Inspired Portrait Painting: My Approach for a Traditional Art Form

Week of November 30, 2024

Portrait artist, Juan Bastos, takes us on a tour of 21st century portrait painting with stories from his 40-year career, sharing how studying the great masters has helped him to perfect his skill immortalizing his many sitters. Over the four past decades, Los Angeles-based portrait artist, Juan Bastos, has executed several hundred portrait commissions on four continents. Bastos will also share some highlights of these trips.  These oil paintings and pastel drawings hang in private homes, corporate offices, government buildings, embassies, libraries, churches, and universities. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1958, Bastos and his family returned to Bolivia, their homeland, eleven years later. Surrounded by relatives who were painters and his teachers, Bastos grew up in an artistic environment. He enrolled at Georgetown University in 1979, and later obtained a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Cum Laude, and an MFA from Towson University. Bastos has had one-man shows in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Lima, La Paz, and a Los Angeles retrospective of his California portraits. In addition, he has been included in group shows in New York, Paris, Madrid, Los Angeles, Essex, England, and a biennial in Cairo, Egypt. His works have been widely reviewed by the press. Bastos is often invited to give lectures and demonstrations at universities, private clubs, colleges, and art institutions. In private collections, Juan is represented with commissioned portraits of high-profile art collectors Philip Niarchos, Eugenio Lopez, and Pamela Joyner.

 

In addition, artist Juan Bastos will offer Acrylic Painting Classes Sunday through Wednesday and a Portrait Demonstration.