Maestro Films

Director Sonny Quinn (left) and Producer Scott Mason (right) attend the Lexus After Party.

It is our pleasure to announce the exhibition of Frank Mason’s portraits and landscape paintings in conjunction with a screening of, A Light in the Dark: The Art and Life of Frank Mason, a feature length documentary film screening at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Frank Mason’s classical paintings–his portraits, still-lives and
landscapes–have earned him scores of international awards and honors. During his lifetime he was commissioned to paint the portraits of princes, cardinals and governors, and is a member of the Royal Society of Arts, the National Academy of Design and President Emeritus of The National Society of Mural Painters.

His monumental “Resurrection of Christ” hangs in New York’s Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral. His eight paintings of the Life of St. Anthony of Padua were permanently installed in Venice’s 11th century Church of San Giovanni de Malta. They hang alongside a painting by Giovanni Bellini and earned Mason the Order of Malta’s Cross of Merit. He is thought to be the first painter to receive the honor since Caravaggio.

Whether it be a meditative portrait which gives pause or a wind swept landscape bathed in shimmering sunlight, Frank’s paintings bring to the viewer the sensation of an underlying life force, reminiscent of the works of his beloved Old Masters.  “Bring it to life” Frank would often exclaim to his legions of devoted pupils at New York’s Arts Student League, where he taught for more than 50 years. Writer and art critic Tom Wolfe has described Frank Mason as “one of a handful of artists” who have kept the traditions and secrets of the Old Masters alive.

Others agree. Frank’s many accolades include the American Artist’s Professional League Gold Medal, the Arthur Ross Award from Classical America, the Newington-Cropsey Award for Excellence in the Arts, the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum Award and the Benjamin West Clinedinst Memorial Annual  Award from the Artist Fellowship of New York.

A Light in the Dark: The Art and Life of Frank Mason takes us to Venice with Frank to witness his last prestigious portrait commission of H.E. Fra Roggero Caccia Dominioni – Grand Prior of Lombardy and Venice for the S.M. Order of Malta.

Please join us for a reception of Frank Mason’s original oil paintings at the Wendt Gallery on Sunday, May 1st from 1 to 4pm and a screening of A Light in the Dark on May 3rd at 3pm playing at  Triangle Square 1 Theater in Costa Mesa.  KOCI radio (101.5FM) will be hosting an interview with the filmmakers on Saturday, April 30th at 10AM.  To find out more information, please go to www.wendtgallery.com.

– Rob Kiener (April 29th, 2011)