In examining the intricate relationship between beauty and tradition, more artists today find themselves reflecting on the virtues of the past - the classical, the enduring, the everlasting. This is not nostalgia, nor anemoia, but a conscious engagement with the lived experience of our time. Without resorting to overt formal critique, the artists and galleries featured in this issue position themselves with integrity along the shifting frontiers of contemporary art. We invite you to immerse yourself in the creativity and process through which fantasy, knowledge, and discipline converge. From Wallace Woo’s reconsideration of two-dimensional painting to Vadym Lipskih’s contemplative marriage portraits, one senses that contemporary artists are not abandoning historical discourse, but refreshing it. This impulse is not limited to stylistic proximity to the Old Masters. In the case of Anders Fernbach, classical painting is not mirrored but elevated. His line does not mimic Rembrandt or Vermeer; it reconsiders the iconography and philosophical weight of the period through contemporary training and perception. Similarly, Robert Mann Gallery in New York bridges historic photography with emerging voices, preserving legacy while casting it in new light. Ksenia Dronova constructs a fantastical world inhabited by Orthodox and mythological presences. Her iconography is rooted in ancient schools, yet rearticulated through a vivid, contemporary palette.

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