Mitsie’s Memories: Jean-Claude Picot

A Park West Gallery exclusive • By Mitsie Scaglione

On the Rue de Petite Chatenay outside of Paris, on a very small street surrounded by a park, you will find the home and studio of artist Jean-Claude Picot (1933-) and his wife Christiana. We have always enjoyed our visits with the Picots because of their love of life and wonderful senses of humor.

Jean-Claude Picot’s studio in Paris. ©Park West Gallery, 2010

The artist’s studio (as you can see in the photograph) is filled with natural light, so, as Picot says, his “paintings can be one with nature.” Picot’s canvases have vibrancy and explosion of color. Many depict the couple’s favorite place — the South of France – where they have a vacation château.

Jean-Claude and Christiana Picot arrive at the Salon d’Automne. ©Park West Gallery, 2010

On one occasion, Albert and I were fortunate enough to attend the Salon d’Automne with the Picots in Paris. Selected artists had been asked to join the exhibition and it was interesting to tour with Picot and to hear his expert comments. Afterwards, we continued on to lunch, where I captured this great photograph of Picot and Albert.

Jean-Claude Picot and Albert Scaglione at Le Salon. ©Park West Gallery, 2010

Picot reviewing his artwork at the printer’s studio in Paris. ©Park West Gallery, 2010

Our next stop was the printers’ studio to review Picot’s new works, many of which were eventually shown at the Picot exhibition at Park West Gallery. Our clients were so happy to meet with the artist and have the artwork they collected personally dedicated to them.

Picot dedicating artwork at the opening of his Park West exhibit. ©Park West Gallery, 2010

Jean-Claude and Christiana Picot at Park West Gallery. ©Park West Gallery, 2010

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Artwork selections from the Jean-Claude Picot Collection are available for purchase through Park West Gallery and its cruise art auctions at sea. Please visit the Park West Gallery – Picot Collection to learn more.

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Read more of Mitsie’s Memories:

• Muhammad Ali Center Featuring the Art of Simon Bull
• Visiting Yaacov Agam in Israel
• A Tribute to Marcel Mouly

My First Park West VIP Art Cruise

Dear Park West Gallery:

“I just wanted to take a minute to thank the entire Park West team for making the VIP Art Cruise so enjoyable.

Simon was fantastic in keeping me posted on all the pre-cruise logistics, and I really appreciated his help and guidance in all the auction previews. He also went the extra mile every day by asking if there was anything we needed, etc!!

Samantha was great – and she was particularly effective at clearing NCL staff out of chairs in the lobby on the evening of the “paint off”!! I also appreciated the fact that she took time to point out other original Picot works that were available when she found out that I bought the original Picot watercolor.

EJ was friendly and helpful! He went to the other auction and pulled the Nixon and Marko pieces for me which I really appreciated (and can’t wait to get them). And he helped me through all the framing decisions despite that fact that he was feeling poorly!

And Rebecca was a star – she rounds out your team well with her bright personality and incredible administrative abilities!!!

As this was my first VIP Art Cruise I really didn’t know what to expect and even when I knew there were going to be artists on board, I still really didn’t understand the opportunity that was being afforded to me!! Upon reflection, how incredible it was to meet and socialize with Noah, Tim Yanke, Nano and Jerry.

Park West has certainly increased my appreciation for all art! I’m still incredulous when I think I bought some abstract pieces (Mouly and Yanke)!!!

Thank you Park West for such an enjoyable experience.”

Nancy W.
Apopka, Florida

Gallery Celebrates 40 Years, 40 Artists, 1.2 Million Clients

Excerpt from an article published July 24, 2008
JENNIE MILLER C & G Staff Writer | The Southfield Sun

 

SOUTHFIELD – It’s been called a museum that sells art.

All 63,000 sprawling square feet of Park West Gallery are filled with artistic and historic passion.

The space, located at 29469 Northwestern Highway in Southfield, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The brainchild of Albert Scaglione, 69, of Farmington Hills, a former NASA researcher with a Ph.D. in physics and math, Park West Gallery represents everything he loves about the world of art.

“Being an engineer, you have to have a sense of abandon of tradition and (embrace) a new way of thinking, and I think art is a lot like that,” Scaglione said. “It’s creative experimentation.”

From Peter Max’s bold, iconographic pop art and Itzchak Tarkay’s vivid figures in oil and watercolor, Igor Medvedev’s Mediterranean expressions and Csaba Markus’ depiction of the Eternal Feminine, to Jean-Claude Picot’s post-Impressionist reflections, Yaacov Agam’s kinetic art and Thomas Kinkade’s spiritual, light-infused paintings, the gallery is a smorgasbord of styles.

“Our artists are all very different – no two are alike,” Scaglione said as several of them meandered the building in anticipation of the two day celebration last week. “I love the personalities. I love the creative differences. I’m passionate about the artists and their stories and their approach to art.”

On July 16-17, Park West Gallery welcomed more than 40 of these internationally acclaimed artists, including local notables Dominic Pangborn and Marcus Glenn, to two special events celebrating its anniversary.

In its 40 years, Park West as grown to become one of the largest independently owned fine art galleries in the world, and is well known for conducting its art auctions on various cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity and Disney.

“It is going to be a spectacular event,” said Park West Gallery Director Morris Shapiro on July 15. “Artists from all over the world, colleagues, experts, (and) art historians are all coming to help us celebrate 40 years of art and art history.”

The gallery is putting together a book and film about its artists, and a documentary is being created by the award-winning filmmaker Alexandre Rockwell.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” Shapiro said as he wandered from room to room, taking in the activity as employees arranged artwork on the walls and crews set up camera equipment as artists began to arrive.

“We have so much art here, it’s difficult to take it all in – we are very proud of our space,” he said, passing by the work of an artist commissioned by the International Olympic Committee for the upcoming games in Beijing, original drawings by Norman Rockwell, as well as artwork from the “Destino Project,” a collaboration between Disney and Salvador Dali in 1945 that was stored in a vault until recently, when Park West was granted the exclusive privilege of selling the work.

“We’ve been very blessed,” Scaglione said. “We’ve been very lucky to have established some great relationships. It’s been an exciting journey for me.”

As a way of giving back, Scaglione created the Park West Foundation in 2006. Over the years, he and his wife, Mitsie, have made numerous financial and fine art contributions to charitable, educational and nonprofit organizations.

“Park West has been in business for 40 years. We have many clients still collecting from us 40 years later, and we very much appreciate all the support we’ve had in our Detroit community and we’ll continue to serve faithfully and loyally as we have had in the past,” Scaglione said.

For more information about the gallery, visit http://www.parkwestgallery.com or call (248) 354-2343.