Robert W Jensen | |
---|---|
Born | 1929 |
Died | September 21, 2018 88–89) | (aged
Other names | Jerry Madison |
Alma mater | University of California, Santa Barbara |
Occupation | Artist · Singer · Dancer |
Style | Impressionist |
Website | robertwjensen.com |
Robert W. Jensen was a painter, singer and dancer known for his career as an entertainer, recording work as Jerry Madison and later success as an impressionist artist.
Born on a ranch in Fresno, [1] Jensen grew up in Carmel. [2] He was a direct descendant of Daniel Boone on his mother's side and his paternal grandparents emigrated from Denmark. [3] Blessed with a beautiful singing voice, as a youth, Jensen was chosen to sing in church and at the Carmel Mission, as well as appearing as a boy soprano and tenor in the Carmel Bach Festival. His early success led to further study with Lotte Lehmann at the Music Academy of the West and the University of California at Santa Barbara from which he graduated with a music degree. Further study at Los Angeles City College led to roles in many local productions.
Jensen moved to New York City soon after college where he appeared in numerous musicals culminating in being cast as the young lead, Lun Tha, by Rodgers and Hammerstein [3] in a touring production of The King & I . [2] He then toured the country with Harry Belafonte, Raymond Massey, Tyrone Power and Judith Anderson in the 1954 road company production of John Brown’s Body. [4] He joined Eleanor Powell's act that played many of the top nightclubs in the US as well as an appearance of the Ed Sullivan Show. That success led to a similar tour with Janis Paige. He went on to be a regular on The Ford Show and the Dinah Shore Chevy Show.
Taking the stage name of Jerry Madison, Jensen became a pop recording star on Tops Records with "Merry, Mary" becoming a minor hit, [5] putting him on the cover of Deejay magazine in April 1958. Another hit was "Von Hutch, the Mad Russian Pinstriper." He recorded a song "Girls, Glamorous Girls" for the Sherman Brothers' Buena Vista Records compilation Tinpanorama. [6] Tops commissioned famed photographer John Engstead to photograph Jensen. As Madison, Jensen appeared on Coronado 9 and in Where the Boys Are. [7]
From when he was young and throughout his show business career, Jensen spent his spare time painting, and it eventually became his primary love. [3] The first Los Angeles exhibition of his impressionist works was at Galerie Marumo in 1985 entitled "California Summer." [8] Jensen was the first American painter to have a solo show at Galerie Marumo's sister gallery in Paris with his exhibition of 24 Southern California scenes entitled "Fleurs de Liberte" coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty's presentation to the United States by France. [9] [3] Jensen was the only American artist represented by the gallery. [10]
In 1988 Jensen traveled to China with journalist Bonnie Churchill. The paintings that resulted from his visit were collected into an exhibition entitled "The Waking Dragon Beckons" which were displayed at the Walter Library at Alliant International University in San Diego, [11] the University of Redlands Armacost Library, [12] and the USC Pacific Asia Museum. Jensen was an early adopter of digital technology with his painting Man in Yellow Straw Hat, scanning a sketch into his computer then laser printing it with a device that converted black laser output to colors. [13]
In 1994 Jensen and Churchill produced a book entitled The Young Athlete that feature Jensen's illustrations of life lessons that celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Elizabeth Taylor, and Bob Hope learned from playing sports as children. [14] Jensen also illustrated Churchill's 1992 book, What Color is the Wind?. [15] His sketches and paintings were featured in the book Sport as Symbol by Mari Womack. [16]
Jensen painted portraits of Marguerite Piazza, Vincent Price, [17] Boris Yeltsin [15] and Roy Disney. He used his art to support charitable causes including the LA Philanthropic Foundation, Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Stephen S. Wise Temple. [18]
Before he was a painter, Jensen also made a name in Los Angeles as a textile designer, designing wall coverings for John Williams' Los Angeles home. [1] His fabric designs were displayed at the Bowers Museum in 1981 at an exhibition entitled "Inspiration to Realization." [19]
Jensen was the "Official Artist of The Spirit of Troy," producing numerous paintings and two books about the band along with his partner Keith Walker. [20] His affiliation with USC began with a painting of the band's director, Arthur C. Bartner, at the Rose Bowl Game in 1990 and he went on to produce numerous art works for the program. [21] Jensen's paintings were projected on screen to illustrate USC Concert Band concerts. [22] The two books Jensen and Walker produced for the organization celebrated director Bartner's 25th and 40th anniversary at the helm of the organization: Silver Celebration and The Man on the Ladder. [20]
Jeu de Paume is an arts centre for modern and postmodern photography and media. It is located in the north corner of the Tuileries Gardens next to the Place de la Concorde in Paris. In 2004, Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Centre national de la photographie and Patrimoine Photographique merged to form the Association Jeu de Paume.
Henri-Edmond Cross, born Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix, was a French painter and printmaker. He is most acclaimed as a master of Neo-Impressionism and he played an important role in shaping the second phase of that movement. He was a significant influence on Henri Matisse and many other artists. His work was instrumental in the development of Fauvism.
The Neue Galerie New York is a museum of early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design located in the William Starr Miller House at 86th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. Established in 2001, it is one of the most recent additions to New York City's famed Museum Mile, which runs from 83rd to 105th streets on Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The USC Trojan Marching Band, also known as the Spirit of Troy and nicknamed The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe, Ever (TGMBITHOTUE), represents the University of Southern California (USC) at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and national public appearance functions.
Kenny Scharf is an American painter known for his participation in New York City's interdisciplinary East Village art scene during the 1980s, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Scharf's do-it-yourself practice spanned painting, sculpture, fashion, video, performance art, and street art. Growing up in post-World War II Southern California, Scharf was fascinated by television and the futuristic promise of modern design. His works often includes pop culture icons, such as the Flintstones and the Jetsons, or caricatures of middle-class Americans in an apocalyptic science fiction setting.
Paul Durand-Ruel was a French art dealer associated with the Impressionists and the Barbizon School. Being the first to support artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, he is known for his innovations in modernizing art markets, and is generally considered to be the most important art dealer of the 19th century. An ambitious entrepreneur, Durand-Ruel cultivated international interest in French artists by establishing art galleries and exhibitions in London, New York, Berlin, Brussels, among other places. Additionally, he played a role in the decentralization of art markets in France, which prior to the mid-19th century was monopolized by the Salon system.
Guy Orlando Rose was an American Impressionist painter and California resident, who received national recognition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Georges Petit was a French art dealer, a key figure in the Paris art world and an important promoter and cultivator of Impressionist artists.
Arthur Hill Gilbert was an American Impressionist painter, notable as one of the practitioners of the California-style. Today, he is remembered for his large, colorful canvases depicting meadows and groves of trees along the state's famed 17 Mile Drive. Gilbert was part of the group of American impressionist artists who lived and painted in the artists' colony scene in California at Carmel and Laguna Beach during the 1920s and 1930s.
The California Art Club (CAC) is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. Founded in December 1909, it celebrated its centennial in 2009 and into the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved out of The Painters Club of Los Angeles, a short-lived group that lasted from 1906–09. The new organization was more inclusive, as it accepted women, sculptors and out-of-state artists.
Urs Fischer is a Swiss-born contemporary visual artist living in New York City and Los Angeles. Fischer’s practice includes sculpture, installation, photography, and digitally-mediated images.
Henrietta Mary Shore was a Canadian-born artist who was a pioneer of modernism. She lived a large part of her life in the United States, most notably California.
Alfredo Ramos Martínez was a painter, muralist, and educator, who lived and worked in Mexico, Paris, and Los Angeles. Considered by many to be the 'Father of Mexican Modernism', Ramos Martínez is best known for his serene and empathetic paintings of traditional Mexican people and scenes. As the renowned Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío wrote, "Ramos Martínez is one of those who paints poems; he does not copy, he interprets; he understands how to express the sorrow of the fisherman and the melancholy of the village."
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The terms California Impressionism and California Plein-Air Painting describe the large movement of 20th century artists who worked out of doors, directly from nature in California, United States. Their work became popular in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California in the first three decades after the turn of the 20th century. Considered to be a regional variation on American Impressionism, the California Impressionists are a subset of the California Plein-Air School.
Ethel Carrick, later Ethel Carrick Fox was an English Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painter. Much of her career was spent in France and in Australia, where she was associated with the movement known as the Heidelberg School.
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Donna N. Schuster was an American easel painter, who created work in the style of modern impressionism using the medium of oil and watercolor. She focused her work in Wisconsin then later moved to Los Angeles, California where she died in 1953.
Arthur Charles Bartner is an American musician best known as the director of Spirit of Troy, the marching band for the University of Southern California, a position he held from 1970 to 2020. During this time he has become closely identified with USC Trojans football and has been credited with establishing the Spirit of Troy as "one of the most-famous bands in America." In addition to his longtime work directing the USC marching band, Bartner also served as director of bands at Davison High School in Davison, Michigan, and as director of the band of the 1984 Summer Olympics.
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