Artist Biography
Cyrus Afsary is known for works
of art that not only capture moments in time, but create moods
about people and places as well. With an eclectic range of subjects,
Afsary moves from portraits to still lifes to landscapes with
a magical grace that reflects his sensitive and emotional study
of life. As a child, his love for art was evident. And while
his father was concerned for his penchant for art, his mother
encouraged his talent.
Afsary enrolled in art school
at the age of 15. As a teenager, he received commissions for
painting portraits, which served him well later in his career
when he was invited to paint portraits of Sylvester Stallone,
Frank Sinatra, Susan Anton, Dean Martin, and Wayne Newtons
horse, Aramis.In college, Afsary earned two Bachelor of Arts
degrees, one in Fine Arts and the other in interior design. His
education has led him, through the years, to paint a wide variety
of subjects in his preferred medium, oil, and sometimes watercolors
and pastels.
He has been greatly influenced
by the artwork of the masters, especially the great Russian artists,
Ilya Repin and Valentin Serov. Afsarys work has been featured
in numerous shows and he has won a variety of awards, including,
Best of Show at the Charles M. Russell Museums art exhibition,
the Exceptional Merit Award from the National Art Club in the
1986 Pastel Society of Northwest Rendezvous.
In 1988, he was the first recipient
of the Robert Lougheed Memorial Award, then sponsored by the
National Academy of Western Art. He won both Silver and Gold
Medals in the NAWA shows.Afsary has participated at the Masters
of the American West Show at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles
in 2001 and in 2002, participated in the Buffalo Bill Historical
Center Show and Sale. Afsary was one of four artists chosen to
exhibit in Gilcrease Museums 2002 Rendezvous in Tulsa,
Oklahoma.
He and his work have been profiled
in Midwest Art, Southwest Art, Art of the West and most recently,
American Artist. That profile noted, A gentle, thoughtful
man with a ready laugh, Cyrus Afsary is equally adept at painting
landscapes, still lifes, and portraits, infusing each with the
sensitivity that characterizes all of his work. His colors are
clear and clean; the brushwork is decisive and vigorous, conveying
through lucid technical choices his personal interpretation of
the subject at hand. A viewer might feel the warmth of the sun
and observe the clarity of light in his landscapes and assume
the artist paints outdoors. Im kind of lazy,
he confides, But I do paint outdoors occasionally. We have
beautiful light in Arizona.
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