The Gallery of American Presidents
Waco, TX: The Gallery of Cherished Arts, 1978. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Pamphlet. Unpaginated (40 pages). Illustrations (color). Decorative front cover. Cover has some wear and soiling. The copyright holder is D. L. Wallace. This work focuses on the presidential portraiture by Lawrence Williams. Williams (1913-20030 was born in Boston, and devoted his professional life to portraiture. He opened his first studio in 1932 in Boston but moved in 1954 to Burbank, California and opened Portrait Arts. In 1999, he relocated to Sherman Oaks, California. His work includes portraits of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and fifteen Rose Bowl Queens. During WWII, he was commissioned to paint the individual oil portraits of all the Allied Nations Leaders. Upon the completion of one hundred thrity-five oil portraits of the most famous men of that ear, Williams was honored with a special Citation for outstanding service. these portraits the United States for three years and assisted materially in the sales of U.S. War Bonds. In 1974 Williams became interested in the approaching American Bicentennial celebration and began paining a series of oil painting so the Presidents of the United States. These paintings were done from the official photographs obtained from the Library of Congress. Since the completion of the presidential gallery, more than five million people had viewed these paintings of the first thirty-eight Presidents. The National Broadcasting Company did a television special on Lawrence and his work. These painting are a fitting tribute to not only Williams' genius, but to the history of our country. Portraiture, is a type of art aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective artistic technique, lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait may be artistic or clinical. Frequently, portraits are commissioned for special occasions, such as weddings, school events, or commemorative purposes. Portraits can serve many purposes, ranging from usage on a personal level to document an image for future family members or to capture an image for broader communication purposes. The relatively low cost of the daguerreotype in the middle of the 19th century and the reduced sitting time for the subject, though still much longer than now, led to a general rise in the popularity of portrait photography over painted portraiture. However, as was the case with Lawrence Williams, photographic portraits served as a surrogate for a sitting subject in the production of a painted portrait. The style of these early photographic works reflected the technical challenges associated with long exposure times and the painterly aesthetic of the time. Condition: Good / No dust jacket issued.
Keywords: Lawrence Williams, Painters, Artists, Portraits, Portraiture, Presidents, Bicentennial of the American Revolution, Commemoration, Gallery of American Presidents
[Book #84893]
Price: $35.00