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Renowned
guitarist will share his personal art collection
with students |
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With inspiration packed in a portfolio that contains some of the most beautiful works of art known to modern man and with a guitar tucked under his arm, Christian Thomas Lee will be at Plainview High School Thursday and Friday to inspire Plainview students. The public is welcome to attend the sessions. Those planning to attend should call Rob Knight at PHS, 296-4051. "Everyone is welcome to come see Christian Thomas Lee," says Knight. "Just call so we will know how many to expect, then come to school and check in at the principal´s office first." Lee, whose classical guitar playing has earned him world renown, says the fruit of his labor has afforded him the opportunity to collect pieces of the world´s finest art. |
 Photographic Montage, 16 x 20 i nches Acquired from the Artist The Christian Thomas Lee Collection of Fine Art |
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He will select works from this collection to bring to Plainview. "I want children of all ages have the joy of viewing, studying and appreciating priceless works of art and music, things they may otherwise never see or hear . . ." Lee says, adding, "An inspired life is a life with hope, direction and meaning. This is our mission, to inspire children." Lee has a unique way of inspiring students. He brings the art to them during a class session. "I show each piece, describe it and take questions. I always allow the students to hold and feel the art. These are interactive sessions designed to capture the heart and mind of the child and engage them in fine art." "Along with the art, I incorporate selections from the classical repertoire on classical guitar." And, while Lee hasn´t announced which pieces of art from his collection he will bring to Plainview, he talks about the impact on children who are able to hold and study a famous painting. Spanning 3,000 years, his personal art collection holds more than 70 pieces of fine art including works by Pablo Picasso, Peter Carl Fabergé, Rembrandt Van Rijn Harmensz, Ken Duncan, Edward Matalon, Clyde Leon Keller and others. "Many mediums and periods are represented including impressionistic oils, sculpture, tapestries, photography, mixed media, Greek and Egyptian antiquities and historic documents," says Knight, who is in charge of Lee´s appearance at PHS. "My collection is brought into a classroom and studied by children for the enhancement and encouragement of their own artistic abilities," Lee explains. To date, portions of the collection have been viewed by more than 50,000 children. |
 During an afternoon of Art in Schools |
Recent acquisitions to the collection include two Keller impressionistic paintings, including Keller´s1926 "After the Storm;" a priceless and one-of-a-kind silver-gilt tea glass spoon by the famed goldsmith to the court of Imperial Russia, Peter Carl Fabergé, acquired from Sotheby´s London; three rare French Aubuson tapestries, a matching set from 1840; a title page leaf from a 1599 printing of the Geneva Bible; a Boeotian Terracotta Statue from the 6th century BC, acquired from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art; an Italian Renaissance engraving by Giovanni Battista Pasqualini done in 1624 titled "Christ Delivering the Keys to Heaven to Peter" and the conclusion of a commercial treaty between Great Britain and Prussia signed by King George IV in 1824, acquired from Sotheby´s New York. When talking to a class of students, Lee explains composition terms and points out small idiosyncrasies, riveting students´ interest in the details of the piece of art. |
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For example, when showing Picasso´s drawing of a clown, "Pour Bernard," he mentions that goauche (pronounced "gwash") is similar to watercolor paints but the pigment does not bleed into the paper as with watercolors. "If you look at this, you can see where Picasso drew so fast that his pen skipped on the (clown´s) upper left-hand cheek," says Lee. Lee also points out that most of the drawing was done with one painterly line, with Picasso not lifting his pen from the paper until the drawing was complete. One of his recent acquisitions, Clyde Leon Keller´s famed "Hills of Lavender," was painted in 1930 by the noted American Impressionist, and is specific to the California school. "Impressionism is drawing what the eye sees and not what the mind knows," says Lee. Another treasure is a priceless one-of-a-kind silver-gilt tea glass spoon fashioned in 1908 by Peter Carl Fabergé, goldsmith to the court of Imperial Russia, The Czar used the hand-crafted spoon to stir his tea. According to Lee, it took Fabergé himself around 200 hours to craft the cloisionné and enamel spoon specifically commissioned by the Russian Czar. Lee explains the spoon was probably used once and never again. The piece was originally acquired from Sotheby´s auction house in London. |
 Giovanni Battista Pasqualini, Italian Renaissance, 1624 Engraving, 370 x 275 mm., Watermark M in Shield Acquired and Researched by Sotheby's, London The Christian Thomas Lee Collection of Fine Art |
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"There´s a lot of history here," says Lee. Another commissioned piece, a Fabergé Egg that was an Easter gift from the house of Fabergé, given to Czar Nicholas of Russia for his wife, was the "Imperial Rose Bud Egg" created in 1895. The jeweled-egg is made from enamel, metal and Austrian Crystal. Inside the Fabergé Egg is a yellow rose bud that gently rests inside the shell. And inside of the yellow rose bud rests a delicately-jeweled full-length necklace. Moving to a different category of art, Lee shows the death mask of Scottish poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott which was created upon his death in 1832. Lee explains that before the advent of the camera, a person´s likeness often was preserved by casting a wet plaster mask of their faces. "The face on the white mask looks like it is sleeping, having the eyes closed," he explains. Lee also is a classical concert guitarist who studied under the Japanese classical guitarist Koichiro Koshikadake. Lee has toured on the international concert circuit for more than 10 years with audiences that have included royalty, U.S. presidents, foreign dignitaries and captains of industry. On the Web: www.artmercyhope.org (Nicki Bruce Logan can be contacted at 296-1362 or e-mail nicki@texasonline.net) From The Plainview Daily Heral |