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Portrait Painter Arthur Bjorn Egeli:
Capturing Childhood in an Image
A few years ago,
when visiting the Art Collection in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome,
I came upon the 1650 Velazquez portrait of Pope Innocent X, a portrait
so real I felt the subject of the portrait was still alive and breathing
in that room. On my return to the states, a family friend and portrait
painter par excellence, Arthur Egeli, whose own work had been inspired by
his exposure to Velazquez at the Prado, suggested to my husband and me that
our two sons were just the right age to have their portraits painted.
Arthur told us "that certain stages of a young person's life are so special
and memorable for parents that a portrait, much more than a photograph,
can really zero in on what a child was like at that age." If it was
good enough for a Pope, I figured it was good enough for my children. Velazquez,
of course, is no longer available, so we happily enlisted Arthur to do the
honors, in his distinctive impressionistic style that suits our more modern
tastes.
Some months later,
when Arthur invited me to view the almost-finished portrait of my older
son, I went to his studio/home with some trepidation. What if I didn't like
it? No need to worry-I was captivated by Arthur's ability to capture
that moment in time when our son, then 13 years old, stood poised between
adolescence and manhood. It was not just our son's features he captured,
but his character, his hope for the future, his very spirit. I was doubly
pleased when he delivered our younger son's portrait a few months later,
revealing the innocence and openness of our then 10-year-old in his transition
from childhood to adolescence.
Arthur managed
to put on canvas what every parent would like to do, which is keep a precious
image of their child alive forever. "The days are long and the years
are short," a wise woman once told me. Parents are well aware of how quickly
children grow up, and how soon we will be left with just images and memories,
while they go off to live their own lives.
Arthur
began the portrait painting process with photo sessions with our two sons.
He uses special portrait-quality film, and shoots as many as 150 photos
of a subject. Arthur practices the discipline of waiting for "the
right expression," one that is normal and typical, which means not necessarily
smiling. "I want to show the subject as people close to him or her
know the subject. I also want to be true to my art. The most
successful portraits are a little universal. When you see a young person
in a picture, their image should remind you of all young people of that age
or of that type."
Once he has captured
that expression, he blows up the photo and paints the portrait using the
photo as a reference, precluding the need for children to sit for long periods
of time to have their portraits done.
Arthur feels that
children generally look better in the outdoors. We chose Matador Beach
north of Malibu, California for the setting for our sons' portraits, because
we felt that reflected their love of the outdoors and the ocean, as well
as their sunny, playful spirits. Their attire was a compromise-we agreed
on comfortable, casual, but not trendy clothes, so as not to date the portraits.
During
these photo sessions, Arthur captured the expressions he later translated
into paint on canvas. "Our older son is trying to project his qualities
of a young, successful, handsome young boy/man, despite some awkwardness;
our younger son is more open, not so inclined to hide his feelings, on the
cusp of becoming an adolescent," reflected Arthur once the portraits were
completed.
Arthur is inspired
by "all the likely candidates," including Rembrandt, John Singer Sargent,
and of course Velazquez. He started sketching portraits when was 15
years old in Cape Cod, and came by his calling naturally-his grandfather,
Bjorn Egeli, painted official portraits of Nixon and Eisenhower, and his
father, Cedric Egeli, and mother, Joanette Egeli, two sisters, two uncles
and two aunts are all portrait painters.
In addition to portraits,
Arthur does Plein Air (open air) painting of landscapes. He enjoys
the social aspect of portrait painting, particularly learning about "why
people are the way they are."
Arthur says the most
moving reaction to one of the portraits he painted came from a mother who
started crying from happiness when she saw her child's portrait. "She
was really touched that I captured their child the way they saw their child,"
recalls Arthur. When Arthur showed the portrait of his two sons to
another client, an entertainment executive, the man stood speechless for
45 minutes, staring at the painting-when he finally spoke, he told Arthur
how very, very pleased he was with his work. Our older son said "I
was overjoyed that he created such an accurate representation of me."
Our younger son says "It was just what I wanted."
The portraits of our
sons now grace the wall behind our grand piano, and every time I look at
them I am grateful to my husband for the priceless gift he gave me when he
commissioned the portraits, and especially grateful to Arthur, for his gift
of capturing the joy of my children forever. From my perspective, it
is the greatest family treasure we will be able to hand down to them in the
future.
Arthur
Egeli is represented by Tirage Art Gallery (TirageArt.com), Contact Kevin Casey
or Karent Hackett, One West California Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91105, phone
(626) 450-1020. Contact Arthur Egeli directly through his web site,
www.arthuregeli.com.
Tiiu Lukk is a journalist
and author. She has worked for ABC News and the Washington Star as
a foreign correspondent in South Africa; most recently, her travel writing
has appeared in the Washington Post, the Dallas Morning News and AAA's "Home
and Away" magazine. She is the author of "Movie Marketing: Opening
the Picture and Giving it Legs," published by Silman James Press.