Very large original painting acrylic on canvas by artist Clayton LeFevre entitled “MARDI” created in 1987. In the artist’s own words: “Inspired by the Kabuki style face painters of San Francisco.” Kabuki is a form of Japanese theater dating back to the 17th century which uses colorful costumes and makeup. Kabuki makeup isn’t subtle; it uses a white foundation with bright colors to portray and symbolize different character types. The blue used here often indicates a character from the spirit world.

ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY: Clayton LeFevre was born in Winter Park, Florida and was living in Brooklyn at the time of his death in 2006. He has also lived in West Hollywood where he captivated (and painted) many Hollywood Stars and other celebrities, including Madonna (painted in 1987, same as MARDI), Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, Eddie Murphy, Hall & Oats, Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston and other famous folks. (This series is sometimes referred to as "The 100 Club".)  His method was to paint two identical portraits, get the subject to sign one (which he kept) and give the other to the subject. (Who is going to say no to a free portrait of themselves?) After his death, many of the signed portraits were sold at auction, with the hammer price often reflecting the popularity of the person in the portrait.

LeFevre may have received the most exposure from his Absolut Vodka ads. In 1981, Absolut Vodka debuted an ad campaign that went on to become the longest-running campaign in advertising history. The very first ad, ABSOLUT PERFECTION, established the meme of wrapping visual and verbal puns around simple, striking imagery. In 1986, Andy Warhol painted his own interpretation of the Absolut Vodka bottle which was used in an ad with the headline ABSOLUT WARHOL. Others artists were then recruited to paint their interpretations of the Absolut Vodka bottle, and the first ABSOLUT LEFEVRE followed soon thereafter, one of 12 paintings commissioned by Absolut Vodka.  Success there led to commissions for paintings used in other advertising campaigns.

LeFevre usually worked on 30x30 inch canvases (including almost all the celebrity portraits), but his most striking works may be his large-scale paintings emphasizing costume and character, such as “Mardi”. Here, the artist is not constrained by the need to portray a famous person or brand name in a way that is instantly recognizable. He is free to create his own artistic vision based on composites of his own experiences. Many of these were pictured on his website, but unfortunately that shut down after his death in 2006. If you search online for images of his works, about all you find today are the celebrity portraits and ad campaigns. Below, you can see how dramatic MARDI can be when displayed in a typical room setting. Below that is a photo of the painting with the artist in his studio, which also gives you a sense of scale. The painting measures approximately 54 inches wide by 59.5 inches high.
CONDITION: Excellent overall condition. Please see photos, including a close-up of the neck which shows some minor dirt (which I have NOT tried to clean and did not notice until I started taking photos). The painting is “gallery-wrapped” (no frame) and one lower corner shows minor scuffing, again shown in one of the close-up photos. Feel free to ask specific questions.

PICK-UP and SHIPPING: I tried listing this as “Pick-up only” because I am not sure how to ship it. I bought this directly from the artist more than 20 years ago and he arranged shipping. (I am now working towards “down-sizing” and do not anticipate having space to display this.) It is too large to go UPS or USPS but FedEx Freight can handle it (for a price!) Pick-up just outside of Asheville NC is one possibility, or you may be able to arrange your own pick-up and shipping by a freight or shipping company of your choice. I will try to work with whatever suggestions you have.  Shipping charge shown is a maximum; I expect it wil actually cost much less but that will depend on your choide of shipping compamy and destination.