R. Kenton Nelson (born 1954) is an American painter and contemporary artist from California.

Biography

Early life

R. Kenton Nelson, now known as Kenton Nelson, was born in 1954 in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

.The Frostig Collection: R. Kenton Nelson
/ref>Victoria Looseleaf

''

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV ...

'', June 19, 2013Eleanor Ettinger Gallery: R. Kenton Nelson
/ref> His great-uncle, whom he was named after, was Roberto Montenegro, a Mexican muralist who was friends with Diego Rivera and

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...

(who married in his garden).Kevin Ferguson
Pasadena painter Kenton Nelson wraps nostalgia with surrealism, precision with mystery
March 09, 2012 His father worked at

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

and his mother was a housewife. He graduated from the

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

in Long Beach, California and attended the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California.

Career

He spent the first eighteen years of his career as an illustrator and graphic designer. He also taught at his alma mater, the Otis Parsons Art Institute, as well as at the

Academy of Art The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute o ...

in San Francisco, California. Since the 1990s, he has painted his work in a studio in Pasadena, California, first in

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

, then at the Castle Green, and now in West Pasadena near the

Arroyo Arroyo often refers to: * Arroyo (creek), an intermittently dry creek Arroyo may also refer to: People * Arroyo (surname) Places United States ;California * Arroyo Burro Beach, a public beach park in Santa Barbara County, California * Arroyo ...

.Carol Caldwell
Kenton Nelson: This Side of Paradise
''

Nashville Arts Magazine Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

'' His early influences include the photographer

Louise Dahl-Wolfe Louise Dahl-Wolfe (November 19, 1895 – December 11, 1989) was an American photographer. She is known primarily for her work for ''Harper's Bazaar'', in association with fashion editor Diana Vreeland. Background Louise Emma Augusta Dahl was bor ...

, American advertisements from the 1950s, Fred Astaire and

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, as well as the writings of

John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; ...

, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Raymond Carver. He also credits

David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( , ; late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporar ...

, and

José Clemente Orozco José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sique ...

, as well as Edward Hopper. Like Hopper and

Grant Wood Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 February 12, 1942) was an American painter and representative of Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for '' American Gothic'' (193 ...

, he paints "narrative realism," set in California. His work "captures a Southern California where Walt Disney and

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

collide." His paintings are influenced by Depression-era American artists like Edward Hopper and

, as well as Mexican modernists like his great-uncle Roberto Montenegro. He is best known for his oil paintings, but has also had exhibitions of watercolor paintings and mosaic murals. Kenton Nelson, Interval

'' The New Yorker'' has used his imagery seven times for their covers. In 2013, he did paintings for th
American Contemporary Ballet
American Contemporary Ballet: Kenton Nelson
Additionally, his paintings were featured in the 2003 Nancy Meyers film, '' Something's Gotta Give''. In 2005, he published a two-volume art book set called ''Rhyme and Reason, Prose and Cons''. His work has been exhibited domestically, at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, the Peter Mendenhall Gallery in Los Angeles, the Reynolds Gallery at Westmont College in

Montecito, California Montecito (Spanish for "Little mountain") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. . Located ...

, the Cumberland Gallery in Nashville, Tennessee as well as the Eleanor Ettinger Gallery in New York City. It has also been exhibited internationally, at the Plus One Gallery in London, England, a
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska
in Salzburg, Austria, and Galerie Michael Haas in Berlin, Germany. Famous collectors include Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Dean Koontz, and Kevin Costner.

Special projects

He has also painted a wall in Pasadena, crediting his great-uncle as an influence to become a muralist himself. One of them, at the former Rite Spot Cafe on the corners of Colorado Boulevard and Fair Oaks Avenue, was inspired by ''

Atlas Shrugged ''Atlas Shrugged'' is a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand. It was her longest novel, the fourth and final one published during her lifetime, and the one she considered her '' magnum opus'' in the realm of fiction writing. ''Atlas Shrugged'' includes eleme ...

'' by

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

and the Works Progress Administration.Vicki Torres
Cafe's Art Takes Bite at Pasadena
'' The Los Angeles Times'', January 21, 1991 Moreover, as part of the Beverly Hills Centennial Arts of Palm Installation, he installed a temporary glass mosaic on a wall of the Palm Court of the

Beverly Hills Civic Center The Beverly Hills Civic Center is a landmark building serving as a civic center in Beverly Hills, California. Location The Beverly Hills Civic Center stands at 455 North Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills, California.Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

.City of Beverly Hills: Beverly Hills Centennial Arts of Palm Installation
/ref>

Personal life

He resides in Pasadena, California.

Books

* ''Picturing a Perfect World: Paintings by R. Kenton Nelson''. Published 1998. * ''Rhyme and Reason, Prose and Cons, Paintings by R. Kenton Nelson''. Published 2005 by Pasadena Museum of California Art, Reynolds Gallery at Westmont College, and Morton Court Publishing. * ''Kenton Nelson, Present Tense''. Published 2008 by Peter Mendenhall Gallery and Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska. * ''Californian Idealism: Paintings by Kenton Nelson''. Published 2015 by Bakersfield Museum of Art and Morton Court Publishing. * ''Water: Californian Idealism'' by Kenton Nelson. Published 2019 by Prospect Park Books. * ''Kenton Nelson:'' ''Thirty Swimming Pools''. Published 2021 by Peter Mendenhall Gallery.

Bibliography

*R. Kenton Nelson. ''Rhyme and Reason''. 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, R. Kenton Living people 1954 births People from Pasadena, California California State University, Long Beach alumni Otis College of Art and Design alumni Painters from California American muralists