Park West Gallery: Breaking ART NEWS, Hot Off the Press!!

Attention Park West Gallery Newsletter fans - the February issue is here!

> CLICK HERE TO READ ISSUE 6

> CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

This month's features include:

• Park West Gallery Spring Sale 2009,
• Park West Foundation Presents Lifetime Achievement Award,
• New Alfred "Alex" Gockel Website,
• Peter Max Gives CNN Exclusive Tour of New Exhibit,
• Barbara Wood Featured in Atlanta Style & Design Magazine,
• Thomas Kinkade Meets Indy Speedway,
• ...And More!

Park West Gallery 2009 SPRING SALE - Jewelry

Park West Gallery
2009 SPRING SALE - Jewelry

Park West Gallery has acquired a wonderful selection of designer watches and fine jewelry, all available for purchase at liquidation prices.

Collect unique pieces from designer names like Alpina Geneve, Bellport, Elini, Olivia, and Roberto Coin.

Peruse jewelry selections from Park West Gallery's Spring Collection

View our Sale Brochure for a complete listing of all sale pieces

Peter Max Gives CNN Exclusive Tour of Exhibit "Peter Max Paints America"

DETAILS about Peter Max Paints America @ The Clinton Presidential Center Library

"Why Shouldn't Art Be Pretty? There Are Enough Unpleasant Things in the World"

Pierre Auguste-Renoir (February 25, 1841 - December 17, 1919)

Born on February 25, 1841 in Limoges, France, Pierre Auguste-Renoir was a famous French painter whose paintings are probably the most popular, well-recognized, and frequently reproduced images in the history of art. His work presents a vision of a forgotten world, full of sparkling color and light.

Renoir was involved with "The Society of Painters, Engravers and Sculptors," which was founded in 1874, and witnessed the birth of Impressionism. He did not take up original printmaking until he was 50 years old and in 1892, he did his first lithograph, a portrait of his son Pierre.

Renoir once said: "Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world..." Read more of Renoir's Biography

View selections from the Park West Gallery - Renoir Collection

2009 Park West Gallery Spring Sale is Here!

Peruse selections from the Park West Gallery Spring Collection or view our Sale Brochure for a complete listing of all sale pieces.

For pricing, call 800.521.9654 x 4 or

email to have a Gallery representative contact you

Happy Mardi Gras!

Grab your beads and eat some paczkis --

today is Mardi Gras!

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone!

Mardi Gras by Alex Gockel

Park West Gallery Blog Poll #1: The Results

Thank you to all who participated in the first Park West Gallery unofficial blog poll!

Question: Which artist would you like to learn more about?

Here are the results:

Peter Max = 44%

Itzchak Tarkay = 19%

Thomas Kinkade = 0%

Alex Gockel = 25%

Salvador Dali = 12%

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Be sure to vote in this week's poll:

Question: If you could collect any famous painting which would you choose?

• Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa"
• Monet's "Water Lilies"
• Van Gogh's "Starry Night"
• Dali's "Persistance of Memory"
• Picasso's "Guernica"

Voting ends Friday, February 27 at 12pm EST

Park West Foundation in The Detroit Free Press

February 21, 2009

Public supports man battling cancer

BY ROCHELLE RILEY, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

The news that Pioneers for Peace leader Weusi Olusola is battling Stage 4 bladder cancer prompted a massive outpouring of support Friday.

Hundreds of supporters called Olusola and the Park West Foundation the day the Free Press reported his struggle, and a fund has been set up to help offset his medical bills, which have surpassed $100,000.

His doctors have told him that his tumor is inoperable, and his one kidney that survived a shooting in his northwest Detroit neighborhood 23 years ago is too weak for chemotherapy.

He wants to seek alternative treatments, and his most immediate needs are for a $2,000 adjustable, long-term care bed that his insurance does not cover and a different wheelchair than the one he has been using. Olusola also worries about the educational future of his 11-year-old son, Andrew.

Weusi Olusola plans to fight.

"There are thousands of testimonies out there from people like myself who have been here for five, 10 years, who have overcome this thing," said Olusola, whom doctors have given six months to live. "There are alternatives."

To contribute
Donations to Wheel 2 S.U.R.V.I.V.E -- whose acronym stands for Spiritual, Urban, Renewal Victories In View Everyday -- should be sent, as a check or money order, to the Park West Foundation, 29469 Northwestern Highway, Southfield 48034.

For reservations to the 4 p.m. March 7 ceremony to honor Weusi Olusola, contact Michelle Birchard at 248-204-8414 or mbirchard@parkwestgallery.com.

Park West plans to recognize donations of $50, $250, $500 and $1,000 at the ceremony.

Learn more about the Park West Foundation

Learn more about Pioneers for Peace

Take the Park West Gallery Virtual Tour

Visit 23 exhibition galleries in minutes!

View fine artwork by Picasso, Miro, Rembrandt and Park West's most popular living artists. You'll meet CEO, Albert Scaglione, and Park West Gallery Director, Morris Shapiro, who will be your personal docent through this virtual tour. No flash photos please. Enjoy!

Take the Park West Gallery Virtual Tour

Peter Max Paints America Opens at Clinton Center

Image & text courtesy of the Associated Press --

Artist Peter Max poses for a portrait Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 in New York.

The pop artist's work is on three floors of the museum part of the Clinton Presidential Center for a show that begins Monday and runs through May 25. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Read the full press release

Learn more about Peter Max

Park West Gallery Launches New Alex Gockel Website

Park West Gallery continues its 40 year tradition of connecting people with artists and fine art by inviting you to visit our new web site for artist Alfred "Alex" Gockel.

Park West Gallery's Gockel website features a biography of the artist, an online art gallery and video of Gockel at Park West Gallery's 40th Anniversary celebration.

"I like to touch the viewer's soul with my vibrant colors," Gockel has said. "My purpose is to express my joy in life, and to show that we can overcome many obstacles through the expressions of life's beauties."

Explore the new Alfred Gockel website located at http://www.parkwest-gockel.com/

There is Nothing More Artistic Than to Love Others

"Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don’t start measuring her limbs." ~ Pablo Picasso

"Love is probably the strongest and most fulfilling emotion we will experience and it underlies and informs all our enthusiasms...we, as ordinary beings become transformed for the better by love. We are literally filled with emotion, which engenders a positive outlook and truly engages us with others and the world..." ~ Peter Nixon

"Poetry and painting are done in the same way you make love; it's an exchange of blood, a total embrace - without caution, without any thought of protecting yourself." ~ Joan Miro

"Creativity begins with an affinity for something. It’s like falling in love." ~ Csaba Markus

"In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love." ~ Marc Chagall

"Through art, I want to share a part of myself. I want people to see the love that I put into it." ~ Marcus Glenn

"Love wants to rise, not to be held down by anything base... He who loves flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back." ~ Henri Matisse

"(My work) comes from the love to paint. That’s the love that runs in my blood and is the center of my life." ~ Itzchak Tarkay

"Love is when the desire to be desired takes you so badly that you feel you could die of it." ~ Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

"The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others." ~ Vincent van Gogh

Thomas Kinkade Named Featured Artist for Indy Motor Speedway Centennial Era

INDIANAPOLIS – Thomas Kinkade, renowned artist known as The Painter of Light™, has been named the featured artist for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Centennial Era, a three-year celebration that kicks off with the Centennial Era Gala this month.

To capture the excitement, color and thrill of the Speedway on canvas, the artist will create a new Studio Masterwork, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 100th Anniversary (working title), that will become the cover for the collectible 2009 Indianapolis 500 Program. The new Studio Masterwork will be unveiled Feb. 27 at the Centennial Era Gala, for which Kinkade also has created the original artwork for the program cover.

“Imagine an image that details the running of the Indy 500 – but incorporates the cars from the past through today!” Kinkade said. “It will include the magnificence of the famous Pagoda, the historical significance of the Brickyard – and of course the city of Indianapolis in the distance. What the Hulman-George family envisioned when it purchased the Speedway in 1945 through all of the changes – right up to today – will be commemorated in this special piece of artwork. It is a historical encapsulation – celebrating the icons of America’s first and still its most prestigious raceway.”

In addition to the Masterwork, Kinkade has created a colorful and exuberant Impressionist work for the Centennial Era Gala program cover. Capturing all the excitement of Indy at a moment in time as cars flash by the stands, American flags flying on a perfect Memorial Day weekend of blue skies and fluffy clouds, it is the perfect expression of the thrill of racing that millions of fans will find easily identifiable.

Celebrating his 25th anniversary as a published artist in 2009, Kinkade is today’s most widely collected living artist. He is known around the world for his tranquil, light-infused paintings that affirm the basic values of family, faith and the beauty of nature.

Kinkade has received numerous accolades for his works on and off the canvas, including multiple National Association of Limited Edition Dealers (NALED) awards for Artist of the Year, Graphic Artist of the Year, and nine awards for Lithograph of the Year. He has commemorated a number of important milestones in American heritage, including the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary, the 85th Farewell Season of Yankee Stadium, Graceland’s 50th Anniversary and others. He is also involved in a number of nonprofit organizations focusing on children, humanitarian relief and the arts. Read the full press release

Visit the Thomas Kinkade website brought to you by Park West Gallery

Peter Max Paints America by Peter Max

Peter Max Paints America @ The Clinton Presidential Center Library

Feb 16 - May 25, 2009

Over 250 works by America’s painter laureate and pop culture icon will be on display throughout the Library. In celebration of Presidents’ Day, admission will be free on February 16.

Students, pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade, are invited to participate in the Peter Max coloring contest. The contest will run from February 16 – March 28, 2009, with a ceremony announcing the winners to take place in April...Read More