Powered by Twitter Tools

Richard Lack was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 26, 1928, where he grew up among Scandinavian immigrant families. His father Fred A. Lack was a dentist whose family emigrated from Germany; his mother, Mildred Peterson, had parents who came from Norway.

After graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1946, Lack considered earning an Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota, but decided to focus instead on his passion for art. His artistic training began at the Minneapolis School of Art, but his interest in the classical traditions soon led him to New York City and then to the atelier of R. H. Ives Gammell in Boston. He is widely considered to be one of the most versatile and influential pupils of Gammell, with whom he studied for five years, from 1950 to 1956. Lack’s training was interrupted by two years of service in the U.S. Army where he was deployed in the Korean War as an intelligence specialist.

In 1953 Lack met Katherine Vietorisz while studying at Gammell’s summer studio in Provincetown, Cape Cod. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Katherine’s parents and siblings immigrated to the United States shortly after the end of WWII. She was an accomplished artist in her own right and crafted unique, handmade jewelry. In 1955 Lack traveled to Europe to study the Old Masters, particularly Peter Paul Rubens, whose work has greatly influenced him both in style and method. Shortly after returning he married Katherine.

In 1957 he returned to Minneapolis with his wife, bought a home in Glen Lake, and built a studio designed to simulate the lighting conditions recommended in the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. There he began to paint a considerable body of work: still life, portrait, genre, landscape and paintings based on myth, history and the psychology of C. G. Jung. The disciplined beauty and striking imagery of Lack’s work and the importance of his teaching earned him three scholarships from the Elizabeth T. Greenshields Memorial Foundation in Montreal, Canada as well as a grant from the John F. and Anna Lee Stacy Scholarship Fund. Katherine worked as a graphic designer and continued to create exquisite, handmade jewelry.

In an iconoclastic age often marked by a lack of artistic discipline and misunderstanding of tradition, Lack fiercely preserved and energetically perpetuated the tradition he inherited as a member of the “Boston School,” one of the longest continuing schools of painting in the history of American art. He was an insightful and provocative advocate of the Western artistic tradition and his influence as an artist and educator in preserving the European cultural impact on American art foreshadowed today’s revived interest in the classical arts. For 22 years, Lack’s Minneapolis based studio-school provided a crucial link to the artistic traditions of Europe that rapidly disintegrated after the First World War. Lack had over 100 students in his full-time program, training some of the most accomplished and sought-after classical painters and his atelier acquired an international reputation. Atelier Lack has become a model for many small studio-schools throughout the United States and abroad. Lack retired from teaching in 1992. His former students, Cyd Wicker and Dale Redpath, are carrying on his teaching legacy at The Atelier in Minneapolis.

During his long career Lack exhibited widely throughout the United States, in both solo and group exhibitions, winning many awards and honors. In 1988, the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Washington held a comprehensive and defining retrospective exhibition of his work. Throughout his career Lack was a highly sought after portrait artist and he painted many notable figures, among them six portraits for the Kennedy family in Hyannisport, MA, a portrait for England’s future Earl of Wilmot and Minnesota Governors Wendell Anderson and Albert Quie. He received the “Award of Excellence” from the California Art Club in 1995 for his outstanding work in the field of educating and encouraging the continuation of Traditional Painting. In 1999 the American Society of Portrait Artists honored him with their first Founder’s Award. For many years Lack was a member of the Minnesota Jung Association and during recent years he devoted most of his time and energy to painting a series of large works based on Jungian psychology, which depict man’s inner journey toward individuation and psychological wholeness. He loved music and was an accomplished violinist, and played for ten years in the Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra.

Lack coined the term “Classical Realism” in 1982 and it has since been used throughout the art world in reference to living painters working within the Western artistic tradition. He was one of the founding members of The American Society of Classical Realism and wrote numerous scholarly articles for the Classical Realism Quarterly and the Classical Realism Journal, as well as articles in other publications. He edited the book Realism in Revolution: The Art of the Boston School. His biography, Richard F. Lack: An American Master, was published in 2001. Lack is listed in Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who in International Art and Antiques and International Biographies. His work is in private and public collections throughout the United States and abroad and he has influenced thousands through his art, teaching and writing. When the art of the 20th century is finally assessed with insight and equity, Richard F. Lack’s influence and contribution will be seen as vital in preserving the great tradition of American painting.

Public Tribute and Memorial Service date and location to be announced.

Shot this a few weeks ago off the balcony of our hotel in Dayton Beach, Florida. The balcony was at an angle to the beach, and as I was about to click the shutter, I heard a noise behind me. I turned to see a lady in her nightgown on the balcony behind me trying to get a view with her camera. I snapped mine and retreated into the room.

Shot with the Canon 1D MkIIN and 24-70 2.8L.

Thirteen months post-mma surgery. Still have the braces.

Kudos to the City of McDonough. The town square looked great! After our visit with Santa, we went over to the Gritz Family Restaurant for some good home style cookin’.

• Sleeping quietly and soundly at night.
• No signs of apnea coming back.
• Still in orthodontic treatment to adjust my teeth.
• Teeth fit together better, but still does not feel like they have a home position. This is tiring during the day. My orthodontist, Dr. Moody Williams, says will probably be a few more months.
• Still some minor pain when chewing chips or crunchy stuff. I’m not to be eating that anyway with braces. I think the pain is coming mostly from my teeth still being moved around with the braces.
• Eating regular food now is no problem.

Yes, I would do it all over again.

Dear Jim,

Thanks for the kind words. I have not had a follow-up sleep study. There is no comparison to my pre MMA condition. I thought I would die with a heart attack or stroke in the months leading up to the surgery. I would awaken in the night repeatedly gasping for air with the sensation of a heavy weight on my chest. I sleep quietly and soundly now.

The surgery has been a great success for me. All the swelling subsided within a few months. Amazingly, there was hardly any bruising from the surgery. I am still in braces, and only within the last month or so have my posterior teeth began to meet where I can chew effectively. However, since the teeth are moving because of the braces, I still have pain that prevents me from eating steak. A really tender filet mignon is manageable, but I still mostly eat soft foods.

To someone who does not know me, my appearance probably did not change much. But to me, the minor changes are apparent. The purpose of MMA is to open the airway. As you probably know, to do this, the surgeon, breaks your upper and lower jaw apart where they are attached to the skull, moves them forward and then reattaches with plates and screws. I’ve gotten used to my new appearance, and I know without doubt the surgery was the right decision for me.

There are other causes of sleep apnea other than skeletal, such as problems with the autonomic nervous system. I first consulted a neurologist. He sent me for the sleep study. I next saw an ENT specialist, who recommended I see a maxillo facial surgeon. I settled on Dr. Stephen Roser at Emory after a lot of research.

If you have severe sleep apnea, I encourage you to take action immediately. If it’s like with me, it will take longer than you expect to actually get all the tests done and finally get the treatment. Took me almost a year!

Best regards,
Richard

I get a weekly newsletter from Dr. Daniel Amen, CEO of Amen Clinics, Inc. Check out this recent newsletter by Dr. Amen.

Another Reason To Love Blueberries

If you’ve listened to me speak or seen my writings about brain-healthy eating you’ve probably heard me tout blueberries as the best brain food on the planet! Now, there’s even more compelling reasons to include them as part of your diet.

Blueberries help protect the brain, but the fruit may also have a heart protective effect by significantly lowering cholesterol, Canadian researchers say. Lead scientist Wilhelmina Kalt of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada conducted tests on pigs fed a blueberry-supplemented diet. Blueberry-supplemented diets resulted in a reduction in total cholesterol including both low-density lipoprotein, or LDL (the bad cholesterol) and high-density lipoproteins, or HDL, (the good cholesterol), Kalt said.

“In feeding trials, we found that blueberry supplementation reduced plasma cholesterol levels more effectively when the animals received a mostly plant-based diet than when they received a less heart-healthy diet”, Kalt said in a statement. The soy, oats and barley contained in these diets may have functioned synergistically with the blueberries to beneficially affect plasma lipids.

The study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, found that the greatest reduction in total, LDL and HDL cholesterol levels was found in pigs fed a 2 percent blueberry diet equivalent to approximately 2 one-cup servings of blueberries in the human diet. Pigs have levels of LDL similar to humans and are susceptible to diet-induced vascular disease, develop atherosclerotic plaques in the aorta and carotid artery and have a similar blood pressure and heart rate as humans, Kalt said.

What I’ve found through looking at the research and in my own personal practice, is that what is good for your heart is generally good for your brain. Here are some other thoughts about brain-healthy eating…

Fish, Fish Oil, Good Fats and Bad Fats

Fish has been touted as brain food. Omega three fatty acids are the rave. There is good research to support these claims. In a study published in the British Medical Journal, French researchers reported that there is a significantly lower risk of developing brain problems among older people who eat fish at least once a week. Fish contain higher levels of omega-3-fatty acids.

It is hard to get enough omega-3-fatty acids in our diet. The foods that are now considered "mainstream" are often deficient in omega-3. Even if your diet includes several meals of fish per week, you may not be ingesting sufficient amounts of omega-3. This is because much of the fish we consume is now farm raised or does not contain significant amounts of omega-3. When ordering fish in a restaurant or buying it at the store, ask if it was caught in the wild or farm raised. Ideally, your diet should supply at least 650 mg of long chain omega-3 (DHA + EPA) per day, either from food sources or dietary supplementation. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in deep, cold-water fish, such as salmon, mackerel and sardines. Omega-6 fatty acids are also important, but are usually found in adequate amounts in corn, safflower, sunflower or soybean oils.

Dietary Antioxidants

A number of studies have shown that dietary intake of antioxidants from fruits and vegetables significantly reduce the risk of developing cognitive impairment. Here’s a list of the best antioxidant fruits and vegetables from the US Department of Agriculture…

• Prunes
• Raisins
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Cranberries
• Strawberries
• Spinach
• Raspberries
• Brussel sprouts
• Plums
• Broccoli
• Beets
• Avocados
• Oranges
• Red grapes
• Red bell peppers
• Cherries
• Kiwis

Your diet affects your brain, which affects literally everything you do. It’s something you can take control of to change your life for the better. Isn’t that what we all want? I encourage you to take an honest inventory of what you’re putting into your body and try a test period of 30 days with some healthier changes. Your vital organs, including your brain, will thank you and so will the people who care about you.

To your brain health,

Daniel

Daniel Amen, M.D.
CEO, Amen Clinics, Inc.
Distinguished Fellow, American Psychiatric Association