Selling art to Hollywood royalty

Published by: Ian Kingsford-Smith | 24-Feb-2016
George Rosenthal part of Hollywood royalty and owner of the Sunset Marquis hotel has purchased two unique works of art from the Mappa Vitae (Life Map) series by Australian-based artist Ian Kingsford-Smith.
George Rosenthal part of Hollywood royalty and owner of the Sunset Marquis hotel a monument to luxury and casual elegance, refuge for generations of rock 'n' rollers, actors, comedians, filmmakers, supermodels and moguls, has purchased two unique works of art from the Mappa Vitae (Life Map) series by Australian-based artist Ian Kingsford-Smith.

The founder and chairman of real-estate development and investment company Raleigh Enterprises on Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, next door to Paramount Studios, George built the Sunset Marquis from the ground up with the Raleigh portfolio encompassing dozens of subsidiaries, including an archival records-keeping firm, a rental provider for film and TV production equipment and a vineyard adjacent to Rosenthal's majestic vacation retreat four miles from the Malibu coastline. Ian Kingsford-Smith's Mappa Vitae works of art are now installed in the two entrance areas of the management offices at Raleigh Enterprises, 5300 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Mappa Vitae (Life Maps) provides an alternative representation of how a subject scripts themselves. Ian represents the subject's life narrative rather than their external appearance as in traditional portraiture. He depicts the aspects of the sitter's life that they viewed as most significant to them. This includes key relationships, experiences, events, places, buildings, animals, etc. As with recollected memories these narratives are distorted, amplified, fragmented, and often involve the compression of time and the juxtaposition of locations and countries. The narratives he paints are intended to provide insights into the subject's inner world. These art works use three-dimensional fibreglass human-size body sculpture as the canvas on which the subject's historical, spiritual and psychological narrative is recorded as a life map.

Ian Kingsford-Smith is a full-time artist working in Sydney. He has studied painting with a number of leading New Zealand painters including Colin McCahon, Michael Smither and Toss Woollaston. Ian has had solo exhibitions at Sheffer Gallery, Sydney in 2015 (Mappa Vitae "“ Life Maps), GAFFA, Sydney in 2014 (Pilgrimage), Global Gallery in 2013 (Dreams in Captivity), 2012 (Australian Stories) 2011 (Dingoes) 2010 (Trees on Paper) and group exhibitions in painting and printmaking in New York, Melbourne, Auckland and Cairns. Previously he has had solo and group exhibitions in Auckland, Dunedin and Palmerston North, New Zealand. His work is represented in corporate and private collections in USA, Sweden, France, Germany, Wales, England, New Zealand and Australia.

His other careers have included being a TV presenter, professional theatre designer, television producer/director, interactive television consultant and musician.

Newsletter Sign Up

Join Our Growing Community

ART NEWS PORTAL is a global crowd sourced art news feed.
Everyone is welcome to share their art and culture related news.