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Ad Code: 4
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An example of work by Leo Jansen
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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Biography from Sharp Facets Gallery:
|  Leo Jansen (1930-1980), born in Holland, moved to Indonesia when he was
ten. There in the Tropics he began his craft by sketching
bronze-skinned Malaysian girls for leisure.
He returned to the Netherlands to study at the Academy of Art, to
refine his growing mastery of the female figure. Like most
Continental artists, he gravitated first to Paris, and quickly
established himself as a portraitist of considerable talent. In
1962, he arrived in New York.
Because of the softness and light with which he infused his portraits,
he was chosen by several companies to do commemorative plates.
Jansen is, perhaps, best known throughout the United States and Europe
for his Mother’s Day plates and puppies plate series.
Many of the rich and famous such as Raquel Welch, William Holden,
Donald Sutherland, Stephanie Powers, and the “L.A. Times” Hearst family
sought out Jansen for his portraiture skills. Jansen’s sitting
fee in the 1960’s was $20,000. In addition, he also gained fame
for his portraiture of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. His Beatles
portraits are among the more collectible memorabilia by fans.
But despite his national reputation as a portrait artist, he refused
commercial demands and resumed his childhood love affair of painting
nudes. He then moved to Southern California. For eighteen
years, he was commissioned by Playboy Magazine to paint the
“Playmate of the Month.” In his first six years, he was the
artist chosen to paint 58 out of 72 portraits.
His work hangs in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy corporate headquarters and in
the mansion. Ranked among the nation's best interpretive artist of
nudes, Jansen's canvases hang in collections of a wide range of
notables from Jean Claude Pascal to the late Judy Garland.
His untimely death from an apparent heart attack (on December 20, 1980)
at 50 years of age brought an end to a brilliant talent. |
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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