Press Quotes

Mary Anne Reilly has sold over 600 paintings from her Dumbarton Oaks series. The artist renderings reflect her vision and impressions of the gardens.

-Mark Belsky

Writer, Washington Home & Garden Magazine

Reilly is an accomplished artist who captures the essence of a spring garden, a pond with a surprise surfacing koi, or a sunset bursting with color and energy. She has traveled the world and painted lush gardens in Japan, breathtaking seascapes in Martha's Vineyard, and castles in Ireland.

-Sue Belford

The Potomac Almanac

Our students and alumni were fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from a successful fine artist whose strategies have withstood the test of time.

-Sammy Hoi

Corcoran Museum of Art/School of Art, Washington, DC

Reilly, who's internationally known for her pointillist paintings of the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks, shows several new ones in her gallery this month while she travels to Japan for exhibitions of her work in the Daimaru galleries and museums in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe. She has previously exhibited in Ireland, where she was honored by the Mayor of Galway and Minister of Culture.

-Where Magazine, Washington D.C.

'The only distractions we have,' says Elsa, 'are the ones we choose to bring.' The painting over the fireplace by DC artist, Mary Anne Reilly was a gift from Elsa to Bob.

-People/Style Magazine

Art Collection: Elsa Walsh and Bob Woodward

There is a quiet revolution going on in art today, as an increasing number of painters and sculptors turn away from what they consider the tyranny of abstraction for its own sake. And while artists will always be masters at commanding attention, there is a subtle trend away from abject, if often undisciplined, self-expression toward pride in drawing craft. Mary Anne Reilly is part of that movement. She believes that an artist who can't draw can't create a worthwhile painting whether realist or abstract. Craft is everything, as Picasso aptly demonstrated.

-Robert Wang

"Artists and Friends", the Georgetowner newspaper

-Mary Anne Riley is recognized as one of Washington's most talented artists. Her eclectic style has a universal appeal. She is gifted with unique ability to portray life in inanimate objects.

-Patricia Keegan

Survivor's Guide to Washington, cover article 'Treasury View of Pennsylvania Avenue'

-In 1997, Ms. Reilly's painting entitled 'Going Home' was presented to New York Gov. George Pataki by the Irish Chamber of Commerce USA before some 700 VP's on top of Rockefeller Plaza Building on St. Patrick's Day. That same week she also had an exhibition of Irish landscapes at the Catholic Museum of Art and History in Rockefeller Plaza Center.

-Irish Voice Magazine

She is a human dynamo, about the most positive person I know in the art world. She's really inspiring, and I owe her a lot. When she gets motivated, she gives it her all.

-Michael Clark

Artist and Co-founder of Museum of Contemporary Art DC, as reported by Ellen Wexler, Montgomery County Gazette

Mary Anne Reilly Quotes

As a painter, I'm moved by the delicacy of the rose, the personality that is revealed as each flower unfolds to the great emotion of full-bloom.

-Judith Bell 'The World and I'

Artist and Co-founder of Museum of Contemporary Art DC, as reported by Ellen Wexler, Montgomery County Gazette

'My paintings of the gardens record escape from the outside world, the sense of asylum and quiet adventure that I discovered there,' says Reilly.

-Washington Home & Garden magazine

She is a human dynamo, about the most positive person I know in the art world. She's really inspiring, and I owe her a lot. When she gets motivated, she gives it her all.

-Ruth Palombo, Writer

The Artists Magazine

A shimmering surface is only one reason why I apply paint to the canvas in dots. When built in layers, the spots of oil paint also create an inviting, nearly sculptural texture.

-Mary Anne Reilly, Artist

Guide to Washington, cover article

I try to create a place in time that means something to me. Like a song on the radio can conjure up the deep emotions experienced with a certain love or friend in a particular space in time. I hope my paintings conjure the same feelings of familiarity for people recognizing landmarks – a lone tree, or an exaggerated view of the angle of a building.

-Mary Anne Reilly, Artist

Keynote speaker, St. John's College High School, Washington D.C., 2010