Baron von Lind: Difference between revisions

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Gerald (Jerry) Lind (October 31, 1937 – October 17, 2017) born in Duluth, Minnesota, also known as Baron von Lind, was an American portrait painter and pin-up artist. He was the son of Baron Johann von Lind of Austria. After he left the United States military in 1989, Lind adopted his ancestral name, "Von Lind".

Early career

Von Lind started his artistic career as a young apprentice at a publishing company doing graphic art. Later, he worked in various fields, including art direction, magazine illustrations, portrait painting, pin-up work for calendars, and classical painting.

Celebrity work

Von Lind also worked at Paramount Studios, where he painted stars such as Yul Brynner, Sophia Loren, Peter O'Toole, and Clint Eastwood, among others. In 1982, he was approached by the White House to create a painting of then-President Ronald Reagan. The artwork now resides in the Reagan Museum in Simi Valley, California.

Museums

Museums that display his works include the Proctor Area Historical Society in Proctor, Minnesota, and the Fifteenth Air Force Museum in Riverside, California. His painting titled 'Mission 207'^[1] was dedicated on May 14, 2004, at March Air Force Base and is now permanently displayed as part of the museum's history honoring the men and aircraft of the World War II era.

Honors

In August 2002, 11 official postage stamps were issued by the Republic of Benin in West Africa with von Lind's art.

Personal

Von Lind's brother was killed on a mission over Germany in 1945 while serving in Italy with the 15th Air Force.

Von Lind passed away in 2017, in North Branch, Minnesota.

Biography from the Archives of askART

The following information was submitted by the artist, February 2006:

Classical and vintage pinup artist Baron von Lind has dedicated his life to art, except for 18 years in the military, during which he honed his skills in all aspects of the profession. After leaving the military in 1989, he adopted his ancestral surname "von Lind" and is known by that name. Von Lind uses the title "Baron" in his artwork, especially his pinup pieces, because his paternal grandfather, Johann von Lind, was an Austrian Baron, and that title passed down to Jerry as the last surviving sibling. He studied art at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and later continued his studies in Europe, focusing on the classical paintings of the masters.

He began as a young apprentice at a publishing company in Duluth, Minnesota, working in graphic art and progressing over the years into fields such as art direction, magazine illustration, design, portrait painting, pinup art, sculpture, and classical painting. His early work focused on wildlife, western scenes, editorial art, calendars, and advertising. In 1959, while working for the St. Paul, Minnesota-based calendar company Brown & Bigelow, he met and was inspired by artists such as Gil Elvgren, Bill Metcalf, Fritz Wills, and others. His vintage-style pinups are now sought after in the recent resurgence of their popularity, and he continues to paint in this style today. In past years he has done portraits of celebrities and stars. He provided illustrations, designs, and sculptures for such companies as General Mills, Pillsbury, Budweiser, Coors, Schlitz, Pabst, Coca-Cola, 3M, Control Data, IBM, Proctor-Gamble, Lakeside Industries, Jax Games, True Magazine, Avon, and Bantam paperbacks, McCall's, Parents Magazine, Bright Ideas Magazine, and several other publications and companies. In the 1960s, he did work for Paramount Pictures, doing posters and portraits for such movie stars as Sophia Loren, Peter O'Toole, Yul Brynner, Clint Eastwood, Harry Carey, and, more recently, Shirley Jones, Jan Shepard, and Elizabeth Taylor. Of all the paintings he has done over the years —over 1,000 —the most prestigious include the commissioned portrait of President Ronald Reagan in 1982, a sculptured bust of the then Governor Ronald Reagan in 1976, and one commissioned by Queen Elizabeth of England in 1990. He also painted the portrait of the famous American Indian potter, Margaret Tafoya, and her husband, which hangs in the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. The President Reagan portrait which hung in the White House during his presidential term now hangs in the Reagan Museum in Simi Valley, California. His painting titled "Mission 207" was dedicated on May 14, 2004, at March Air Force Base and is now permanently displayed as part of the museum's history honoring the men and aircraft of the World War II era. Inspired by the mission so named in which his older brother, Robert, was killed over Germany. In 2002, he was honored by the West African Country of Benin when they issued 11 official postage stamps in various denominations, bearing his pinups. These stamps have since become collector's items. In October 2004, he discussed his art and history during a television interview broadcast in San Diego, California. His pinup art can be seen on several websites worldwide, and his images are used on products sold in stores from Moscow to the United States. Residing now in Southern Florida, he spent 10 years in California and before that in his native Minnesota. Though probably best known for his vintage pinups, his real love in painting is in the neoclassical style, and many art connoisseurs will recognize that Baron von Lind's inspiration comes from one of history's best-known artists, renowned for painting the human form, the style and work of the 19th-century French artisan, William Bouguereau. Like Bouguereau, the Baron's art "captures the subtle nuances of personality and mood." He devotes as much of his time as he can to his family of 7 children, but the rest of his time is dedicated to creating art and hoping, with each painting, to bring some joy, inspiration, or just pleasure to the viewer. As he stated in an article written for an art publication in 1987, where he eludes to creating images that provoke gentle thoughts of peaceful tranquility for the viewer to enter into, if for only a brief moment of escape from the turmoils of modern day trials and events..."so I will continue on with my 'magnificent obsession' to create a dream or two that, who knows, maybe perhaps someday...even you may enter". This is his quest, his wish, his work, his purpose in life to share this talent that God so graciously bestowed on him, not for his own personal profit or acclaim, but to share with the world.