"To Love, Honor and Cherish: The Role of Contemporary Portraiture"
Jeanine Jackson
A successful portrait, much like a good marriage, is the result of a profound commitment to love,
honor and cherish.
Contemporary portraitists love their work, often with unbridled passion. John Howard Sanden of The Portrait Institute tells us, "I opened my portrait studio in New York in the summer of 1969. In the 31 years since, I have painted more than 500 commissioned portraits (and countless hundreds of portrait studies as demonstrations before art groups and classes)… As I write this — after all those portraits — I’m more excited than ever about the art of portrait painting. It brings me into daily contact with the world’s most interesting men and women. And I believe that my masterpiece still lies ahead!!"
Patrons love the subjects they seek to immortalize and are passionate collectors of art. They are the wind beneath the wings of contemporary portraitists and are often willing to pay five to six figures for a painting or sculpture. Marian MacKinney, President & Director of premiere portrait brokers, Portraits Inc. in New York City, affirms, "We have noticed a resurgence of portraiture as ‘fine art’. Our roster has such depth and scope now, I can honestly say it is possible for any home or institution to have a museum quality portrait."
There are a growing number of new patrons in search of portraits by up-and-coming artists. The Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists (CSOPA) is one of several regional, nonprofit chapters of the world’s largest portrait group, The American Society of Portrait Artists (ASOPA). Their exhibitions and website, www.csopa.org, offer visitors an opportunity to learn more about this classic art form and local portraitists. CSOPA reports frequent inquiries from individuals and institutions looking to commemorate special occasions with a portrait in the five-to-twenty-thousand dollar range.
Some experts, such as art scholar and dealer Gregory Hedberg, PhD, attribute this growing public demand for portraits to a general return to traditional art. In his presentation to the ASOPA Contemporary Portrait Festival at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last spring, Mr. Hedberg confirmed that representational works are finding their way back into fashion after a century of modern art and abstract expressionism commanding center stage. As the custom of commissioning climbs from this trough and rises in prestige, we find fresh motivation and meaning for portraits in the twenty-first century.
Ours is an age of unparalleled technology, corporate takeovers, and families on the move. Portraiture is one promise we can keep. It will endure for generations to come. CEO’s, government officials, and clergy recognize that a portrait is an incomparable way to honor a lifetime of achievement. Margaret Holland Sargent executes many military commissions and promises, "With care, oil portraits on linen canvas will last many hundreds of years.eness of the subject."
