Marlon Brando
Price range: $150.00 through $2,500.00
Marlon Brando as Col Kurtz in Apocalypse Now 11 x 14″ oil on canvas panel, after an iconic photograph by an unknown photographer
What did I add to this iconic pic of this iconic actor, Marlon Brando, in this iconic move? It’s hard to describe. I found it hard to do, like I find it hard to paint the portraits of my lover. I am too close. I know what I should be seeing. The process of painting a likeness is in many ways cold and exacting. I am distracted by what I know about him, what I love about him. What I hoped to bring was the element of expression, a deeper sense of Marlon Brando that we can’t get in a photograph. There is something intentional and powerful in what I choose to include, what is important about what I am seeing. Forming the abstract shapes into meaningful brush strokes. I hoped to magnify the presence of the inner being of the Kurtz character, embodied by one of the greatest actors of all time.
Continued . . .
I wanted to go beyond the insanity of the character, Colonal Kurtz. There is a softness to Marlon Brando's portrayal, a gentleness that belies the violent, sadistic person he has become, left to the elements. There is an inhumanity to the character, and he brought him home, made him personal, shockingly intimate. I wanted to see the sweetness and humanity of the man, Marlon Brando, who used himself like no other actor before or since, in every role he took on. That is the thing about method acting that is so misunderstood. It is about using yourself as much as possible and adding yourself to the given circumstances of the character. It's not transforming into another person. That is all for show. He allowed himself to be completely vulnerable, good bad and ugly.
More Iconic Charleston Paintings
More Spiritual Paintings
More Landscape
You must be logged in to post a review.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.