Career Synopsis
I began to paint and draw at the age of 6. My very talented older brother became my mentor as soon as I was old enough to hold a pencil.
I moved to Los Angeles during the early 1960's. I continued to paint and draw with a special interest in portraiture. I feel this direction evolved as a result of my extremely protected and isolated childhood. My parents, Holocaust survivors, severely limited my contact with anyone outside our family. I was extremely hungry for new perspectives and portraiture became my passion. I found my niche as a contemporary super realist painter.
The formal debut of my work came in 1976 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in an exhibition entitled L.A. Eight, by Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Maurice Tuchman. Since that time I have exhibited in museums both nationally and internationally. My painting of Roger Wagner, founder of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, is on permanent display at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles Music Center.
The majority of the works I have created over the years consists of numerous commissioned and non-commissioned portraits. My subjects range from the most conservative types to fringe characters to notables, such as Billy Wilder, Henry Mancini and Victoria Principal. Yet whatever my subject's appearance, I seek to reveal their inner being and personality. I gather insight about my subjects by observing them in their environment, seeing past and present photographs and involving them in numerous ways. Our interactions result in bold yet subtle portrayals forming a body of innovative and profound work.