Biography - Lorenzo Chavez
Lorenzo Chavez was born in New Mexico. His inherited connection to the colorful and historic Southwest as well as seeing the Taos Society of Artists works as a young boy was the catalyst for his art career. In 1983, he graduated at the top of his class with honors from the Colorado Institute of Art. Chavez sought additional training at the Art Students of Denver studying with Mark Daily. During the late 1980's and early 1990's Chavez studied in workshops with many of the best representational painters in the country, including Richard Schmid, Clyde Aspevig, Ned Jacob.
Chavez participates in several national invitational group exhibitions including the Pastel Society of America in New York, Artists of America Show in Denver, Plein Air Painters of America, Colorado Springs Fine Art Museum, Butler Art Museum, Laguna Art Museum, Gilcrease Museum, Albuquerque Art Museum, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Loveland Museum, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Bradford Brinton Museum, Artists of the West at the Pioneer Museum in Colorado, Coors Show in Denver, Settlers West Gallery in Tucson, Trailside Galleries in Jackson and the Gene Autry Museum in Los Angeles. In 1996, he was featured in a successful on-man show at the C.M. Russell Museum. He has participated successfully in several C.M. Russell art auctions. His work is featured in articles in Southwest Art, Artists of the West, Pastel Journal, American Artist and Art-Talk.
His suggestive renderings and fluent technique have earned him numerous awards and many devoted collectors throughout the United States and he is considered by many to be the west's premier pastel painter. In 1996, he was named on of the ten most collectible young painters in the county by Art Talk magazine. He has been the recipient of awards and honors from such notable groups at the Pastel Society of America, the C.M. Russell Auction, and Artists of the West Pioneer Museum, Society of American Impressionists.. Chavez is a member of the Northwest Rendezvous Group, the California Art Club, as well as honorary memberships in pastel societies throughout the country.
The bulk of the artist's recent work is devoted to plein air landscapes in both oil and pastel. Chavez typically chooses to paint that corner of the world which we often overlook, opting for the less grandiose and spectacular genre typical of western art. The artist's passion for this craft and his visceral connection with whatever landscape he finds himself in weave a powerful undercurrent of emotion and accessibility.
Chavez has spent years creating his own library of fine art books and spends hours studying the lives and works of his personal heroes, including The Taos Society of Artists, California impressionists, Maynard Dixon and Edgar Payne, Spanish colorist Joaquin Sorolla, and Russian itinerate Isaac Levitan whose landscapes have special meaning to Lorenzo because of the emotional impact they create.
Chavez has been painting professionally since 1985. His work is featured in six galleries in the United States and is included in private and corporate collections nationally and internationally. He teaches workshops regularly at the Scottsdale Artists School, Fredericksburg Art School, Fechin Art School, Valdes Art Workshops.