Christian Thee Revisits Charleston 35 Years After Creating the Original Spoleto Festival Poster
1977 Original Spoleto Poster by Thee
Meet Christian Thee: stage designer, and scenic and trompe l’oeil artist.
Thirty six years after Thee’s iconic poster was chosen for the original Spoleto Festival in 1977, the Charleston Library Society will be featuring an exhibition of Thee’s broad portfolio of artwork as part of this year’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival. And after knowing just a few of the locations of where his artwork is displayed, it’s not hard to understand why…
Location 1: Donald Trump’s Taj Mahal Resort in Atlantic City, where Thee created a 46 foot Persian mural.
Thee's Mural at the Trump’s Taj Mahal Resort in Atlantic City
Location 2: New York Trump Tower in NYC, where Thee painted the ceilings of the Buccelati showrooms.
Location 3: The home of celebrity Joan Rivers, where Thee transformed River’s foyer into garden murals from top to bottom.
Impressed yet? If not, don’t worry…I saved the best for last.
Location 4: The Windsdor Castle in England, where Thee was commissioned from the Royal Family of Britain to paint a life sized portrait of Prince Andrew for the young royals twenty first birthday. And to top it all of, Thee actually attended Prince Andrew’s birthday celebration at Windsdor Castle, where he presented the royal portrait during his reception with Queen Elizabeth!
Thee's tapestries at the Trinity Episcopal’s Keenan Chapel
Not only is Thee’s artwork featured in prestigious locations around the World, his work is so realistic that it actually tricks people into believing his paintings are real. For example, Thee painted two enormous tapestries at the Trinity Episcopal’s Keenan Chapel in Columbia, South Carolina that are so life like, people often touch the painted walls of the church just to double check if it’s real or not.
As I said before, after knowing some of the people/places Thee has painted for, and examining the creativity, imagination, and use of depth in his artwork, it’s no surprise that Thee will be featured in the 2013 Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and is recognized worldwide as a leading practitioner of trompe l’oeil art & design.
Thee’s artwork will be part of the 2013 Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC from May 24 through June 8 at the Charleston Library Society on 164 King Street.
words: Victoria Feakins
"Cat Unwrapped" by Christian Thee
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