The works of painter and sculptor Stuart Roper comprise the next show at COCO VIVO Fine Art, which opens on Friday, Sept. 6. An artist's reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. The public is invited to attend. The show will run through September 30.

Born in North Carolina, Roper moved to Manhattan in the mid-1970s to attend the Art Students League of New York. There, he primarily studied anatomy and figure drawing with Thomas Fogarty as well as figure painting and portraiture with John Howard Sanden.

Roper moved to St. Simons Island, Georgia, in 1980 for a year, prior to settling in the state's capital, Atlanta. Over the next 10 years, his work included various commissions, as well as a number of solo and group exhibitions.

In the fall of 1991, he moved to the small Normandy village of Pressagny l'Orgueilleux, just west of Paris, where he settled into the gate cottage of the Château de la Madeleine, situated only minutes away from the home of Claude Monet and the birthplace of Impressionism in Giverny. Through plein-air work, he found the approach of the Impressionists, which has since characterized most of his painting.

Roper moved to the small hilltop village of Fayence in southern France two years later where he would remain for the next five years. During this time, his work took him to Italy, Corsica and back to Normandy, all the while enchanted by the light, and concentrating on working within the confines of a limited color palette.

Roper made the decision to return to the United States, where he settled in Asheville, N.C. The Grove Arcade Public Market commissioned him to recreate the original 1920s finials that adorn the top of the building. The City Parks and Recreation Department also commissioned him on the development of “Grove’s Vision,” a station on the city’s historical Urban Trail.

In addition, he has participated in numerous regional and national exhibitions, receiving wide recognition and awards. Roper is currently a member of the Oil Painters of America, The Plein Air Painters of the Southeast, a signature member with the Western North Carolina Plein Air Painters (WNCPAP), The American Impressionist Society, International Plein Air Painters, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association and the California Plein Air Painters.

We are excited to welcome Stuart Roper to COCO VIVO and anxiously await his majestic interpretations of our beautiful land and seascapes. The gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For information on the event call 207-633-0671 or email info@cocovivofineart.com. For more information on the artist/sculptor, visit www.stuartroper.com.