Nelson Shanks

Details of the “July 3rd,” Nelson Shanks, oil on canvas, 72x30 inches, 1983 (censored for IG).
Nelson’s mother, Berniece Scott Shanks, who first instilled him a great passion for collecting antiques, died on July 3rd, 1983. In his grief Nelson created a painting that expressed his devastation, right at the time he was fully discovering his soul’s true language: boldly prismatic humanist realism, depicting the figure of the female n**e as the highest power.

The finished version of Nelson’s Pavarotti portrait, painted in Luciano’s 150 Central Park South apartment…and a few images to follow. Who painted it better?

Nelson’s portrait of dear friend Luciano Pavarotti. 34x34 inches. Painted entirely from life in the early 90s. Lots of pasta and opera behind the scenes.
The portrait itself is genius, sensitive, wise — and the brilliant and casual confidence in that abstraction of the hands really blows us away!

A gorgeous example of how Nelson constructed hands in his paintings. In the classic Studio Incamminati tradition as refined by Nelson, begin with the largest and most abstract shapes of light and shadow, using straight lines and angles.

Pure poetry.
“Laura’s Theme (A Study in Orange),” Nelson Shanks, oil on canvas, 18 x 24”, 2005.