In Thursday’s (2/17) Cincinnati Enquirer, Janelle Gelfand writes, “Gone are the days when a subject would sit still for hours while his or her portrait was being painted. Artist Carin Hebenstreit spent about a half hour with Paavo Järvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, as she began painting his portrait. ‘Most of the time, I just take photographs,’ Hebenstreit said. ‘I’m already familiar with (Järvi), because I’ve seen him so much, heard him on the radio and read about him in the newspaper, I have a pretty good sense of who he is.’ Järvi’s portrait, celebrating his final season as music director, will be unveiled today at Music Hall. The portrait was commissioned for the orchestra by arts supporters Peter George Courlas and Nicholas Tsimaras. The larger-than-life (60 inches by 48 inches) oil painting will hang permanently in Music Hall. … Järvi’s portrait joins six others: Cincinnati Symphony music directors Max Rudolf, Thomas Schippers and Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Cincinnati Pops conductor Erich Kunzel, May Festival music director James Conlon and Cincinnati Opera artistic director James De Blasis. Hebenstreit, 64, says she had wanted to paint Järvi’s portrait for eight years. In 25 years of portraiture, she has painted about 300 portraits, she estimates.”
Posted February 18, 2011
