John Howard Sanden (August 6, 1935 – December 24, 2022) was an American portrait artist.

Biography

Early life

Sanden was born in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, on August 6, 1935. He graduated from the

Minneapolis School of Art The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) is a private college specializing in the visual arts and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MCAD currently enrolls approximately 800 students. MCAD is one of just a few major art schools to offer ...

in 1956 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration.Alumni Careers - John Howard Sanden, ’56
Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Accessed December 4, 2013.

Career

Sanden was the

Art Director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

for the

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) is a non-profit Christian outreach organization that promotes multimedia evangelism, conducts evangelistic crusades, and engages in disaster response. The BGEA operates the Billy Graham Train ...

from 1955 to 1970. He founded the Portrait Institute. He was also an instructor at The

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

. He won the 2005 Portraits, Inc. Lifetime Achievement Award, for which a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

is named in his honor. For thirty-three years, Sanden had studios on the eleventh and then tenth floors of the South Studio Tower of

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and in

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is an affluent New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and on the New York state border, Ridgefield had a population o ...

. On May 31, 2012, Sanden's official White House portraits of former President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and First Lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (née Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American educator who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Bush was previously the fir ...

were unveiled.

Personal life and death

Sanden died on December 24, 2022, at the age of 87.

References

External links

*
Portrait Institute
1935 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters American male painters American portrait painters Art Students League of New York faculty Artists from Austin, Texas Minneapolis College of Art and Design alumni Painters from Texas {{US-painter-1930s-stub