Brett-Livingstone Strong

Sir Brett-Livingstone Strong (born 31 October 1953) is an Australian-born artist, best known for his historic monumental sculptures and portraits of Hollywood celebrities.

Career

In 1958, at the age of 5 Brett-Livingstone Strong was photographed for an article about the young artists artwork for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper creating a work of original piece of Art.
In 1968, Sir Brett-Livingstone Strong at the age of 16 had his first exhibit at the "Sebert Art Gallery" in Sydney. Featured at the exhibit were many landscape paintings and 2 large portraits of Marilyn Monroe that the Marilyn Monroe Estate Endorsed in writing in the Early 1980's. Reproductions were later made with molded hand and foot prints and were so exceedingly popular the editions immediately sold out by Gallery Rodeo of Beverly Hills. The Gallery represented the Artist for 2 decades and sold Millions of dollar's of art to collectors throughout the world.

In 1972, Sir Brett was commissioned to paint the Royal invitation for the Royal Opening of the Sydney Opera House by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. ( Strong was knighted in 2009).

In 1977, Sir Brett arrived in the United States, he was sponsored by The Australian Trade Commission to present his first US Art exhibition in San Francisco, California. In 1978 The actor and internationally known star John Wayne sponsored Sir Brett's US Green Card. Also that year Sir Brett carved the portrait of John Wayne's face in a 100+ ton boulder that had fallen onto the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. In 1978, he sold the sculpture for $1,130,000.00 to an Arizona-based company and it currently resides in the library of the Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas. The sale became international news and Sir Brett was interviewed on the well known The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Merv Griffin Show.

In 1979, Sir Brett created a life-size bronze statue of John Lennon, prior to his death. entitled ''Imagine''. He began work on the sculpture/statue of Lennon prior to the musician's death in 1980. Originally unveiled in New York City, Central Park by celebrated artist Andy Warhol. In 1983 the statue was prominently displayed on the stage of the Us Festival completely sold out with an audience of over 300,000, sponsored by Steve Wozniak Founder of Apple Computer, Inc. and commissioned Sir Brett to design and create the massive stage and collectable poster for the festival. One of performers, U2's Bono performed while holding onto and dancing around the Work of Art, for the audiences entertainment, the video of this performance promoting the artist's now famous sculpture of Lennon was published World Wide. The Festival] sponsored Sir Brett's exhibit of many of his other original works of art and promoted him as "The Artist of The 80's". The Historic Bronze Statue is currently in the possession of a private collector.

Sir Brett was commissioned by Michael Jackson to paint his only portrait of Jackson entitled ''The Book'' which sold for $2.1 million to Hiromichi Saeki Corp. in 1990, making it the most money ever paid to a living artist for the sale of a portrait. This portrait is claimed to be the only portrait that Michael Jackson sat for an artist's rendering and made its first appearance since 1992 in July 2009. It was displayed to a public viewing in Harlem near the Apollo Theater. Sir Brett was a close friend and only partner of Michael Jackson in their artistic company Titled "The Jackson-Strong Alliance". Sir Brett first met Michael Jackson in 1979, their partnership lasted to his death in 2009. Sir Brett's studio formally Michael's fine art studio, houses a large collection of Jackson's fine art creations.

In the 1980s, Sir Brett completed two monumental sculptural works for the National Monument to the US Constitution and The National Monument For The Bicentennial Of The United States Presidency , commissioned by former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and President Ronald Reagan. The National Monument to the US Constitution was dedicated and unveiled by President Ronald Reagan at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 17, 1987. The Bicentennial Of The United States Presidency monument was dedicated by George W. Bush and placed on the grounds of the White House. Currently the monument is part of a nationwide educational program entitled The Spirit of Freedom about the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.

In the mid-1980s, Sir Brett's painting ''Tango'' became the Grammy award-winning album cover artwork for the 1987 Fleetwood Mac album ''Tango in the Night''. The original painting had been commissioned by singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham .

Sir Brett created NASA's ''National Space Exploration Monument'' for display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. In July 1994, Vice-president Al Gore announced this monument honoring the men and women of the United States Space Program and celebrating the anniversary of man's landing on the moon.

In the late 1990s Sir Brett proposed a ''City of Angels Monument'' project designed to create a symbol for Los Angeles along the lines of New York's Statue of Liberty or Paris' Eiffel Tower. The $3.6 billion development was to cover nearly in downtown Los Angeles with the central focus being a tower as the base for a female angel, wings spread, holding a Star of Light above her head. International and renowned companies such as Gensler and Bank of New York contributed to the project.

After Michael Jackson, had nominated Strong for knighthood, The Duke of Gardham, made Strong a knight (of the Imperial Orders of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen) in October 2009, in recognition of Strong's charitable work for children.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Brett-Livingstone
1953 births
Living people
Australian painters
20th-century Australian sculptors
Australian expatriates in the United States
Australian contemporary artists