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There were times when Van Gogh and Monet would have been without canvas and paints had it not been for the generosity of Julien 'Pere' Tanguy, the Montmarte art store proprietor turned benefactor, who often accepted their paintings in exchange for supplies. Much to the dismay of Madame Tanguy, this fatherly man was also known to advance supplies to young artists who had no means of repayment. With so many of his customers paying in art, he became known as an eccentric collector and art dealer, displaying paintings in his shop windows. Artists began meeting at the shop, exchanging ideas and eventually creating new styles and the Impressionist techniques that enrich society today.

The modern day equivalent of Tanguy's art shop for the Italian art scene is Zecchi Colori Art Supply store, located in the center of Florence, the birthplace of the15th century Italian Renaissance. Sitting across the cobblestone street with a front-door view of the Duomo, Zecchi's supplies artists world wide with hard to find paints and traditional materials. With an ancient fresco built into its fasade, the shop also serves as an iconic leader in restoration techniques. Dedicated to the application techniques derived from masters who used the materials centuries ago, Zecchi's fine materials bring life to restoration efforts all over Florence. And similar to the generous traditions of Montmarte's Tanguy, Zecchi's occasionally becomes patron subsidizer, helping to create opportunities for new businesses and spread knowledge of old techniques far outside of mother Italy.

... paint, in hopes of replacing the matte surface of fresco (pigment applied ... to wonder: Michelangelo's versatility in passing from poetry to painting to sculpture ...
... Leonardo was commissioned in 1495 to do the painting, but his services were much in ... quickly, so he didn't take the time to paint in true fresco style paint ...

Gian Singh Naqqash, who painted the interiors of the Golden Temple, died in poverty but four generations after him have nevertheless devoted themselves to
embellishing Sikh art, writes Varinder Walia

Imagine a revered Sikh naqqash, who painted frescos on the walls of the Harmander Sahib, including the dome of the structure with indigenously prepared colours for more than three decades, died in penury in 1953 at the age of 70. He was then selling clay toys painted with the same brush.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Los Angeles--Beginning on July 21st restoration teams will set to work on a selection of the top, high visibility, graffiti-marred murals located on L.A. freeways. Recognizing that the approximately 2,500 art murals now gracing Los Angeles freeways, public surfaces and the exterior and interior of numerous privately-owned buildings are a significant cultural asset, a coalition of State, City and private organizations are taking these crucial and unprecedented steps to eventually protect and restore more than 40 of these works of art on the freeways of Los Angeles from the corrosive effects of weather, air pollution and, most importantly, an unprecedented wave of graffiti vandalism. 'These murals -- from the late Terry Schoonhoven's downtown 'Cityscape' to Michelle Obregon's 'Underwater Fantasy' in the San Fernando Valley -- represent a broad range of artistic styles and subjects,' said Bill Lasarow, President of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) and editor and publisher of ArtScene magazine. 'They are important and valuable works of art and we need to them in full recognition of their cultural and aesthetic importance, not to mention their worth as publicly owned assets and their economic impact on the tourist industry.'

Our June 2003 Fresco Painting Workshop was exceptionally successful and proved to be a major event in contemporary fresco revival. Each student has completed a fresco that would challenge an artist with prior fresco experience, however for most of our class that was their first one. After over 3 years in operation "Nationwide Fresco Painting Workshop Program" has picked up speed and extended its class length from 2-days to 2-weeks of Buon Fresco Painting running bimonthly in Los Angeles along with workshops scheduled across the nation. During Los Angeles 2-week of Buon Fresco students can pick from several class offers, but our intensive 5-day Professional program is limited to 5-6 people per class. Our next class begins on August 7th (enroll here) and there is only one space left. There is a new highlight of Los Angeles Buon Fresco Weeks - lecture on fresco relocation/restoration Nathan Zakheim, a leading fresco restorer/conservator. iLia Anossov and Mr. Zakheim have joined forces to generate support for a major fresco painting project

The highlight of the June 2003 Professional Fresco Painting Workshop run by fresco artist iLia Anossov and his "Nationwide Fresco Painting Workshop Program" (http://FrescoSchool.com) was a lecture on fresco restoration by leading American Restorer/Conservator Nathan Zakheim. The lecture took place in Mr. Zakheim's studio in Marina Del Rey where 45ft long fresco by Alfred Ramos Martinez is just being delivered and installed for a year long restoration. Unlike many frescoes painted before WW2 which were destroyed or painted over by indifferent or little educated contemporaries this particular fresco was well kept in the high-end restaurant frequented by many celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, who was photographed dining in front of the fresco. However restaurant has suffered a major fire and fresco was damaged. It was decided that after the restoration fresco will be reinstalled in San Diego Public Library. Apparently the "good fortune" of R. Martinez's fresco was not over and it received a second chance in life when Mr. Zakheim took it under his wing and accepted the undertaking to restore and reinstall the masterpiece.

Fresco Workshop students learned from Mr. Zakheim details of restoration process and

Mexican artist Ramos Martinez (1872-1946) studied art at the San Carlos Academy in Mexico City, then spent 14 years in Paris. In 1913 he became director of the San Carlos Academy of Art (now called the National Academy of Fine Arts). He almost immediately founded the first of his Schools of Open Air Painting, which encouraged students to work outdoors in order to more closely observe nature. Muralist David Alfaro Siquieros was one of his first students. The serious bone disease of his only child brought Ramos Martinez and his family to Los Angeles in 1930 in search of specialized medical treatment. He exhibited his paintings in local museums and galleries, and received residential mural commissions from such Hollywood celebrities as screenwriter Jo Swerling, designer Edith Head, and director Alfred Hitchcock. In 1934 he did a set of murals for the chapel of Santa Barbara Cemetery. In 1937 he painted a fresco over the main portal of the Church of Mary, Star of the Sea in La Jolla (in San Diego County). The last project with which he was involved was a panel fresco at the Margaret Fowler Memorial Garden at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Only two of the nine panels were completed before Martinez died in 1946.