Visual Legacies: Portraits of Famous People

Portraits of the powerful and famous have been painted for centuries. Often these celebrity portraits were commissioned works. The reasons that someone would have a portrait made are varied. Of course, before photography painting, drawing, and sculpting were the primary means of creating a visual record. Kings and emperors would have wanted their likenesses painted so that their subjects, and future generations, would have a visible testament of their greatness. Many such portraits of famous people have included symbolic elements that represent particular contributions or successes.

Those works that have not been commissioned are generally painted by an artist because of their intense interest in the subject. Artists today who paint portraits of old Hollywood stars are often among this group. Contemporary portraitists may also seek to reveal some key aspect of the subject's inner self, rather than emphasizing their outer persona.

Len Mondschein's work is born out of his childhood love for the movies of the 1940's and 50's. Spending hour upon hour after school in the movie theatre where his grandmother worked shaped the imagination of the young boy. The old Hollywood stars, like Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne, left a lasting impression upon this future artist. Little did he know then that he would one day paint portraits of famous people such as these film legends. Like painters of old, his artwork brings to life the characters they portrayed, whether they are private investigators, cowboys, scoundrels, gangsters, or sex symbols.