Acclaimed artist coming to speak to Lincoln College art students

[February 10, 2009]  Lincoln College art students are getting much more than a textbook can teach. On Wednesday, Lincoln College students enrolled in Art Appreciation will have the opportunity to learn from New York artist Sacha Newley during a master class.

Lincoln College history instructor Ron Keller says he hopes students can gain insight from Newley. "Sacha captures emotions, which is the highest compliment an artist can incorporate into their work," Keller said. "By exposing our young students to his opinions and ideas within a formalized setting, hopefully this will inspire, motivate and give an example which will allow our students to gain insight into how artists approach the making of art and respond to the work of others."

The Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College proudly displays two donated portraits from Newley. He has been praised by art critics for his concerted quality of "facial affect display" -- the incorporation in his painted subjects of special attention to the dramatic emotions of the human face, which gives the final product a deeply compelling character. Those qualities are very apparent in "the Head of Lincoln." Historians and tourists alike have praised the Lincoln piece with much acclaim.

"Brooklyn Bridge," another painting at the museum, is a beautiful cityscape of the famous bridge with the distinctive landmark of the Twin Towers prominently featured in the backdrop. Newley painted it in the summer of 2001, and his work of art is considered the last painting of the World Trade Center before the 9/11 attacks.

Newley’s portraits have included some of the most fascinating personalities of our time, including Christopher Reeve, Billy Wilder, Gore Vidal and Oliver Stone. His works are featured in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian.

Newley is the son of the late Anthony Newley, a songwriter who won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1963, and actress Joan Collins.

[Text from file received from Lincoln College]