Posted by vrcvanderbilt on Friday, July 13, 2018 in Events, Fine Arts Gallery, HART, Nashville Arts, News, Vanderbilt University, VRC.

The oil portrait of Eddie George that Everett Raymond Kinstler began during a lecture and painting demonstration on March 24 is on display at the Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery through Saturday, July 14.

George, a former star Tennessee Titan turned professional actor, was among those attending a public unveiling ceremony at Cohen Memorial Hall, where he expressed admiration and gratitude for Kinstler’s work. “I was really overwhelmed to be included among the 2,000 subjects that he’s painted over his lifetime,” George said. “To be a part of that list is truly tremendous. I’m actually the first professional football player that he’s painted.”

George’s portrait briefly joins the Fine Arts Gallery’s current exhibition, “America Creative: Portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler.” Other portraits on display include those of actor Katharine Hepburn, writer Tom Wolfe, singer Marian Anderson, entertainer Tony Bennett and former President Ronald Reagan.

Kinstler has generously gifted the portrait to George, who noted that the painting demonstration with Kinstler in Sarratt Cinema became an extraordinary conversation between the two artists. “We talked about everything from my career to his career, the people that he’s painted, the things that I’m doing now, including my family,” he said. “It really made me think about my life now as an artist.”

During the painting demonstration, the 91-year-old Kinstler talked about the importance of feeling for both an actor and a painter. He noted that what he tries to capture is not necessarily the perfect proportions of the person he paints, but rather the feeling of that individual’s personality.

The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, was curated by Joseph Mella, director, and Margaret Walker, assistant curator, of the Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery, with special thanks to the artist, Peggy Kinstler and Michael Shane Neal.

Summer gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 12-4pm; and Saturday, 1-5pm. Parking is available, free of charge, anywhere in Lot 95 on the Peabody campus, accessible from 21st Avenue South.

*Eddie George admires the work of noted portraitist Everett Raymond Kinstler during an unveiling ceremony at the Fine Arts Gallery July 10. (photograph courtesy of Vanderbilt University)

*Article by Ann Marie Deer Owens courtesy of Vanderbilt News (July 11, 2018)