Yvan Genest: Portraits with a Twist
 Claire Guarniere - PVNN
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Click image to enlarge | | Joe Guarniere as Dante Alighieri – in this painting Yvan captured Galleria Dante owner, Joe Guarniere, dressed in the style of Renaissance, Italy. | 
Click image to enlarge | | Rosario Guarniere – here the history of the subject is put on canvas as his family searches for highlights of their father’s life. | | |
Long before there were cameras, history was recorded through paintings. We know how people looked, dressed, even coiffed their hair from their portraits. When one thinks of famous portraits, they think Mona Lisa. They think Renoir, Rembrandt, Picasso, Warhol, even Diego Rivera. Almost every established artist has painted a portrait or self-portrait. To many, a truly good portrait is a photo-realistic likeness of the subject.
There are many talented portrait painters, but few with the originality of Yvan Genest. He not only captures the spirit of his subject, but tells a story of their life, by including the most cherished memories of that person. Yvan struggles with his inner self when he is commissioned to paint a portrait. He will often change the entire painting, only minutes away from its completion, as he himself becomes connected with the person in the portrait. If you were to x-ray some of the portraits, one would find as many as 12 paintings underneath, each a variation of the first.
There are two ways in which he approaches these commissions. Here are two examples:
Joe Guarniere as Dante Alighieri – in this painting Yvan captured Joe, dressed in the style of Renaissance, Italy. One goes back in time. Dante can be seen wandering purposefully through the painting. The first page of the Divine Comedy included for everyone to read. Joe, a devoted fan of Dante and all Italian seems to be pondering his life, and whether his path will be Paradise, Purgatory or Hell.
Rosario Guarniere – here the history of the subject is put on canvas as his family searches for highlights of their father’s life. Rosario always dreamed of owning a 1948 blue Packard – never did. The first ethnic grocery store in Battle Creek, Michigan. A great chef, famous for his Italian sausages, having owned three restaurants. His love of Frank Sinatra’s golden voice and the movie, The Godfather. More than 30 years of cereal production work at Ralston Purina, down to his favorite choice of tie to attend church on Sundays. What a special gift from his children on his 80th birthday.
Yvan, the Guarniere family thanks you for this wonderful way in which to remember their father. To view more portrait paintings by Yvan Genest, visit: yvangenest.com. |
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Vallarta Living | Art Talk | November 2008 
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