Salvador Dali Gallery features Sidney Randolph Maurer’s five Marilyn Monroe images

By April MacIntyre Dec 7, 2010, 0:04 GMT

Maurer’s set of five images of Marilyn is a limited edition of hand enhanced giclées, thus making each an individual original piece of art. Each unique set will be numbered and is only available upon ordering.

For the first time in its 26 year history, the Salvador Dali Gallery will offer work from an artist other than Salvador Dali, according to Gallery Director and owner Bruce Hochman.

Featured is the collection of Sidney Randolph Maurer, whose five Marilyn Monroe images are an outstanding collection of mixed media which has also caught the attention of Enrique Sabater, Dali’s business manager from 1968-81 and close confidante.

Sabater is so taken by Maurer’s works of Marilyn that he will be including them in a show next year of his collection, arguably the largest of Marilyn Monroe images.

Maurer’s set of five images of Marilyn is a limited edition of hand enhanced giclées, thus making each an individual original piece of art. Each unique set will be numbered and is only available upon ordering.

The idea for this limited edition set was spawned by Sidney Randolph Maurer’s most recent collection, “Icons of the 20th Century” (www.maurereditions.com).  He is the first artist to paint over 200 of the most important people of his time, from performers to politicians, world leaders to wordsmiths, sports idols to scientists, inventors to ideologists.

Background

Sidney Randolph Maurer is an artist with an incredible and poignant story. He achieved financial success designing album covers during the early ‘50s alongside his co-worker, fellow pop artist Andy Warhol.

Maurer’s love of music led him to discover and manage major music talent including Phyllis Hyman and Donovan. He also was the founder of Roadshow Records. Throughout his foray in music, Maurer, an easel painter, continued to create original works from photographic images similar to those used by Warhol, who painted onto colored silk screens. Maurer’s remarkably lifelike images, use of color and mixed media, leave his imprint on all of his work.

The success of Maurer’s art includes a tale of friendship and loyalty that spans 77 of his 85 years. In 1953, Maurer’s childhood friend, Allan Rich, a flourishing young actor, was blacklisted. Maurer essentially supported Rich and his family until he could get back on his feet. Rich has since become a successful and well-recognized actor with more than 150 films and television shows to his credit (“Serpico,” “Quiz Show” and a current episode of “House”).

In the 1980s, Maurer’s work came to a sudden halt following the vandalism of his studio while preparing for a gallery showing. Much of his best work was destroyed, causing emotional trauma that resulted in the physical paralysis of his painting arm.  Rich moved him to Atlanta and began buying his paintings.  Maurer has flourished ever since.

Maurer has always painted socially relevant subjects—endangered species, his “America, America” series inspired by 9/11, “Vanishing Georgia” in 1999, including more than 30 collage and oils depicting the sometimes violent history of Georgia. The series was exhibited at the Georgia State Capital by then Gov. Roy Barnes. Beginning in 2004, Maurer began to paint his favorite sports figures, which morphed into “Icons of the 20th Century.”

Rich, a former art gallery owner and a collector, said, “In order to succeed in the international art scene, there are two vital elements.  Each painting must be recognized as created by the artist and the artist must be unique in style and concept. The work of Sidney Randolph Maurer satisfies both of these elements and, with Bruce Hochman, Enrique Sabater and the Rienzo Gallery supporting Maurer’s very special talent, he is sure to go to the top.”