Mati Klarwein, Miles Davis, and Santana
Artist and Model (1959) © Mati Klarwein.
It was 33 years ago this month that Govinda Gallery hosted Mati Klarwein’s first solo exhibition in Washington, D.C., “Portraits” in May 1983 and “Not So Still Lives” in June 1987. Govinda Gallery also arranged numerous portrait commissions for Mati during the 80s and 90s. He was my favorite painter at Govinda Gallery.
I was in New York City last week and saw a copy of apartamento on the newsstand featuring a detail of Mati Klarwein’s painting “Artist and Model (1959)” I grabbed a copy and was thrilled to see a major spread on Mati, his art, and his home/studio in Mallorca where I visited him during two summers.
Mati’s work is known worldwide in no small part because of his legendary paintings being used by Miles Davis on the cover of Bitches Brew and by Carlos Santana on the cover of Abraxas, with both albums having sold tens of millions of copies.
© Mati Klarwein. Available through Govinda Gallery.
Bitches Brew cover © Mati Klarwein
Abraxas cover © Mati Klarwein