Page 28 - Boca ViewPointe - April '21

Page 28, Viewpointe April 2021

Boca Museum Of Art Exhibit, ‘Paul Gervais:

Faces And Forms’ To Run Through May 30

The Boca Raton Museum such as the hybrid garden lovers and botanical
of Art’s premiere of new style of Enfilade, clubs visited their garden.
paintings by Paul Gervais a cross between a It captured the attention of
features portraits with a minimalist home Prince Charles, who invited
tenderness that urges the and a contemporary Paul and Gil to his Highgrove
viewer to lean in closely, to art gallery. Royal Gardens. Many
really study them. All of the In some of these notables visited the garden and
subjects in the portraits are interiors, Gervais stayed at the villa, including:
personal, from the life he includes depictions David Hockney; the Queen of
has shared for 46 years with of paintings behind Four Figures in the Sunset, oil on linen Norway; Princess Maria Pia of
his husband Gil, of whom the forms as nods over board in artist’s frame, 2020. Bourbon-Parma (the daughter
there are several paintings. to iconic abstract of Italy’s last king); Hubert
The exhibition is curated by expressionist works. In some of his other abstracts, Gervais de Givenchy; James Lord;
Kathleen Goncharov, the Self-Portrait, oil on linen, projects tones inspired by 18th-century neo-classical colors. Edmund White; Kathleen Gil at Home, oil on linen,
museum’s senior curator, who 2020. Others show forms with oxidized copper hues that give heed to Turner; and Michelle Phillips, 2020.
chose to accompany the 14 the Statue of Liberty, with a horizon line of pale blue sky. among others. His book, A
portraits with a series of 13 paintings by Gervais of imagined In addition to his literary success with the PEN/Faulkner Garden in Lucca, is a personal memoir recalling the author’s
objects. Award Finalist nomination, other short fiction and articles by journey of self-discovery after caring for the extensive garden.
The exhibition is on view through May 30, and features Gervais have been published in anthologies and periodicals Regarding this new pairing of his portraits alongside the
an exclusive online conversation with Gervais as part of the including The Los Angeles Times. “My lifelong devotion to art, paintings of imagined forms, Gervais states: “I am thrilled the
museum’s Collectors Forum Series for Members. This virtual both visual art and writing, are my two passions. I believe that museum is showing them together, because they are linked. Faces
visit to the artist’s studio will also be made available free to both art and writing come from the same place in the artist. They and Forms takes a closer look at figuration in art. The abstract
the public later on, as part of the BocaMuseumatHome series are just different disciplines,” says Gervais. forms are positioned like actors on a stage, interacting with light
sponsored by Art Bridges Foundation and PNC. Gervais met Gil Cohen in 1974, and the artist credits their and shadow and with each other. This show could be seen as
“Whether real or imagined, all the paintings in this exhibition shared life of more than four decades as being instrumental in people in my portraits contemplating the mysteries of abstraction,
are a reflection of Gervais’s life and perceptions,” says Irvin his art. They now live in London and Palm Beach County. In their faces surrounded by their inner artistic conundrums. Also,
Lippman, the executive director of the Boca Raton Museum 1982, the couple became internationally famous for the garden could this pairing be seen as an affirmation that all painting is
of Art. “The intimate scale of these works forces the viewer to at their celebrated home in Lucca, Italy, where they lived for 34 simply portraiture, whatever the subject? This brings to mind a
move in closer in order to see each painting’s fine details, and years before moving to London in 2016. The 60-acre estate, Villa quote by Jamie Wyeth: Everything I paint is a portrait, whatever
in the case of the portraits – to more closely read each subject’s Massei, was built in 1500 by the Counts Sinibaldi. Hundreds of the subject.” 
personality,” adds Lippman.
The work of Gervais is in the collections of several
institutions, including: the Museum of the Legion of Honor
in San Francisco; the Bank of America Collection; the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Hall Collection in SUSAN
New York. In 1980, he earned his MFA from the San Francisco
Art Institute. Gervais also earned a B.A. in English Literature at Boca Pointe
Saint Michael’s College in Vermont in 1969. At San Francisco GABRIELLE resident
State University, Gervais studied poetry with Robert Creeley for over 30 years
and Phillip Lamantia. Realtor
His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions
throughout the United States and Europe, including: The Direct: 561-445-4483
Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts/The Museum of the
Legion of Honor; Sunne Savage Gallery (Boston); Leah Levy sueg.realty@gmail.com
Gallery (San Francisco); Fritz Gallery (Palm Beach); Bagni di
Lucca Art Festival (Italy); and Gavlak Gallery (Palm Beach).
Always seeking the true likeness. The artist was driven to
explore portraiture for the first time by two events in early 2020 101 Palmetto Road, Boca Raton
that left an indelible mark on Gervais: after he saw the exhibition
“Lucian Freud: Self-Portraits” at London’s Royal Academy of http://suegrealty.com
Arts; and after reading The Lives of Lucian Freud by William
Feaver.
“All of a sudden one day at home I came down to breakfast Want Results Now?
and there was my husband Gil, and it all clicked: in a flash I took
his photo and rushed to my studio to paint my very first portrait,”
says Gervais. The intimate, smaller scale of these paintings was • Drug Free • Surgery Free • Pain Free
inspired by Freud’s smaller works, especially Freud’s petite
portrait of Queen Elizabeth.
“To me, when I observe Lucian Freud’s body of work, his Cold laseR TheRapy
portraits come across as a kind of autobiography. When viewing
them I feel as though I could fill in the blanks of his life, and the
history of art in that place in time.” Experience this non-surgical
Also an acclaimed author, Gervais’s first novel was a finalist drug free treatment option
for the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991.
Presciently, the title of his first book was Extraordinary People, Receive A FREE Gift
foreshadowing his focus today on painting people who are
extraordinary because they stand out in his life. with first appointment
“When I’m painting a portrait, I’m thinking about that person
all the time. A true likeness is what I am looking for most of all,” Medicare, auto, workMan’s coMp and Most Major insurance accepted
says Gervais, who always paints his subjects from a photograph.
“I prefer to catch them while they are in a reflective moment,” he AdvAnced PhysicAl TherAPy AssociATes
says. “I don’t usually want them looking at the camera. I prefer
they never pose nor aim to please, to show a more intimate look
at the person.”
“The abstracts are also a portrayal of something that is me.”
Although the forms referred to in the title of the exhibition are
imaginary, they reflect Gervais’s sensibility and experience, and
are closely linked to his portraits. Gervais refers to these forms
and figures as “all-time, from throughout all cultures of human Nobody is Better at Helping You Get Better ...
history.” These abstractions have personal relevance for Gervais,
such as Sculpture and a Pool – an homage to David Hockney, *FREE Transportation Provided
whom Gervais met when he was a student at the San Francisco For Qualified Patients
Art Institute in the 1970s, when Hockney was a guest lecturer. delray Beach Boca raton
Hockney became friends with Paul and Gil. He pictured 561-499-7099 561-417-3866
the couple in one of his Composite Polaroid works during that 5046 W. Atlantic Ave. 5994 SW 18th St., D-7
period, and they have remained friends ever since. SW Corner Atlantic and Military Between Powerline & Military Tr.
“The abstracts are also very much a portrayal of something www.aptaflorida.com Est. since 1997
that is me,” says Gervais. Some are imagined interiors,