styles from Arts & Crafts through Expressionism.

Century Guild is a fine art gallery founded in 1999, specializing in Art Nouveau and Symbolist works dating from 1880 through 1920. After thirteen years of success in Chicago, this exhibition marks the debut of the Culver City location. Century Guild has placed artworks in museums and top collections around the world; works previously in the Century Guild inventory are on permanent display in The Art Institute of Chicago, The Detroit Institute of Arts, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Reception: December 1, 2012, 6-9 pm
Exhibition: December 2 and December 6-8, 2-8 pm