The Legacy
by Cover Artist,
ROBERT STEPHEN SIMON

Robert Stephen Simon is an artist of unique diversity and a temperament as mercurial as his painting style. A native New Yorker, he began drawing from early adolescence. He developed an eye-hand coordination that surprised many and continued to develop to the present level in the front ranks of America's artists.

Mr. Simon says he was motivated to paint The Legacy not only for the love and dedication he feels for Israel, but also for the respect and admiration he will always possess for the Minister of Peace, Yatzik Rabine. Ironically, Rabine's unfortunate and untimely death occurred on November 4, 1995, Mr. Simon's 56th birthday.

"I am concerned in these peak years of my career as a fine artist," he says, "that I meet the challenge of making each new painting more important to the world of fine art. I love the challenge of portrait painting, in capturing not only the likeness, but the personality of my subject," Simon continues.

Simon's mentor, Angelo John Grado, attributes much of the artist's development to the volume of work in sports portraiture he has done over the years. "I also attribute a great deal of my development to the plethora of work I was able to produce in the 'commercial' arena of illustrative sports art over the years," says Simon, "culminating in 1992 as Sports Illustrator of the Year - U.S. Sports Academy."

Simon ultimately made the transition from illustrator to fine art and soon established himself as one of the nation's most respected and gifted artists. Among the more than 500 portraits he has painted are such well-known subjects as actors John Wayne, Katherine Hepburn and Sylvestor Stallone, along with athletic legends Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Joe Louis and Michael Jordan and musicians John Lennon, Elvis, Louis Armstrong. The portrait of Rabine is an important political painting standing in the company of former U.S. President, Ronald Reagan and U.S. Senator Abraham Ribbicoff from Connecticut.

In doing his portrait work, Mr. Simon paints from live sittings or from professional photographs, usually combining both. His painterly quality and expert draftsmanship give each portrait a special distinctive character and investment value. Ever changing and growing in curiousity and development as an artist, Simon's work today is motivated by an affinity towards the old masters and a foundation of intense study.

He became fascinated with the challenge of reproducing masterpieces for connoisseurs who had the resources but couldn't purchase a magnificent work of art because it was in the Louvre or some other secured place in the World. "In learning to solve the problems faced by the actual master, the reproductive work, I feel, greatly enhanced my development and reflects in everything I do at present as an accomplished artist."

Still Life With Peppermint Bottle by Cézanne

A member of many societies including the International Society of Artists and the Broward Art Guild, Simon is represented in a number of public and private collections. A collector says that "living with one of his paintings is an exhilarating experience of renewed aliveness."

Robert Stephen Simon is, indeed, an artist of tremendous diversity. From reproducing masterpieces to portraits to sports art, he has developed a facility unmatched in the contemporary art world in capturing what he sees. His latest portrait collage series is Hollywood legends. The first of the series, 'Hollywood's Finest: Act I shows 50 movie greats as you knew them: Judy Garland, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean just to mention a few.
A sampling of Mr. Simon's work is shown here. Please visit the Robert Stephen Simon Studios web site at World Wide Art for a more detailed exhibit. The cover art portrait of Rabine as well as Hollywood's Finest are available in limited edition signed and numbered prints through World Wide Art here on the Internet.