DETROIT JAZZ PORTRAITS
Sanctuary Hall Gallery
June 7, 2024 to July 27, 2024
Artist and photographer John Osler (1935 b. – 2023 d.) is best known for his ability to capture an emotional moment and his work demonstrates his deep respect for his subjects. His painted portraits combine a fresh and free approach to color and style, which over his long career, garnered admiration from fellow artists for their strength and directness. As the house artist for the Dirty Dog Jazz Café in Grosse Pointe Farms and behind the scenes at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Osler photographed both emerging musicians and the icons of Detroit Jazz and possessed a natural ability for capturing the artists feeling the emotional expression of their music. His 2013 book Detroit Jazz documents the legacy of Detroit Jazz musicians. In 2014, 2015, and 2016, Osler’s artwork was featured on promotional posters for the Detroit Jazz Festival.
Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.
DETROIT JAZZ PORTRAITS
Sanctuary Hall Gallery
June 7, 2024 to July 27, 2024
Artist and photographer John Osler (1935 b. – 2023 d.) is best known for his ability to capture an emotional moment and his work demonstrates his deep respect for his subjects. His painted portraits combine a fresh and free approach to color and style, which over his long career, garnered admiration from fellow artists for their strength and directness. As the house artist for the Dirty Dog Jazz Café in Grosse Pointe Farms and behind the scenes at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Osler photographed both emerging musicians and the icons of Detroit Jazz and possessed a natural ability for capturing the artists feeling the emotional expression of their music. His 2013 book Detroit Jazz documents the legacy of Detroit Jazz musicians. In 2014, 2015, and 2016, Osler’s artwork was featured on promotional posters for the Detroit Jazz Festival.
Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.
The son of an illustrator and an art teacher, John Osler grew up in Detroit surrounded by art. He studied engineering at Cornell University and began working as a sales rep for the art studio founded by his father. He later became one of the founders of Midcoast Studio which specialized in commercial photography. In 1992 Osler walked away from his successful career to pursue painting and photography. He enjoyed painting during his travels to the Mississippi Delta, New Orleans and Provence where he met extraordinary people who were of modest means and had fragile futures. They were free with their friendship and rich in spirit. He painted people experiencing homelessness, those in the back row of a tiny church, market preachers, winemakers and many others. Through his humanist approach, Osler’s paintings and photographs captured the joy, pain, and hopes of these individuals, immortalizing their shared moments with reverence and dignity.
Osler’s celebrated work has won Gold Medals in the prestigious Scarab Club shows and is held in both public and private collections in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Seattle, Monterey, Minneapolis, New Orleans, throughout the country, Europe and New Zealand.
The son of an illustrator and an art teacher, John Osler grew up in Detroit surrounded by art. He studied engineering at Cornell University and began working as a sales rep for the art studio founded by his father. He later became one of the founders of Midcoast Studio which specialized in commercial photography. In 1992 Osler walked away from his successful career to pursue painting and photography. He enjoyed painting during his travels to the Mississippi Delta, New Orleans and Provence where he met extraordinary people who were of modest means and had fragile futures. They were free with their friendship and rich in spirit. He painted people experiencing homelessness, those in the back row of a tiny church, market preachers, winemakers and many others. Through his humanist approach, Osler’s paintings and photographs captured the joy, pain, and hopes of these individuals, immortalizing their shared moments with reverence and dignity.
Osler’s celebrated work has won Gold Medals in the prestigious Scarab Club shows and is held in both public and private collections in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Seattle, Monterey, Minneapolis, New Orleans, throughout the country, Europe and New Zealand.
