The Portrait Project

Alexey Steele

"Eric in White Scarf" by Alexey Steele 30 x 40

At the LA Art Show January 2012: Jeremy Lipking, Alexey Steele, Eric Rhoads, Tony Pro, and Joseph Tadoravich.

Alexey Steele is indescribable. No one I've ever met has his level of intelligence, exuberance, laughter, passion for art and music all rolled into one. He is multi-dimensional.

My feet and Alexey.

I had met Alexey a couple of years ago but was very aware of his painting and his passion, which he has exhibited at many events throughout the industry. His exuberance is sometimes misread because he tends to draw a lot of attention by being loud, laughing a lot and very commanding but his heart is golden.

One wild palette on wheels.

Alexey grew up the son of an accomplished Russian painter. He studied in Russia at the institute following the traditional Russian Academic method, which gave him wonderful training. I was, therefore, anxious to be painted and to observe his process, which I suspected would be considerably different. I was also curious if he would maintain his high level of energy after a day of painting.

Brush fight. Alexey and Tony Pro.

I arrive at his warehouse studio in Torrance, which is enormous. Painting commenced after a couple of hours of chatter. I was posed on a high model stand, which Alexey copied after one designed by Repin. (It was practical with steps and edges so the chair would not slide off.) He had just received a new canvas (Raphael) which he was marveling over so I was the first painting done on this canvas, which has become his new standard. I was also an experiment with a new set of Charvin paints, which he tried for the first time on me (thanks to Jerry's Artarama). And Rosemary had just crafted some of her amazing brushes in extra long lengths so he can paint while standing at a distance, which is important when doing a giant piece.

Alexey multi-tasked the entire time. Painting while pontificating about art, life and while carrying on an extensive conversation. His energy level never died and we painted till all the light was lost. We resumed a second full day, then waited a few months and resumed for two more.

Alexey's Studio

 

Painting at the LA Art Show FINE ART CONNOISSEUR Booth.

I was thrilled with the unique pose, the spirit he captured and the overall feel and quality of the painting. Though four days of sitting was hard to find and a rarity for me the outcome was nothing less than spectacular.

Chess anyone? Eric Rhoads, Richard Schmid and Alexey Steele at Alexey's studio.

A gathering of friends to paint on Eric Rhoads birthday (August 2011). Note portrait in the background at Alexey's studio.

 

On display at the LA Fine Art Show.

We displayed the painting (along with that of Tony Pro and Adrian Gotlieb) at the LA Fine Art Show in January 2012 and had Alexey paint on location. He drew a huge crowd (as did Tony Pro).

This time together drew Alexey and I especially close. One does not spend four days together without finding a lot of things to discuss. He is a brilliant man and his passion is unstoppable and I suspect he will play a significant role in the resurgence of realsism and history.

 

Tony Pro

The Publisher by Tony Pro

I've known Tony Pro for almost ten years and met him right before we published our first art magazine. He had just finished his training at the Los Angeles Fine Art Academy and had become a terrific draftsman. I can clearly remember our first meeting, which was dinner in LA with Tony and artist Ryan Wurmser. We shared a common passion for art.

At the time I commissioned Tony to paint a portrait of our first editor Diane Johnson. He did a terrific job. But like any good painter who puts in the hours its incredible to see how Tony's work has leaped forward and how good of a painter he has become even since those days.

Alexey Shoots a photo of Tony while painting Eric.

I was going to be in Los Angeles in 2011 to be painted by artist Alexey Steele, who is a close friend of Tony's. Since we had also commissioned Tony to do a portrait we decided that both could be accomplished in one sitting. I sat for only one day with Tony and for four days with Alexey. The result is this magnificient portrait.

The portrait at an early stage.

 

The Underpainting complete

Tony told me that it was his desire to create a portrait, which stood out. So many of the portraits' have been straight on portrait poses and he said he wanted to capture my personality as he knows me. The result, as you can see is a tender and effective approach. I think he captured it beautifully.

 

Though Tony is a young man with a young family I think he is a significant part of the new realist movement taking place in Los Angeles and will take an important place in art history. Just about anything happening in the LA area involves Tony and his two sidekicks Alexey Steel and Jeremy Lipking. He is well loved and respected as a friend and a painter.

At our recent booth at the 2012 Los Angeles Fine Art Show we displayed this work and had Tony and Alexey paint at the booth, which attracted a lot of attention.

Eric and Tony Pro at the LA Fine Art Show January 2012

 

Crowds surrond Tony Pro and Alexey Steel at the Fine Art Connoisseur Booth in LA

Max Ginsburg

Portrait of Eric Rhoads, by Max Ginsburg. Painted 12/7/2011 in New York at Ginsburg's Studio.

For decades I had heard of the exlusive Max Ginsburg who was known as a quiet man who was rarely seen in social circles and at painters events. His reputation proceeded him as he took on a status of "legend" in the circle of painters, many of whom he trained over the years. I, however had never met him or seen him around the circles I travel within.

Max on the roof of his NYC Studio (Photo Janzel Martinez)

The View from Max's studio roof (Photo Eric Rhoads)

I was painting with Maria Amour, a friend in New York, who told me she was in a weekly life group with Max. She told me what a wonderful and giving man he was, how he was very friendly and approachable and a joy to be around. It made me want to meet him even more, so I requested an introduction, which she gladly made.

Great new friends.

Max and I became fast friends over the phone and he was the oposite of what I had expected. I assumed because he had just turned 80 I would be dealing with an old man and all the things that typically go with age, but it was exactly the oposite. Max was uplifting, full of life and joy, did not appear to have any hearing issues, and had more energy than most 40 year olds I know. We talked for hours about life, painting, art and we discovered very early that we each sharred that passion.

Max signing the demo painting of Phyllis Beard. (Photo: Rhoads)

Max had lived during the time when realism was opressed. He had wanted to study realism in school and like many of his generation (and a generation after) was told that modernism was hot and realism was not. No one wanted to teach him. Fortunately his father had a big influence on his interest in realism so Max persisted to find ways to learn and self educate including emersion in painting models from life daily.

Max and I continued this relationship and he told me of his new book and his retrospective being held at the Butler Museum in Ohio, which is a highly respected institution. We had had such wonderful talks I decided that this legand should be documented so I suggested I bring a video crew to film him at the retrospective. He ageed.

It was an amazing opportunity because here was the best of his life's working hanging in a museum. I asked Max to walk through and tell me the detailed story behind every painting. He went so far as to tell me who the models were and to reconunt stories of why he created the paintings, what he was trying to say, what happened when he was painting them and every detail. I could not help thinking how valuable this will be to art historians in 100 years.

Max also agreed to do a demonstration on video so we hired a model and shot for a full day at the Butler in the basement of the church nextdoor. Though we prefer a quiet environment we ended up with every possible interuption including school kids upstairs (the building was due to be empty all day), noisy plumbing, a weed wacker outside and even a full marching band playing as they walked by enroute to a game on the campus. Fortunately we edited all that out, but it was almost comical.

Max painting a demo portrait for Phyllis Beard (Rhoads photo)

Painting of Phyllis Beard by Max Ginsburg, the demo video painting. (Rhoads photo)

Demo being filmed with 5 cameras in the basement of the church next to the Butler Museum in Youngstown, OH.

Artist Waren Chang, Model/Artist Phyllis Beard, Marion Ginsburg, Max, Eric Rhoads.

We then sent a crew to Max's studio in New York and shot him in studio, going through old paintings, his fathers paintings, and some of his early illustration work. He was obsessed with the social aspects of the Ocupy New York movement so the video crew followed him there where he did sketches and interacted with the protesters.

Back in the studio I arranged for Fine Art Connoisseur Editor Peter Trippi to interview Max about his life, his work, and the story of his life. Its a fascinating interview. Then Max decided to paint a study of my head for the magazine. So I sat while he painted me and we chatted. (I had to hold still so I did not chat too much). So we caught that on video as well.

Max being interviewed by Peter Trippi of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine.

Max Ginsburg starting a painting of Fine Art Connoisseur Publisher Eric Rhoads

Max climbing up to the roof of his studio. (photo Eric Rhoads)

Overall we ended up with over 6 hours of video, which includes:

- A Painting demo of a portrait

- An interview with Peter Trippi

- A Walk through of his life's work at the Butler

- A documentary, including comments from friends and students

- A mini-demo of Max painting Eric.

The video can be found at http://www.ginsburgvideo.com.

Also there is a giveaway to win a painting at http://www.winginsburg.com

Max Ginsburg: The Legacy of an American Painter Trailer from Max Ginsburg on Vimeo.

 

Max is a magical guy. He is passionate about using his art to reflect life of our times. He knows that many of his subjects are difficult and thus not for some collectors but he hopes those will end up in museums as a reflection of the times in America.  He has documented much of the turmoil in America over the decades. His perspective after 50 years is worth hearing.

Max has become a dear friend and I have Maria to thank for the introduction.

Max holds the 2 hour study of Eric Rhoads at the NY Studio, all caught on video.