American Art Dealer & Gallery

WELCOME

ABOUT AARON PAYNE FINE ART

Established in 2000, Aaron Payne Fine Art is a gallery specializing in 20th and 21st Century modern masterworks. Our areas of focus include American Modernism, African American Art, The Stieglitz Circle, New Mexico Modernism, Postwar and Contemporary Art. We also have a long history with the American Abstract Artists and both European and American Surrealism.

Some of our favorite works don’t fit into any category.

Aaron Payne has expertise in areas he has explored for almost thirty-five years, but is always compelled to work with art he loves.

What Aaron Payne Fine Art also purveys is an experience and opportunity to develop new perspectives. We offer a unique way of looking at art and the art market as well the chance to participate in and engage with both in new and meaningful ways.

We hope you will join us, here on my website, at the gallery, in my office by appointment, or out in the world looking at art at fairs, auctions and wherever we can find it.
“Through color, I have sought to concentrate
on beauty and happiness,
rather than on man's inhumanity to man."

- ALMA THOMAS
From its very beginning, the gallery has had a long history with BIPOC artists (Black, Indigenous and People of Color). Historically, most of these artists have worked within the greater art world, but without the same recognition or exposure that benefits so many others. Many even exhibited in the same shows with more well-known artists, but never received the same commercial or critical success and attention.

The last decade has seen a change in the perception of not only the significance of these artists, but also a shift in understanding the possibilities for the art world this inclusion brings. The brilliance, insight and experience these artists bring to the conversation have great benefit for us all. They help us to better navigate and understand the nuanced world we already live in, and shine a light on many paths left in darkness. With this inclusion, our journey is made richer.
- Frank Wimberley
  All Blues, 1986
ABOUT AARON

My love of art comes from my parents and from my earliest memories of growing up in Los Angeles. At home I was surrounded by the artworks of Romare Bearden, David Hammons, Jacob Lawrence, John Outterbridge, Suzanne Jackson, Betye Saar and other contemporary African American artists. As a child, I went to many gallery openings, and a lot of these artists were friends of my family and guests in our home. Some of my best memories from childhood are visits to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) with my mother.

"For me, art has always been a space where I can connect with my own inner life in a way that is not dictated by anyone. When you are with an artwork, there are no rules, no expectations. All we have to do is listen. I love art because is represents Courage. I love art because it is something that any person can engage with in their own way. It brings together people from every demographic, nationality and background in a way that nothing else can. Anyone and everyone can have their own relationship with art."
MY PERSPECTIVE
Blogs • News • Exhibitions