Meet Ralph Cowan

Artist Ralph Cowan 1931-2018 grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia and started painting after he found an oil paint kit which included brushes in the basement of the family’s local church. He was four at the time and was quickly recognized around town as a child prodigy. His high school art teacher wrote in his Senior Yearbook, “to a young man with enough talent to dine with Kings.” He accepted a scholarship from the local Rotary Club which allowed him to attend the New York Art Student’s League. Filled with charisma and a young man’s charm, he started meeting members of New York’s Society who commissioned portraits and invited him to their friends’ parties where he made more friends who loved his talent. They flew him to Los Angeles, Miami Beach and Havana all destinations where the wealthy frequented. He became friends with Johnny Mathis who was the most popular singer in the late 1940s and 50s. He commissioned paintings for six of his album covers. Actress Debbie Reynold, Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor became friends and commissioned paintings. In 1956, his full-length painting of H.S.H. Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly) was published in the New York Times. H.S.H. Prince Rainier purchased the painting as a Christmas present the first year that they were married. At age twenty-four, the Monaco Family became the first of many “Kings” for whom Cowan would paint.

Surreal

His life was surreal, having come from a modest working family whose father worked in the Naval yard in Portsmouth to mingling with people he never dreamed he could befriend that put his talent on the world’s stage. Cowan’s favorite genre was modern surreal. He loved Salvatore Dali’s work. Often between painting portrait commissions, he would express ideas in surreal form on canvas. In 1962, Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband commissioned a beautiful circular portrait of Zsa Zsa. Gabor liked Cowan and became a huge fan. When in Palm Beach, she would come by the studio and usually purchase a painting. One was a colorful rooster sitting on a golden egg. On numerous occasions, she told Cowan that collectors in Los Angeles would be “mad” for his surreal collection. to show his collection in Los Angeles.

The Summation

In summary, Ralph Cowan was known for being gregarious, fun and loving. His team members were always trying to get each other to laugh. An observer might have seen it as jovial competition. He was always making friends from every walk of life. So that’s what he painted. He expressed life from the beauty of the skies, nature, oceans, and modern expressions to the spiritual ideas that society holds sacred. He painted all of LIFE and in the form he wanted. He painted life his way. That was his genre.

Art Reflects Life…Art Inspires…Art Changes Life