Ben Long

Ben Long is an American painter and the grandson of noted artist McKendree Robbins Long. Reared in a family of artists, writers, professors, and university presidents, Long was as precocious in his artistic ability as he was eager to apply it. At 18, Long followed his father's footsteps to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in Creative Writing under the guidance of his friend and advisor Reynolds Price. Upon completing his University coursework at the insistence of his advisor Long moved to New York to immerse himself in the study of fine art.

In NYC, Long became a member of the Art Students League of New York, studying under the guidance of such notable artists as Robert Beverly Hale and Frank Mason. Then, in 1969, Long preempted the draft by enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served just over two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Marine Corps Combat Officer; during his last tour he served as Commander of the Combat Art Team, and much of his work from that period is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C.

Upon leaving Vietnam, Long traveled to Florence, Italy, to apprentice himself to internationally-renowned Maestro Pietro Annigoni. Long committed himself to Annigoni for almost eight years. His apprenticeship culminated in 1976, when he was awarded the prestigious Leonardo da Vinci International Art Award.

In the late 1970's and early 1980's, Ben Long and some of his students painted wet plaster frescoes on the walls of the two historic Ashe County, North Carolina churches that form Holy Communion Episcopal Parish. [ [http://www.ecva.org/exhibition/acs/commun_1.html The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts | Art/Community/Story ] ]

In 1984, Long moved to France where, for the next 14 years, he split time between Paris and the Gard region of Provence. By the time of the move, Long had completed several frescoes in Italy - including a joint fresco with Annigoni and the only work by a non-Italian at the Abbey of Montecassino. These works set the stage for several major fresco projects in the U.S. (13 to this day) including a dome and the largest secular fresco in the United States.

There have been in depth documentaries produced about two of his frescoes, these include "Chapel of the Prodigal" and "Shadow into light", both of which were produced by A New Light Productions, Inc. The videos depict the painting of "Return of the Prodigal" in Montreat, NC and "Suffer the Little Children" in Crossnore, NC respectively.

In addition to his prolific fresco work, Long has had works in the Royal Academy as well as the Royal Portrait Society (London, UK). He has exhibited in Florence, London, Paris, Atlanta, San Francisco, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and is represented in major collections throughout Europe and the Americas. He has lived and worked in Europe for over thirty years and now divides his time between Europe and the United States.

In 2001, Long was awarded the coveted Arthur Ross Award for Excellence in the Classical Tradition (Classical America, New York, New York) by Philippe de Montebello (current and longest-serving Curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Mr. de Montebello later referred to Ben Long as the greatest draftsman of the 20th Century.

In 2002, Ben Long received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reynolds Price memorialized the pair's friendship by publishing a poem entitled "Ben Long's Drawing of Me":

This face, serene as an Anchorite's,

Is apparently mine - all friends name it.

Have I won Nirvana unbeknownst?

At the least I've transmigrated you -

Broadcast these intrinsic lines

Behind your eyes, through the mind, down arms

To five blunt fingers that print me here:

The Long translation of my long text.

"Reynolds Price, The Collected Poems

Copyright, Simon & Shuster, Inc."

Selected Collections:

The Fremantle Collection, Florence, Italy

The Josefowitz Collection, Lausanne, Switzerland

The Getty Collection, San Francisco, California

The Christie Miller Collection, London, England

The Thane of Cawdor Collection, Scotland

The Annigoni Collection, Florence, Italy

The Sullivan Collection: Paris, France; Miami, Florida; New York, New York

The Stillman Collection, Armenia, New York

The Dalton Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Governor's Mansion Portrait Collection, Raleigh, North Carolina

The McColl Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina

Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Wells Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina

Bank of America Corporate Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Mint Museum of Art Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina

United States Marine Corps Historical Museum, Washington, District of Columbia

Selected Portrait Commissions:

Gov. Jim Hunt of N.C. (Governor’s Mansion Official Portrait)

Gordon Getty and sons

Hugh McColl (Former President & CEO of Bank of America)

Mr. and Mrs. C.D. Spangler (Portrait for the Harvard Business School Spangler Student Center)

Musician Boz Scaggs and wife

Philanthropist Chauncey Stillman

Author and Poet Reynolds Price

Author Danielle Steele and family

References

*This article is drawn in part from [http://www.benlongart.com/ Ben Long's website] , the contents of which have been released under the GFDL.
* [http://www.storytellersmediagroup.com/High%20Fresco/High%20Fresco.htm "High Fresco"] - monograph on Ben Long's fresco painting technique.