Enrique O. Sanchez (Dominic - American, born 1942) 'Whimsical Boy with Mushrooms' Oil on Canvas Painting. Signed ,24"x20".

Provenance: Arnot Gallery, New York

Enrique O. Sanchez: Have Brush, Will Paintby Suzanne Corsano, Gallery in the WoodsEnrique O. Sanchez has always painted for a living, responding to the demands of survival with wit, skill, and a paintbrush, whatever the circumstances. He was born into a creative family in 1942, in the Dominican Republic, raised in a 500-year-old house in the capital city of Santo Domingo. His father was the director of the Columbus Museum and his sister a concert pianist. As a young boy, Enrique painted murals on the walls of his room. "They let me do it ... kings, saints, Donald Duck, whatever."He studied architecture at Santo Domingo University and painting at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. Then, as Enrique describes it, "Things started to happen. There were riots, and the University was closed. I got a job at the first television station in the Dominican Republic. I painted backdrops, illustrated ads, and began painting for a living, which I have done all of my life."Sanchez moved to New York City when, as a young, revolutionary student, it became too politically dangerous for him to remain in his country. He worked as a percussionist in the city whenever he could, and began to study painting at Pels Art School. When the money for tuition ran out, the school hired him to teach. He also worked freelance creating dioramas at the Brooklyn Aquarium, painted theatrical scenery for Broadway shows, and was a graphic artist for Sesame Street in the early years of the show. "There was a five-story spiral staircase at Sesame Street. I was always running up and down the stairs carrying props, monkey hats, everything."While painting sets for summer theater in Ogunquit, Maine, Enrique met his wife, choreographer and dancer Joan Sanchez. She later joined several New York dance companies and studied and taught with Eric Hawkins. Looking for the country life after awhile in the city, the couple moved to Bar Harbor, Maine, where Enrique painted signs and -- while hanging from the sides of boats -- painted vessels' names and designs on their transoms. It was also during their time in Maine that Sanchez' figurative work started to sell, and he received his first contracts for multicultural children's book illustrations. Their son, Aron Sanchez, born in Bar Harbor, is also a professional artist and has enjoyed a career designing and building fantastic instruments for the musical Blue Man Group.Enrique and Joan moved to northern Vermont in 2000, then decided to relocate to Brattleboro in 2008, where they sought out a community of artists to inspire their creative life. "It's been great. Joan has been teaching at Luminz Studio, and the Museum's Artists' Potlucks have been a great resource for connecting to the scene here. We were amazed at how many artists are here."Sanchez' paintings, which have journeyed from representation to abstraction, are included in private and corporate collections throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe and Latin America. He has been represented at a number of international art expositions and is an award-winning illustrator with many picture books in print by major publishers."

Very good condition