Henry Heading

"Joe Louis" Oil on Board with Mixed Media, Iconic Portrait, African American

2000s

The simple title "Quarantine" belies the complex nature of this work. It is a self-portrait of the artist, Henry Heading, immersed in the tools of his tr...

This portrait of a precocious young boy is significant for two reason: the subject is Eero Saarinen, the famed designer of tulip chairs and architect best known for designing the Washington Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., the TWA Flight Center in New York City, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, and the painter is his father Eliel Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect who designed the Helsinki Central railway station, the National Museum of Finland, the Vyborg railway station, the Hvitträsk, and the Kleinhans Music Hall in Finland and the famous Cranbrook Academy campus, where he would then go on to teach at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and become its president in 1932. It's provenance is Eero Saarinen's own son, the award-winning cinematographer Eric Saarinen. The painting is Painting is 23.25 x 16.25. Eliel Saarinen was born in 1873 in Rantasalmi, Finland. was educated in Helsinki at the Helsinki University of Technology. From 1896 to 1905 he worked as a partner with Herman Gesellius and Armas Lindgren at the firm Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen. His first major work was showcased at the Finnish pavilion at the 1900 World Fair in Paris. His early style was known as Finnish National Romanticism. After moving to the United States he designed the Gulf Building in Houston and became a visiting professor at the University of Michigan. In 1925 he was requested to design the Cranbrook campus. His work has been exhibited in many prestigious places, such as his iconic tea urn at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the St. Louis Art Museum, Cranbrook Art Museum, the British Museum in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The touring exhibition Modernism in American Silver: 20th-Century Design, organized by the Dallas Museum of Art, which also traveled to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art also hold tea urn-related Eliel Saarinen designs. Eero Saarinen was born in 1910. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and took courses in sculpture and furniture design at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He had a close relationship with fellow students Charles and Ray Eames, and became good friends with Florence Knoll (née Schust). He began his studies in sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, France, in September 1929. He then went on to study at the Yale School of Architecture, completing his studies in 1934. In 1940 he designed his famous Tulip chairs and in 1948 he designed what would be his most well-known sculpture, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. His Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois would also achieve international acclaim while the first major work by Saarinen, in collaboration with his father, was the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, which follows the rationalist design Miesian style, incorporating steel and glass but with the addition of accent of panels in two shades of blue. After his father's death in July 1950, Saarinen founded his own architect's office, Eero Saarinen and Associates. He was the principal partner from 1950 until his death. The firm carried out many of its most important works, including the Bell Labs...

“Queen” is a stunning iconic portrait of a young woman coming into the full flower of her beauty and developing power. She is set in a sculptural scene of softly rounded forms surrounded by blues, pinks and lavenders along with flowers and a small hummingbird. There is a quiet power and energy in the young woman as she appears to be on the verge of movement. That she is visually beautiful is actually beside the point for Henry has managed to capture in paint the inner beauty flowing from her presence. Henry says that, “Painting is like breathing for me. I do so daily and appreciate my gift and ability. Perfection drives me as I create each piece. It must be unique. It must stand out, and is not complete until that special quality is achieved in my eyes.” Being able to create is an essential part of my life. It is an extension of my innermost thoughts and imagination. My primary focus of art is realism--using oils and acrylics. Occasionally, I switch mediums and design and build three dimensional pieces. Working mixed mediums, I use various wood, metal and paint, thus allowing me to achieve the visual effects I am looking for. Many of my pieces have been derived from my attraction to Art Deco and Ethnic designs. I am not satisfied until each piece, regardless of the medium or size, has reached the highest possible level of aesthetic quality and craftsmanship I can give it. I have enjoyed creating art since childhood. While a student at Martin Luther King Jr. high school in Detroit, I created and presented a portrait to then Mayor Coleman A. Young. A scholarship from Center for Creative Studies now the College for Creative Studies afforded me the opportunity to work towards and receive a BA in Fine Arts. Faculty and graduates of CCS include Richard Jerzy, Harry Bertoia, Doug Chaing (currently director of Lucas Film), Stephen Dinehart (game maker, writer, designer connected with The David Lynch Foundation), Tyree Guyton (international artist), Herb Babcock, Jerome Feretti, Kevin Siembieda (writer, designer and publisher of role-playing games), Renee Radell, Philip Pearlstein, Charles McGee (nationally recognized African American sculptor of animal and dancing spirits), Philip Pearlstein (2000 Honorary Doctorate, Modern Realism style), John Louis Krieger (American Modern), William Girard (American Modern), and Charles Culver. Mr. Heading understands the joy found in art and how it affects a young person's heart. He has shared his love for art as a mentor/teacher at the Virgil L. Carr Center in Detroit, Michigan. Students not only grew in their art experience, but also exhibited at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. Winning the 2013 MI Great Artist Competition was an honor for Mr. Heading. He is thankful to Park West Gallery owner Albert Scaglione and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson for the opportunity. Mr. Heading has been featured on ASPIRE TV, shows at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the National Conference of Artists and other numerous galleries. In addition, he is a book illustrator. His murals create a beautiful focal point and conversation piece on the walls of homes, churches and health care facilities. His art and furniture is enjoyed and treasured by collectors across the United States and Canada. Kohei Suzuki, the former Mayor of Toyota City, Japan has a box designed by Henry. His first attempt at mosaic tile was creating a Tiger sculpture to benefit the Detroit Tigers...

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY Steve Huston worked construction to support himself through college. That experience seems to have heightened his aesthetic interest i...

“The Champ, 1942” by Theodore Fried (1902-1980) This important portrait by Hungarian-American artist Theodore Fried depicts the legendary boxer Joe Louis aka “The Brown Bomber” and ...

"Joe Louis Knocking Out Max Schmeling" Charles F. Ellis passed on October 1st, 2004 at the age of 82. Mr. Ellis was hired to teach illustration in 1971 ...

AMERICA MARTIN "Joe Louis no.2" Ink on Paper 14" x 11" A portion of each sale will be donated to the ACLU + NAACP JoAnne Artman Gallery proudly introduces America Martin’s new seri...

Untitled (Joe Louis knocking out Max Schmeling in 1938 rematch) Pen and ink with wash on heavy wove sketchbook paper, 1938 Signed lower right: Fletcher Martin Directly related to Martin's famous painting of 1942 entitled "Lullaby", which was also used in the lithograph of the same name. (see photo) The drawing depicts the third and final knockdown of Max Schmeling in their rematch of 1938. Condition: Mat staining at the edges of the sketchbook page edges Toning to verso from previous framing. Does not affect framed presentation "It was here that Louis first used sport to bridge America's cavernous racial divide. With Hitler on the march in Europe and using Schmeling's victory over Louis as proof of “Aryan supremacy,” anti-Nazi sentiment ran high in the States. Louis had long grown accustomed to the pressures of representing his race but here the burdens were broader and deeper. Now he was shouldering the hopes of an entire nation. A few weeks before the match Louis visited the White House and U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose tenure lasted even longer than Louis' would, told him, “Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany.” Those muscles certainly beat Schmeling on fight night...