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Allan Berman: A man of many talents
Written by Alex Close/Tahoe World www.tahoeworld.com
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Allan Berman has been an artist all his life. When he was a child his parents took him to The de Young Museum in San Francisco and he became infatuated with the idea that a painting can look like reality. “It was so real, I just couldn’t believe it,” Berman said of the works he saw there. Growing up in a Jewish family in the ‘60s, artists were either gay or they were bums. Berman was quite sure he wasn’t either. So, he followed a track into the family business of scrap metal. Berman eventually took over the business and had a successful run at it, including making his company one of the first to recycle computers.
It was that transition that led the company to do so well that Berman sold it and retired to Penn Valley to pursue his true passion, art.
While Berman is known worldwide for his pastel paintings, he is also an accomplished tribute musician, with four albums out covering Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson and Neil Diamond. Berman even performed as Elvis for Bill Clinton’s 50th Birthday party. After spending time in Penn Valley’s Lake Wildwood, Berman finally reached his other life goal outside of art — living in Lake Tahoe for the summers and the Palm Desert for the winters.
For the last two years, Berman’s artistic endeavors have been on hold while he and his wife remodel their new Incline Village condominium.
During that time, Berman had been thinking that he would like to take his art in a new direction and start painting landscapes. So he took his new digital camera down Tahoe’s East Shore in search of Bonsai Rock. The 64–year–old climbed down a rugged trail and found the spot. After photographing the tree growing boulder he sent the photos into his studio in Placerville.
His studio tech blew the shots up and printed them on canvas. A year and a half later, Berman is no longer painting. He now has landscape photography on display in Tahoe Vista’s Vista Gallery as well as galleries in Palm Springs and Reno. “Every gallery I’ve gone to has accepted my work,” Berman said. So after years as a multi genre artist, performing both tribute concerts and painting, Berman has added a third, a third that is showing Berman more success than he previously had.
The Vista Gallery will be having a “Meet the Artists” reception with Berman, Mark Shaffer Mitchell, Wolfgang Kohz, Renee Rose and Ronald D. Patterson on Saturday August 4 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“My photography is doing better than my paintings ever did,” Berman said. After a hiatus from all of his arts to focus on his new Incline home, Berman said he is not only excited and motivated in his photography, but also to get his music going again. “I miss it and want to get back to music,” Berman said. He said he has been contacting some Crystal Bay casinos and is hoping to perform locally in the near future. Berman said his concerts are always high energy and a good time, and by the time he gets to Elvis someone’s got to carry him off in a wheelchair. But whether he’s on stage in a sparkly white jump suit, hunched over an easel or squinting through a shutter window, Berman enjoys the interesting life he leads. “My life is really crazy,” Berman said. “I just try to be the best person I can.”
Photos by Alex Close/Tahoe World
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About the photographic prints on canvas by Allan Berman
The images are printed on archival canvas through the gicle’e printing process in a signed and numbered limited number. His Lake Tahoe and Sierra images are a small edition of only 100, with ten artist proofs.
Prices for Allan Berman’s photographs on archival canvas or paper
Vertical or horizontal images, 25 x 37 inches: $450
Vertical or horizontal images, 36 x 40 inches: $850
The canvas is “gallery wrapped” and ready to hang. Gallery wrapping is when the canvas is wrapped around the side of the wooden stretcher bars, continuing the image along the side, making a very clean and contemporary look. Collectors also have the option of traditionally framing the the gallery wrapped canvas images. As a full-service custom framing service we can help you with those needs.
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