Victor Elmaleh Exhibit at Kapell Gallery

(Long Island, N.Y.) Born in Morocco in 1918, Victor Elmaleh has lived an extraordinary American life as a businessman, philanthropist, athlete, and self-taught artist. Following WWII, Victor founded an architectural firm in New York City and later the company that introduced Volkswagen to the United States. He sold nearly two million cars before transitioning to real estate development. His projects include Worldwide Plaza, the landmark 50-story redevelopment of a full New York City block; Pacific Design Center in W. Hollywood, CA, designed by Cesar Pelli; and numerous residential towers. He is a champion athlete in handball, tennis, and squash. He won the national doubles squash championship at age 49 and continues to play today at age 91. A music lover and once-aspiring pianist, he is a board member of Concert Artists Guild and Orchestra of St. Luke’s.

Victor has been married for sixty-seven years to the celebrated ballet dancer Sono Osato. Sono danced with Ballet Russe and American Ballet Theater and starred on Broadway in the Leonard Bernstein & Jerome Robbins hit musical On The Town. She has endowed a scholarship at Career Transition for Dancers to help retiring dancers migrate to new careers.

Victor began painting seriously in the late 1960s, in watercolor and collage on an intimate scale, typically on small embossed cards. He has had over thirty-five gallery shows, including Roko, Saidenburg, Staempfli, AHI, Fox & Fowle, and Neuhoff in New York City; also Benson, Bujese, and Essi Fine Art in the Hamptons. He has exhibited at Bayly Art Museum and School of Architecture at University of Virginia, which named its new building for both Victor and Sono. He also exhibited at Asolo Festival in Venice, Italy.

Victor’s choice of subject, scale, color, and material is a metaphor for his modesty and sensitivity. This show presents a beautiful abstraction of a large life, well lived.

The exhibit opens with a party at 5pm on Saturday, August 7, 2010. Victor and Sono will be in attendance. It will run through Labor Day, September 6th. (See prior press citations on verso.)

25% of all sales will be donated to East End Arts Council

For further information, contact Dave Kapell at kapellgallery@gmail.com or 516-819-8024.

Kapell Gallery: 400 Front Street Box 463 Greenport, NY 11944 631-477-0100