Vance A. Larson (1951–2010), abstract expressionist painter and portrait painter. A prolific artist, during his career Larson painted over 10,000 original works of art and won over 30 Best of Show awards in major art shows from Dallas to Beverly Hills. Larson's paintings are displayed in collections throughout the world.
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Larson attended Paier School of Art, and then the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In 1976, under the pen name Eric Van Larson, he was chosen by Leroy Neiman as one of the nation's top 20 retrospective artists for the permanent collection gallery of the Minnesota Museum of Art, Metamorphose 1. He then went back to using his given name, Vance A. Larson. Throughout the 1970s Larson painted hard-edged oil abstract expressionist works. His best known paintings from this period include "The Lifestar" and "Blue Note." During this early period, however, Larson made his living primarily drawing charcoal and pastel portraiture. Noteworthy among his portraits is the 1980 pastel of the highly decorated Iwo Jima veteran, Major General Fred E. Haynes, USMC, who at the time was married to Larson’s sister.
In 1980 Larson moved to Southern California, and there began painting solely with pastels because he preferred their pigment purity. With pastels he painted with soft yet vivid colors, in styles including hard-edge expressionist works, florals, cloud-like abstracts, and angelic representations. With these works he was able to achieve his dream of giving up portraiture and making a living solely from his creative works. In this new style his intent was to portray different qualities of emotion in a dreamlike state. Well-known works from this period include “Catch Your Dreams Like Thunder” and “Running As Free As The Wind.”
Larson's spirituality and deep respect for Native Americans influenced his decision, in 1995, to move to Cave Creek, Arizona. While continuing with pastels, there he developed a style of unique cave and spirit paintings and ancient hunt scenes. Of the more well-known works from this period include his best-selling “Kokopelli Gold.”
Later, Larson switched to using mainly oil paint once he was diagnosed with cancer, which he attributed to breathing excess pastel dust and an early life as a smoker. While living in Arizona he was presented, by Chief Wolf and The Shadows, with the highly coveted Eagle Feather, legalized by the eagle feather law only through ceremony. Larson lost his battle with cancer and died in his home in Cave Creek on February 14, 2010.
Vance Alan Larson, a fraternal twin, was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on June 15, 1951, to John Bertrand Larson and Shirley Glynn Lockwood. His father attended Augustana College as an architecture student, then was drafted into World War II, where he served in Patton’s I Corps. After the war he worked in sales for several different companies, and then in real estate. He died in 1996. Larson’s mother was a professional singer and artist, and after her husband’s death, married again, to Minnesota weatherman, Bud Kraeling. The couple currently performs song programs in the Minneapolis area. Larson’s older brother, Mark, was brain damaged as a result of a vaccine administered when he was a year old. Larson's twin sister, Valerie, became a professional writer and editor, and collaborated with Larson on various projects throughout his career, including the publication of Illume—Journal of Universal Ideas, which ran Larson’s painting “Lifestar” on the cover of its premier issue.
While living in New Orleans as a young portrait artist in 1977, Larson fell in love with a girl of thirteen, Cynthia Samuel of New Orleans. The couple kept their relationship a secret from both their families, until the pregnancy of their daughter became evident, and in 1979 the couple had Larson's first daughter, Athena Diane. Samuel's family threatened Larson and he fled New Orleans just before her birth, never to return. Athena and Larson’s grandson, Jameschristopher Jacob Wells, today live in Jackson, Mississippi, where she is an artist, and also promotes her father’s art.
In 1988, when Larson lived in Southern California, he fell in love with and married designer Leslie Ladd of Westlake Village. Larson's second daughter, Dana Flora, was born of that union in 1989. Larson and Ladd’s marriage ended in divorce. Dana Flora is today an artist.
Standing 6’1’’, and a generous, cheerful, passionate and magnanimous man, Larson was often described as being “larger than life.” He loved playing the part of the star, and could often be seen driving through town in his white Rolls-Royce or on his motorcycle—always wearing one of his signature 10-gallon hats. He had many lady friends, but also several significant long-term relationships with women who understood him. He could be described as an American “Renaissance” man, with a broad philosophy encompassing the Pagan, the Metaphysical, the Native American, as well as the outright scientific materialist-atheist, depending on his mood; as well as a broad cultural interest in the arts from the ancient to the modern. He had a mind that was open to alternative theories, including the conspiracies, divine mathematics, and natural medicine. Although in the case of the latter, when he became sick with cancer, he chose to forgo this in favor of standard American oncology treatments, which were unsuccessful in healing the disease.
Cover of French Quarter Catalog c. 1978 Cover of ArtNews,[1] Decor; Valley Magazine Pioneer Press,[2] Los Angeles Times,[3] Holistic Health Journal,.[4][5]
Illume—Journal of Universal Ideas [6]
Best of Show, Conejo Valley Art Museum "Art Walk," 1995 Best of Show, Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens, 1999.