Juan Fernando Bastos

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 18 January 1958,{{cite news|last=Mallo B.|first=Sandra|title=Entre Mitos y Realidades|newspaper=El Diario|date=16 January 1994|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=Section 5-1|language=Spanish}} to an expatriate Bolivian family,{{cite news|last=Perrin de Pero|first=Marie France|title=Juan Fernando Bastos: Un Pintor Que Fluye Entre la Realidad y Los Suenos|newspaper=Presencia|date=25 April 1992|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=6|language=Spanish}} Bastos' interest in portraiture was sparked at the age of ten when he posed for a portrait by his aunt, Bolivian artist Yolanda de Aguirre.{{cite journal|last=Frias|first=Marisol|title=Juan Fernando Bastos: Las Personas se Van Pero los Retratos Quedan|journal=Cosas|date=January 2009|issue=128|page=61|location=La Paz, Bolivia|language=Spanish}} At the age of eleven, he returned to Bolivia with his family and they settled once again in La Paz where he was exposed to the vast Andean landscape and the Aymaran culture with its myths and legends, which became a major influence on his work. His formal training began at age 13 with de Aguirre, as well as artists Agnes Ovando-Sanz de Franck, Gonzalo Rodriguez, and another aunt, noted artist María Esther Ballivián.{{cite news|last=Badani|first=Javier|title=Retratos: Bastos el Psicologo del Pincel|newspaper=La Razon|date=21 November 2010|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=Section B-1|language=Spanish}}{{cite news|last=Botaro|first=Maria Jose|title=Painting Portraits: Bolivian Artist Juan Fernando Bastos|newspaper=Bolivian Times|date= 14–21 October 1994|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=12}}{{cite news|last=Rios G.|first=Mario D.|title=Cinco Expresiones del Arte|newspaper=Ultima Hora|date=8 March 1989|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=Section 2-1|language=Spanish}} He was introduced to the masterpieces of the great European artists, copying the works of da Vinci, Michelangelo and Cézanne.{{cite news|title=Juan Fernando Bastos y la Pintura Latino Americana|newspaper=Crisol|date=16 March 1989|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=11|language=Spanish}}

In 1977, Bastos enrolled at Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz where he studied architecture.{{cite news|last=Rivero|first=Gerson|title=Lapiz de Alto Vuelo Bastos Retrata a Famosos|newspaper=El Deber|date=2 November 2008|location=Santa Cruz, Bolivia|page=Section C-2|language=Spanish}} He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1979, enrolling first at Georgetown University and then at Montgomery College. In 1982, he was admitted to the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he continued his studies in Fine Arts graduating Cum Laude in 1984.{{cite web|title=Pictures: Famous MICA Alumni|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bs-ae-mica-alumni-pictures,0,1756175.photogallery|work=The Baltimore Sun|accessdate=27 April 2012|location=Baltimore, MD}} He received his Masters of Fine Arts from Towson University in 1986.{{cite news|title=La Simbologia el Retrato de Juan Fernando Bastos|newspaper=El Deber|date=17 August 1996|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=7|language=Spanish}}

Image:Gore Vidal by Juan F Bastos.jpg]]

From his home in Baltimore{{cite news|title=La Paz es… Una Mujer: Entrevista con Juan Fernando Bastos, Pintor|newspaper=Hoy - Bien Puesto|date=18 October 1994|author=Auza, Denisse|author2=Cajias, Wara|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=7|language=Spanish}} Bastos began his career and, in 1988, had his first solo show at gallery Arte Unico in La Paz. It featured portraits of Bolivian society figures, including Ximena Sánchez de Lozada, the wife of future Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.{{cite news|title=Galeria de Arte Unico: Retrato|newspaper=El Diario|date=17 July 1988|location=La Paz, Bolivia|language=Spanish}} His first major solo exhibition in the U.S. was held in 1989 at the Knight Gomez Gallery in Baltimore. Entitled Myths & Dreams, it showcased Bastos' emerging representational style that fused his Catholic roots with Andean mythology and symbolism.{{Cite video|people=Coimbra, Luiz (Producer/Director)|title=America Viva – Juan Fernando Bastos: Perfil de un Retratista (in Spanish)|medium=Television production|publisher=Departamento de Informacion Publica, Organizacion de Estados Americanos|location=Washington, D.C.|year=1996}} Two years later, the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C. presented Bastos' work in a solo show, which also featured additional oils and pastels from this oeuvre.{{cite news|last=Attwell.|first=Emily|title=Not Quite Real|newspaper=Times of the Americas|date=4 September 1991|location=Miami|page=17}} Another one-man exhibition in La Paz in 1993 showcased both traditional portraits and representational works that explored the myth of the Lake Titicaca mermaids.{{cite news|title=Juan Fernando Bastos en Arte Unico|newspaper=La Razon|date=3 February 1993|location=La Paz, Bolivia|page=9|language=Spanish}} In 1994, Galeria Borkas in Lima, Peru, presented Milagros, Bastos' one-man exhibition of works depicting the interplay between the Catholic and pagan belief in miracles and the South American tradition of milagros.{{cite news|title=Las Medallas y Milagros de Bastos|newspaper=El Comercio|date=31 October 1994|location=Lima, Peru|page=Section C-12|language=Spanish}}

By the late 1980s, Bastos was accepting an increasing number of portrait commissions. Consequently, by 1999 he had established a high enough profile as a society portraitist to be featured, as one of six portrait painters, in a New York Times article on the reemergence of portraiture.{{cite news|last=La Ferla|first=Ruth|title=Preserved in Oil|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/07/style/preserved-oil-society-portraits-many-formal-style-worthy-sargent-are-vogue-again.html?pagewanted=3&src=pm|accessdate=20 July 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 November 1999|page=Section 9-1}} Over a two-year period culminating in 2004, Bastos delivered eight portrait commissions to the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine that featured Deans and major donors.{{cite journal|last=Pener|first=Degen|title=Paint Life Grand?!|journal=Angeleno Magazine|date=December 2009|issue=105|page=62|location=Los Angeles}}{{cite news|title=Keck School Lauds Donors Whose Gifts Changed Campus Forever|url=http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/10276.html|accessdate=20 July 2011|newspaper=USC News|date=28 May 2004|location=Los Angeles|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826182149/http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/10276.html|archive-date=26 August 2011|url-status=dead}} The University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering also commissioned a portrait of its principal donors.{{cite web|title=Viterbi Museum|url=http://viterbi.usc.edu/about/viterbimuseum/|publisher=USC Viterbi School of Engineering|accessdate=20 July 2011}} Other institutional commissions have included Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,{{cite web|title=Lawrence Platt, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/i9.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=20 July 2011}} Good Samaritan Hospital, George Washington University,{{cite web|last1=Carlin|first1=Michael Douglas|title=Juan Bastos Captures a Moment in Time|url=http://centurycity.news/juan-bastos-captures-a-moment-in-time-p1070-176.htm|website=Century City News|accessdate=22 March 2018|date=30 October 2017}} and Harvard University.{{cite journal|title=Captured on Canvas|journal=Harvard Magazine|date=July–August 2011|url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2011/07/brevia|accessdate=20 July 2011|page=62}} Bastos has also delivered a number of cover portraits to The Gay & Lesbian Review, featuring celebrities such as Charlize Theron,{{cite journal|title=Chalize Theron Cover|journal=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=November–December 2004|volume=XI|issue=6|url=http://www.glreview.org/current-issue/?issue=issue-52|accessdate=20 July 2011|page=Cover|location=Boston}} Ian McKellen,{{cite journal|title=Sir Ian McKellen Cover|journal=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=November–December 2007|volume=XIV|issue=6|url=http://www.glreview.org/current-issue/?issue=issue-70|accessdate=20 July 2011|page=Cover|location=Boston}} Barney Frank,{{cite journal|title=Barney Frank Cover|journal=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=September–October 2012|volume=XIX|issue=5|url=http://www.glreview.org/current-issue/?issue=issue-99|accessdate=16 September 2012|page=Cover|location=Boston}} and Gore Vidal,{{cite journal|title=Gore Vidal Cover|journal=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=March–April 2007|volume=XIV|issue=2|url=http://www.glreview.org/current-issue/?issue=issue-66|accessdate=20 July 2011|page=Cover}} who compared Bastos' work to that of John Singer Sargent.{{cite web|last1=D°az de Oropeza|first1=Gonzalo|title=Retratista de Personalidades|url=http://www.paginasiete.bo/revmiradas/2014/1/5/retratista-personalidades-10239.html|website=Pagina Siete|accessdate=18 September 2016|location=La Paz Bolivia|pages=6–8|language=es|format=Sunday Supplement}}{{cite journal|last=Maal|first=Pedro|title=Haute Couture al Pincel: Juan Fernando Bastos|journal=Complot Magazine|date=October 2010|issue=95|page=40|location=Miami|language=Spanish}} Bastos has been influenced by the works of Julio Larraz, Odd Nerdrum, and Lucian Freud.{{cite news|title=Un Artista con Futuro: Juan Fernando Bastos|newspaper=Impacto|date=4 December 1990|location=Annandale, VA|language=Spanish|page=10}} Notable private commissions have included portraits of high-profile art collectors, Eugenio López,{{cite web|title=Eugenio Lopez|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/m9.htm|website=Juan F. Bastos - Portrait Artist|accessdate=19 September 2016}} Pamela Joyner,{{cite web|last1=Sargent|first1=Antwuan|title=Pamela J Joyner's Mission to Rewrite Art History|url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/sotheby-s-magazine--december---january-2017/2017/11/pamela-joyner-mission-to-rewrite-art-history.html|website=Sotheby's|accessdate=22 March 2018|date=17 November 2017}} and Philip Niarchos.{{cite web|last1=Habib|first1=Yamily|title=Juan Bastos and the Evolution of a Latino-American Perspective in Portraiture|url=http://aldianews.com/articles/culture/juan-bastos-and-evolution-latino-american-perspective-portraiture/43925|website=Al Dia News|publisher=Al Dia News Media|accessdate=18 September 2016|location=Philadelphia, PA}}{{cite web|title=Philip Niarchos|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/|website=Juan F. Bastos - Portrait Artist|accessdate=19 September 2016}} Hundreds of Bastos portraits hang in private residences, universities, government buildings, and corporate offices in California, and throughout the US, South America, and

Europe. He works in oils, pastels, pencil, watercolors, acrylics and collage.{{cite book|title=Pintura Bolviana Siglo XX|year=1989|publisher=Jaca Book|location=La Paz, Bolivia|author1=Romero, Fernando |author2=Querejazu, Pedro|edition=INBO|page=272|language=Spanish}} His portraits are based on live sittings with photographs used for reference.{{cite web|last1=Freeman|first1=Chris|title=Portrait Painter Juan Bastos on His Upcoming L.A. Show|url=http://www.glreview.org/portrait-painter-juan-bastos-on-his-upcoming-l-a-show/|website=The Gay & Lesbian Review|accessdate=22 March 2018|date=30 October 2017}}

In 1996, Bastos was featured in the Organization of American States' America Viva television documentary series with the episode, "Juan Fernando Bastos: Portrait of an Artist."

Juan Bastos: California Portraits, a retrospective of 22 years of 40{{cite web|last1=Levine|first1=Debra|title=Juan Bastos: California Portraits: People, Places & Pets|url=http://artsmeme.com/2017/11/03/people-places-and-pets-juan-bastos-california-portraits/|website=Arts Meme|accessdate=22 March 2018|date=3 November 2017}} of the artist's California portraits

was presented by Denenberg Fine Arts in West Hollywood, California, in early November, 2017. Most of the portraits were lent by the portrait subjects, many of whom visited the show during its two-week

run. The exhibition was part of the Participating Gallery Program of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a far-reaching and ambitious

exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles, that ran from September 2017 through

January 2018 at more than 70 cultural institutions across Southern California. Pacific Standard Time was an

initiative of the Getty.{{cite web|title=Gallery Exhibitions (Jump to Hollywood & West Hollywood)|url=http://www.pacificstandardtime.org/en/gallery-exhibitions/|website=Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA|accessdate=22 March 2018}}

Since 1996, Bastos has lived and worked in Los Angeles, California.

One-man shows

• Portraits, Galeria Arte Unico, La Paz, Bolivia (1988)
• Myths and Dreams, Knight Gomez Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland (1989)
• Juan Fernando Bastos, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C. (1991)
• Juan Fernando Bastos, Galeria Arte Unico, La Paz, Bolivia (1993)
• Milagros, Galeria Borkas, Lima, Peru (1994)
• Juan Bastos: California Portraits, Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, California (2017)

Selected group shows

• Director’s Choice, The Life of Maryland Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland (1987){{cite news|last=Dorsey|first=John|title=More Charming than Chancy|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=31 July 1987|page=Maryland Live,26}}
• Cinco Enfoques Contemporaneos, Banco de la Nacion Argentina, La Paz, Bolivia (1990)
• Juan F. Bastos, Dwayne Franklin, Ricardo Hoegg & Alan M. Scherr, Knight Gomez Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland (1992){{cite news|last=Dorsey|first=John|title=Knight Gomez Highlights Mixed Talents of Artists|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1991/05/08/knight-gomez-highlights-mixed-talents-of-artists/|access-date=20 July 2011|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=8 May 1991}}
• 4th International Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt (1992){{cite book|title=International Biennale of Cairo 1992–1993|year=1992|publisher=Ministry of Culture|location=Egypt|page=99|type=Exhibition Catalogue}}
• Secret Pages, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, Maryland (1993){{cite news|last=Dorsey|first=John|title=In MAP Exhibit, Only Some of the Secrets are Worth Repeating|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/09/25/in-map-exhibit-only-some-of-the-secrets-are-worth-repeating/|access-date=20 July 2011|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=25 September 1993|page=Section D-2}} Ŏ
• Je Trouve ou les Relais de la Parole, Galerie Alias, Paris, France (1994)
• Four Bolivian Artists, Organization of American States, Washington, D.C. (1995)

Selected portraits

• Ricardo Perez Alcala, La Paz, Bolivia (1993){{cite web|title=Ricardo Perez Alcala|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/m5.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=20 July 2011}}
• Penelope – The Annunciation, Commissioned by Penelope Weld, New York (1998){{cite web|title=Penelope – The Annunciation|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/g3.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=20 July 2011}}
• Don Bachardy and His Painting of Christopher Isherwood, Santa Monica (1999){{cite web|title=Don Bachardy and His Painting of Christopher Isherwood|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/n7.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=20 July 2011}}
• Dean Robert Tranquada, Commissioned by the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles (2002){{cite web|title=Dean Robert Tranquada, USC Keck School of Medicine|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/i2.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=21 July 2011}}
• Selim Zilkha, Commissioned by the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles (2002)
• Charlize Theron, Commissioned by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Boston (2004){{cite web|title=Charlize Theron|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/n5.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=21 July 2011}}
• Andrew & Erna Viterbi, Commissioned by the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering, Los Angeles (2004)
• Tennessee Williams, Commissioned by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Boston (2005){{cite journal|title=Tennessee Williams Cover|journal=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=November–December 2005|volume=XII|issue=6|pages=Cover|url=http://www.glreview.org/current-issue/?issue=issue-58|accessdate=21 July 2011|location=Boston}}{{cite web|title=Tennessee Williams|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/n4.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=21 July 2011}}
• Gore Vidal, Commissioned by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Boston (2006){{cite web|title=Gore Vidal|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/n6.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=21 July 2011}}
• Ian McKellen, Commissioned by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Boston (2007){{cite web|title=Sir Ian McKellen|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/n1.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=21 July 2011}}
• Rudolf Nureyev, Commissioned by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Boston (2008){{cite journal|title=Rudolph Nureyev Cover|journal=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=May–June 2008|volume=XV|issue=3|pages=Cover|url=http://www.glreview.org/current-issue/?issue=issue-73|accessdate=21 July 2011|location=Boston}}{{cite web|title=Rudolph Nureyev|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/n8.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=21 July 2011}}
• Susan Sontag, Commissioned by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Boston (2009){{cite journal|title=Susan Sontag Cover|journal=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=May–June 2009|volume=XVI|issue=3|pages=Cover|url=http://www.glreview.org/current-issue/?issue=issue-79|accessdate=21 July 2011|location=Boston}}{{cite web|title=Susan Sontag|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/n9.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=21 July 2011}}
• John Reardon, Commissioned by the Harvard Class of 1960, Cambridge (2010){{cite web|title=John Reardon|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/i3.htm|publisher=Juan F Bastos – Portrait Artist|accessdate=21 July 2011}}
• Lawrence Platt, Commissioned by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles (2011)
• Barney Frank, Commissioned by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Boston (2012)
• Eugenio López, Commissioned by Eugenio López, Beverly Hills (2012)
• Audrey Barr, Commissioned by Good Samartitan Hospital, Los Angeles (2015){{cite web|title=Audrey Bahr and the Contract Program Office (CPO)|url=http://www.goodsam.org/documents/Hospital-News/GOOD-NEWS.pdf#page=19|website=Good Samaritan Hospital|accessdate=19 September 2016}}{{cite web|title=Audrey Barr|url=http://www.juanbastos.com/i6.htm|website=Juan F. Bastos - Portrait Artist|accessdate=19 September 2016}}
• Philip Niarchos, Commissioned by Philip Niarchos, Beverly Hills (2016)

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Juan Fernando Bastos}}

• [http://juanbastos.com/index.html Juan Bastos Website]
• [http://aldianews.com/articles/culture/juan-bastos-and-evolution-latino-american-perspective-portraiture/43925 Al Dia News Interview]
• [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.paginasiete.bo/revmiradas/2014/1/5/retratista-personalidades-10239.html&prev=search Pagina Siete Interview (Translated into English)]
• [https://www.eldeber.com.bo/extra/Juan-Bastos-el-dibujante-20171124-0122.html El Deber (in Spanish)]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastos, Juan}}

Category:1958 births

Category:20th-century American painters

Category:American male painters

Category:21st-century American painters

Category:21st-century American male artists

Category:American portrait painters

Category:Painters from Los Angeles

Category:Living people

Category:Artists from Caracas

Category:Bolivian emigrants to the United States

Category:Georgetown University alumni

Category:Maryland Institute College of Art alumni

Category:Towson University alumni

Category:Artists from Baltimore

Category:Painters from Maryland

Category:20th-century American male artists