Very fine oil/panel with a female realism nude by the important American artist Ben Long. The dimensions are 24" x 18" and the fine gold wooden frame is 3" wide. Over the last 30 years Benjamin Franklin Long, IV has established a reputation as a portrait painter and rare contemporary master of the ancient art of "true fresco*," painting directly on wet plaster walls. Born in Texas, Long is the grandson of McKendree Robbins Long (1888-1976), a revivalist preacher and visionary painter whose early art training had grounded him firmly in the Western classical tradition. Benjamin F. Long, IV grew up in Statesville, NC, and studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Art Students' League* in New York. Traveling to New York City, Long became a member of the Art Students League and began studying with Robert Beverly Hale and Frank Mason. However, in 1967 he interrupted his art studies to enlist in the Marine Corps, with which he served two years in Vietnam, initially as an Infantry officer and later as a combat artist*.Upon leaving Vietnam, Long traveled to Italy to apprentice himself to Pietro Annigoni in hopes of studying oil painting but found that Annigoni was no longer painting in oil but in the medium of fresco. Undiscouraged, Long committed himself to Annigoni for almost eight years, working beside him in fresco work and teaching himself to paint in oil.After completing several frescos in Italy, including the only painting by a non-Italian at the abbey of Montecassino, Long brought his fresco talent to America. Since 1978, Long has completed 13 frescoes in North Carolina, including a dome at the TransAmerica building in Charlotte. Besides his major fresco work, Long has had works in the Royal Academy of London* as well as the Royal Portrait Society. He has exhibited in Florence, London, Paris, Atlanta, San Francisco and North Carolina, and is represented in major collections in Europe and North and South America. He has lived and worked in Europe for over thirty years and now divides his time between Europe and Asheville, North Carolina. He recently has founded the Fine Arts League of Asheville, a school designed for the needs of the classically trained artist.In addition to his fresco painting, he also continues to maintain a thriving career as a portrait painter, whose subjects have included such prominent individuals as former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt, former Bank of America CEO Hugh L. McColl, Jr. and former UNC System President C.D. Spangler.His many works, created in churches and public buildings throughout the world, have garnered immense praise and recognition.SELECTED COLLECTIONS • The Fremantle Collection, Florence, Italy • The Josefowitz Collection, Lausanne, Switzerland • The Getty Collection, San Francisco, California • The Christie Miller Collection, London, England • The Thane of Cawdor Collection, Scotland • The Annigoni Collection, Florence, Italy • The Sullivan Collection: Paris, France; Miami, Florida; New York, New York • The Stillman Collection, Armenia, New York • The Dalton Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina • The Governor's Mansion Portrait Collection, Raleigh, North Carolina • The McColl Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina • Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Massachusetts • The Wells Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina • Bank of America Corporate Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina • The Mint Museum of Art Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina • United States Marine Corps Historical Museum, Washington, District of ColumbiaSELECTED PORTRAIT COMMISSIONS • Gov. Jim Hunt of N.C. (Governor's Mansion Official Portrait) • Gordon Getty and sons • Hugh McColl (Former President & CEO of Bank of America) • Mr. and Mrs. C.D. Spangler (Portrait,Harvard Business School Spangler Student Center) • Musician Boz Scaggs and wife • Philanthropist Chauncey Stillman • Author and Poet Reynolds Price • Author Danielle Steele and family • SELECTED FRESCO SITES • Basilica of the Montecassino Abbey, Chapel of St. John the Baptist, Montecassino, Italy • Buriano, Station of the Cross, Florence, Italy • Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio (w/ Annigoni), Ponte Buggionese, Italy • Monastery of St. Francis of Assisi, Monte Catini Terme, Italy • Self-Portrait Fresco, Private Collection, Paris, France • Wethersfield Estate (Collaboration with Maestro Pietro Annigoni), Armenia, New York • Bank of America Corporate Center (largest secular fresco in U.S.), Charlotte, North Carolina • TransAmerica Dome, Charlotte, North Carolina (w/ James Daniel, Roger Nelson, and Charles Kapsner). • City of Morganton Municipal Auditorium, Morganton, North Carolina (w/ James Daniel, Roger Nelson, and Charles Kapsner). • First Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, North Carolina (w/ James Daniel, Roger Nelson, and Charles Kapsner). • Montreat Chapel of the Prodigal, Montreat, North Carolina (w/ James Daniel, Roger Nelson, and Charles Kapsner). • Statesville Civic Center, Statesville, North Carolina (w/ James Daniel, Roger Nelson, and Charles Kapsner). • Law Enforcement Center, Charlotte, North Carolina (w/ James Daniel, Roger Nelson, and Charles Kapsner). • St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Wilkesboro, North Carolina (w/ James Daniel, Roger Nelson, and Charles Kapsner).