Saturday, Jan 31, 2015, 7pm.  Art Lab, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building H (Snug Harbor), SINY 10301

Years ago, Staten Island artist Sarah Yuster painted the portrait of the novelist Saul Bellow.

“I wrote to him, sending samples of my work, and asking if we could meet so I might paint him. He liked my  letter and we began a correspondence.  A year later he invited me to Vermont, where I spent several days taking photos and talking with him and his wife.”  From those photographs, Ms. Yuster created a portrait of  the Nobel Prize-winning author of Henderson the Rain King, the Dean’s December, Ravelstein, and many other distinguished works.

The young painter was delighted to work with Bellow, and he was pleased with the final result.  The painting now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.  Sarah wrote an essay on her experience working with one of the most eminent American writers of the 20th century.

The painting is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Join us for a winter’s evening of readings & conversation with Sarah.  Free & open to the public.