John Lautner: Portrait of an Architect

John Lautner Photo in front of Portrait by Kira Od

I've seen many photos of the Architect John Lautner at his desk in his office with a larger than life self portrait and have always wondered if there was more of a story.  Luckily I was able to find detailed photos and an explanation from the artist Kira Od on her website. She has an extraordinary and original technique of painting that drew Lautner's attention and requested the life size portrait.

I have included the following description as an excerpt taken directly from her website:

"JOHN LAUTNER: PORTRAIT OF AN ARCHITECT" 
Oil on Panel, 1984
42" x 66"
(112 cm x 168 cm)
I spent 1983 and 1984 in the Hollywood office of John Lautner, painting his portrait. It was an honor and a privilege. I was chosen because John saw my unique painting technique and saw me -- at 22 or 23 -- and said something like, "Jesus Christ, kid, you're the Real Thing! You invented this technique yourself???" To be called "the Real Thing" by John Lautner, I soon learned, was the highest compliment he gave.
It was a year of full-time work and it is the finest thing I've ever made. As far as I know, the portrait hung behind Mr. Lautner's desk until his passing, in 1994. He really, really loved it.


What looks like wood grain in these oil paintings is actually a disciplined texture deliberately raked into the wet paint with a stiff brush. Every color is bounded by a carefully designed shape that is finitely bordered; but the texture flows through all of them. The texture does not photograph well, but it literally dances with light, making the paintings alive in person.
This is how I see: from within a surface. It shows up in my vision as a very specific pattern that flows over everything before me, and it has an uncanny similarity to the opposing spiral arrangement of seeds in the head of a sunflower.
It's not drug-induced. It is organic and it is real. I have written a paper on it. Click here to read it.

Painting "John Lautner: Portrait of an Architec" by Kira Od


John Lautner portrait close up detail



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