John de la Vega (Argentine, 1961 - )
John de la Vega, born Juan Carlos Gomez de la Vega in Buenos Aires, Argentina, came to America in 1961 to fulfill a childhood dream. At age fifteen he launched a distinguished career in portrait painting of ever increasing success. He has painted many famous personalities: President Ronald Reagan, show business and sports figures, and CEO's from the nation's top corporations.
In 1993 his portrait of renowned artist / director Julie Taymor ("The Lion King", "Titus") received the Distinguished Achievement in Portraiture Award at John Howard Sanden's National Portrait Seminar in Atlanta.
In 1971, while still a young man, John de la Vega was honored with a ten-year retrospective of his paintings, sculptures, and photographs at the Miami Museum of Modern Art in Miami, Florida, a then international showcase, no longer in existence. On the same year he won top honors at the First Pan American Art Exhibition, with artists representing the United States, Canada, and all Latin American countries.
PastelJohn de la Vega's other pursuits have included undergraduate and graduate studies in Psychology (BA Cum Laude, The American University, Washington, D.C.), composing contemporary classical music for the piano, creating and conducting the Thou Art Seminar in Art and Successful Living, writing and directing films, and teaching workshops on painting. In 1978 Solar Editions published his book of poems “The Mirror and the Door” in Spanish and English. In March of 1995, the artist had a critically acclaimed one-person show at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Norfolk, Virginia, and in the Fall of 1996 he participated in the group exhibition “USA in Germany” in the city of Cologne.
John de la Vega, Patricia Neal, Dr. Robert Schuller, Zubin Mehta, Nancy Reagan, Larry King, Astronaut Sally Ride, and others figures in the arts, business, and sports, were chosen as examples of outstanding personal achievement for "Dreaming and Winning in America", published by America's Press in 1985. A quote from the book:
16 comments:
Did this artist ever paint portraits in Daytona Beach, FL? I have a signed portrait of a young woman by the name of this artist, 1964 near the beach. Thanks.
Did this artist ever paint portraits in Daytona Beach, FL? I have a signed portrait of a young woman by the name of this artist, 1964 near the beach. Thanks.
l had my portrait done by John de la Vega IN Miami when he was living there in 1971, but back then he was signing a lot of his work Juan Carlos Gomez.
Aug 6, 2021 from his friend Gail
Mr. La Vega did a pastel portrait of me when I was 16 years old. He was in Gattlinburg Tenn. and working as a street artist and asked if he could do my portrait. My parents said yes and scraped up enough to buy it. I still cherish it.
Let me add my portrait was done when I was 16
I am 71 now
Is there any way to contact him. I have portraits of myself, my siblings and step daughter. Would dearly love one of my son.
sadly, Juan Carlos as I called him, passed Dec 2018 shortly before his 83 birthday.....from his friend Gail
Gail... thanks for that info... I was trying to figure out what happened to him.. I used to work with him on Miami Beach, as his assistant when he did pastels at one of the hotels.
Kris
Hi KrisK.. yes at the Aztec on Miami Beach
Yes, Gail. He was so very talented and a great guy.
Sadly, John passed just a few years ago in Norfolk, VA. He was a friend of mine. I regret not having portraits done of my daughters by him
I have four numbered prints by John De La Vega that John wet Signed for me in 1993 while on vacation in the Outer Banks. They are all beach scenes and I love them. I have searched the web trying to find more to add to my collection and can't find anything. Any suggestions on where to look? They don't need to be originals, Prints are just fine. (The prints I have are "New Friends", "Summer Day" "White Dress", and "Sandcastle"
Virginia,
I think I may have one of the “Outer Banks” paintings that you have been looking
for, by John de la Vega.
This may be a print. I was lucky enough to have found it at the local thrift store,
just yesterday. It is a beach scene, he signed it in ink and identified it as being
“Outer Banks”. Dated 7/15/1994. So, I’m hoping you’ll see this comment and
reply back. I’ll be checking back just in case!
Marla
I acquired one of Mr Delavega’s works at a silent auction in Kitty Hawk, NC. It is a beach scene with a woman and children. I treasure it. He was indeed a nice gentleman.
I acquired a lovely painting that he created. I treasure it. I met him at the silent auction where the art was displayed
Hi Virginia or anyone that sees this, I have an original piece by John (it is a portrait, quite large, about 48”x30” or larger). I don’t have a place I’d like to put it. I would like to sell it to someone that likes his art/has space for it. Feel free to comment here and I should get a notification for it.
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