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Commendations
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“Rita
is an accomplished artist with strong feelings about real art”
William
Freckleton, Publisher
Southwest Art Magazine, October 1972 |
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“I love her work.
She has…Degas-style ballerinas that are soft, pleasant and easy
to live with. Her pastel
technique makes it appear that there are layers of fabric in the
ballerina’s clothing, which is very appealing. So are her nudes.
Women
love the images, but rough, big guys buy them too, because the work is
calming.”
John Salvo,
Director
Martin Lawrence Galleries, New York
Previously, Owner, Lumina Art Gallery, Soho, New York, 1992
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“Rita has all the ingredients
of good impressionism. Her
work has a constant appeal because of its traditional base. Traditional art is stable because people want value.
In a relatively short time, if Rita sticks to prints she will be
highly recognized and even more popular.”
Elena Jacob,
Owner
The Nelson Rockefeller Collection, Palm Springs, 1992
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“Rita
Asfour imparts an air of timelessness in her work.
The paintings provide a pleasing visual experience and should
‘wear well’ over many years to come.”
Andrew C. Voth,
Director
Carnegie Art Museum, 1991
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“We handle a lot of French artists of the 1800’s
and 1900’s and her work fits in with both that impressionistic feeling and
our own tastes. My partner
recently bought four original pieces of Rita’s in La Jolla, California,
and we got a lot of response and discussion here about her work.
Some of the pieces we had were the backs of women, and the
Japanese buyers particularly find the nape of the neck very sexual.
And the French love her color.
No matter the price or décor, people have something positive to
say about her pieces. Her
work is pleasant because she’s been able to grasp that impressionistic
feeling, but not like a knock-off.
Her work doesn’t have that old, old look; it’s updated with
beautiful, bright light.”
Roy Leonard, Director
Harrington Galleries, Canada, 1992
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“Anything can be considered a legitimate subject for art, and
Rita Asfour makes effective use of the familiar and the commonplace.
She believes it is not the subject matter that counts, but the
capturing of a moment in time and the effects produced by light at that
moment. In this way, she
draws on her own emotions about her world to create a visual sensation
that reflects the attitude of her subject…”
Kathleen
Heiser, Writer
Sunstorm Fine Arts Magazine, 1993
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“Influenced by the world around her, Asfour
prefers to paint it romantically, ‘as it ought to be,’ rather than the way
it is.”
Deborah K. Swanson, Writer
Art Business News, 1992
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“Asfour’s internationally collected paintings capture the
breadth of human emotions in gentle strokes and lively colors.”
Gussie
Fauntleroy, Writer
Art & Antiques, 2003
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Biography
My Armenian father was an
inventor. Thanks to him, my natural curiosity as a child was greatly
encouraged.
During the troubled times of World-War-1, he was forced
to escape his birthplace near the Russian-Turkish border.
The only escape route open to him was down the southern coast of the
Mediterranean Sea. His journey
ended in Cairo, where I was born.
My
sojourns were of a much more pleasant nature. I traveled to Italy, Germany,
France, Tahiti, and Mexico,
before traveling to many cities in the US and finally settling down in Malibu, where I have lived since 1982.
I
started my professional career as a magazine and book cover illustrator.
The next big assignment was as a portrait artist at Universal Studios.
Encouraged by the many sales that followed, I opened my own art
gallery in Beverly Hills in 1970. There, I sold my own paintings as well as those of other artists, and
gave private art lessons to a few celebrities. When my only daughter Amber was born,
I felt compelled to stay home
to take care of her. I gradually went back to painting as Amber grew up and became more
independent.
Education
From
Kindergarten through high school, I went to the French school Le Lycee
Francee. That was followed by six years of strict Italian tutoring at The Leonardo
Da Vinci Italian Academy Of Arts, from which I graduated with a BA in Fine
Arts. My Italian instructors taught me how to paint alla prima.
Immediately
after immigrating to the US, I enlisted at The Chouinard Art Institute.
Shortly after, I took private lessons from Sam Markitante, an 80-year old
French artist who taught the techniques he learned in the
Paris studio that he rented after the death of Renoir.
Collectors
I sold hundreds of paintings in Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Europe, and all over the
United States. Amongst my distinguished collectors are Ella Fitzgerald, Donna
Reed, Tricia Nixon, Congressman Alphonso Bell, and publisher Otis Chandler.
Exhibits
These are a few of the galleries that exhibited my work:
House
of Hartford Gallery, Beverly Hills
Wally
Findlay Galleries, Beverly Hills
Gallery
Camille, Beverly Hills,
W.
J. Sloan, Beverly Hills
Wentworth
Galleries, Nationwide
Atlas
Galleries, Chicago
Lumina
Galleries, Soho, New York
Vail
Fine Art, Colorado
Carol
Schwartz Galleries, Philadelphia
Artexpo
New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco
Modern
Art Gallery – Japan
Allan
Art, Singapore
Charities/Donations
I donated to many charities including; The International Leukemia
Foundation, The City of Hope, The Ballet School by the Sea in Malibu, The
Boys & Girls Clubs Of America, The Thalians, the Washington DC Airport
Authorities, and The Los Angeles County Sheriff.
Life’s Hardships
An accidental fall on a private yacht left my left arm broken in 5 places.
Later, my husband discovered he had cancer. Overcoming these
obstacles took time. But now, in 2005, even though these injuries
are still sometimes painful, I have overcome them and am back at my
studio, painting almost every day. I live with my husband Jeffrey,
my only daughter Amber, my five cats and my very special Pomeranian ...
Bambi.
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Technique
Below are the major elements that
go into the creation of art that touches our emotions.
Style
Bravura is my
style. It is the art of painting with conviction.
I was taught to paint the
classical way by studying the subject and its surroundings before applying
any paint. But my natural instincts pushed me to quickly put on
canvas my first impressions. What was more important was what I felt
in my her heart, not what I saw with my eyes.
My originals are one of a kind
because first impressions cannot be replicated. Everything must be
captured like with a camera, but with the feelings of the heart. I
draw on my inner emotions to create a visual representation of the
subject. Bringing a feminine touch to the application of this daring
style creates a softer impact than that of the men who practice this
approach.
Brush Strokes
Impressionists like Renoir, Van Gogh and Lautrec were the first to use
wide and rough brush strokes. Earlier masters were very calculating
in the way they added paint to their canvas. I admire the technique
of applying courageous brush strokes and use it consistently in all my
works.
Precise forms are still possible to
draw with this method, with the advantage that they blend more with the
background. With oils and acrylics, it is easy to cover mistakes
with additional paint. But with pastels, that is not possible, and
that is the medium that requires the most courage.
Subjects
The inspiration and subject for many of my paintings came from my
daughter, Amber. My renditions of children reminds me of the
innocence of life in its early years. Yet, the children on my
canvases are not too sweet beyond recognition ... like heavenly painted
marionettes! I try to be as realistic as possible but without
showing the harshness of the real, real world.
Fundamentally, I believe in capturing a
living subject in a moment of time, and then encapsulating that image
timelessly for the viewer. I have created countless paintings of
landscapes, still life, ballerinas, flowers and nudes ... all with that in
mind. I am still not inclined to paint inanimate objects like
buildings or streets because I believe such renditions are architectural
and not fine art.
I am very comfortable portraying the
human figure in all its forms and ages. From inspiring and innocent
little children to seductive and sensuous adult female nudes. I
believe that the human body is the most beautiful form of life on our
planet.
Compositions
My compositions usually include people, because I am primarily a
figurative painter. Even in my landscapes, sometimes you have to
search carefully to find small figures doing something in the background.
Drawing people is my biggest delight.
Especially when they are absorbed doing something because that is when the
strongest human connection is made. I have focused on painting
positive and uplifting images of people in their pursuit of the good life,
or “Joie De Vivre.”
Colors
Inspired by my Italian instructors, I developed a strong sense of color.
I was taught to paint the classical way, using dark palettes and light
reflections to give life to paintings. Gradually, my palette became
brighter, bolder and more vivid. I never use paint right out of its
container, but always mix several colors before applying any to my canvas.
Mediums
Variety is the spice of life. Oils and acrylics on canvas are my
most common. But I also like to paint with palette knives on
Masonite. When using Masonite, I prefer the coarse side because it
adds texture to the finished art. My pastels are usually on colored
paper, where I like to leave large patches of paper untouched. At
this time I have only one paper cast, one bronze sculpture, and many
plaster Bas-Reliefs.
Serigraph prints were the talk of the
town in their heyday, but they were never an accurate replica of an
original. The reason is that the silkscreen process is a successive
application of inks with the end quality depending on that sequence and
the eyeball estimations of the printer. And because a single ink
application had to dry before the next one was added, the production was
done in a batch process which made serigraphs both expensive and time
consuming to make. Hence their fall from favor.
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