Zachary Selig (24 November 1949 – 30 June 2016) was an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

er and celebrity

spiritist Spiritism may refer to: Religion * Espiritismo, a Latin American and Caribbean belief that evolved and less evolved spirits can affect health, luck and other aspects of human life * Kardecist spiritism, a new religious movement established in m ...

Life

Selig was the son of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

born American steel manufacturing

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and economic advisor Marvin Selig and Eleanor Berg Selig, a Texas commissioner of

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

under 3 United States presidents.Maloney, Ron "SMI founder passes away" ''Seguin Gazette'', December 29, 2010.
/ref> He was born in Seguin, Texas, and later lived with his mother's family in the

Hudson River Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yonkers in Westch ...

and in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Selig's mother's cousin and wife became Selig's surrogate parents, who guided him into an international world of art and accomplished artists that built the foundation of his career. Another maternal family relation, New York publicist Lee Goode Kingsley, established Selig's relations in the art world.

Charles Revson Charles Haskell Revson (October 11, 1906August 24, 1975) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was best known as a pioneering figure in the American cosmetics industry as the person who created the first pigment-based nail polish and ...

, his mother's cousin and co-founder of

Revlon Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, perfume, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it remains. Revlon was founded by brothers Charle ...

, invited 17-year-old Selig on board the Revlon

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

Ultima II ''Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress'', released on August 24, 1982, for the Apple II (United States Copyright Office, USCO# PA-317-502), is the second role-playing video game in the ''Ultima (series), Ultima'' series, and the second ins ...

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

and introduced him to many guests that later became his lifetime friends, including

Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress. She began her acting career in British cinema in the early 1930s, with a breakout role in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). She ...

Babe Paley Barbara Cushing Mortimer Paley (July 5, 1915 – July 6, 1978) was an American magazine editor and socialite. Affectionately known as Babe throughout her life, Paley made notable contributions to the field of magazine editing. In recognition of ...

, Gloria Guinness,

Dolores del Río María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...

Ahmet Ertegun Ahmet Ertegun ( ; , ; July 31, 1923 – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and championed many lead ...

and his wife Mica, Chito and Jeanette Jaffe de Longoria,

Prince Egon von Fürstenberg Prince Egon von Fürstenberg (Eduard Egon Peter Paul Giovanni Prinz zu Fürstenberg; 29 June 1946 – 11 June 2004) was a socialite, banker, fashion and interior designer, and a member of the former German princely family of Fürstenberg. In ...

, jewelry designer Aldo Cipullo, Vogue magazine editor DD Ryan, and publicist

Eleanor Lambert Eleanor Lambert (August 10, 1903 – October 7, 2003) was an American fashion publicist. She was instrumental in increasing the international prominence of the American fashion industry and in the emergence of New York City as a major fashion c ...

. Selig died of heart failure in 2016 after dinner and enjoying the company of dear friends in Mexico City. He had been residing in San Miguel de Allende in his adopted home of Mexico.

Education

Selig was tutored in drawing and oil painting from the age of 5 in Texas, and spoke fluent

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

by age 12. He began his

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

anthropological studies in Mesoamerican Anthropology at the age of 16 at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, Mexico with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

professor Baron Alexander von Wuthenau, who wrote 5 books on the racial origins of man in Mesoamerica.Alexander von Wuthenau – WorldCat
/ref>Alexander von Wurthenau - LibraryThing: Works by Alexander von Wuthenau
/ref> His formal education in the arts began with painting at the

Colorado Academy Colorado Academy (CA) is an independent nonsectarian, co-educational, college preparatory day school for students from Pre-Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade. The school's campus is located in Lakewood, Colorado, and serves approximately 1000 ...

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. He then studied at

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1780 and is the oldest university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is Higher educ ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

and at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, the

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

, the Art Students League of New York, the New York School of Interior Design and oil painting at the

École des Beaux Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Selig was an apprentice of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

artist

Pedro Friedeberg Pedro Friedeberg (born January 11, 1936) is an Italian-born Mexican artist and designer known for his surrealist work filled with lines colors and ancient and religious symbols. His best known piece is the “Hand-Chair” a sculpture/chair design ...

, who also uses

Tantra Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism. The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...

s and

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

n cultural references in his works of art. In 1970, Friedeberg introduced Selig to his

mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

, artist

Bridget Bate Tichenor Bridget Bate Tichenor (born Bridget Pamela Arkwright Bate) (November 22, 1917 – October 12, 1990) was a British surrealism, surrealist painter of fantastic art in the school of magic realism and a fashion editor. Born in Paris, she later e ...

, in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Tichenor, a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

in the magic realism

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

, spiritually adopted Selig and he was Tichenor's

protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

until her death in 1990.Friedeberg, Pedro. (2011) De Vacaciones Por La Vida – Memorias no Autorizados del Pintor Pedro Friedeberg: Trilce Ediciones, Mexico DF, Mexico, Editor Deborah Holtz, Dirección General de Publicaciones del Conaculta y la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) 2011, .

Career

His first publication as

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

was the bestselling ''

Kundalini In Hinduism, kundalini (, ) is a form of divine feminine energy (or ''Shakti'') believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the '' muladhara''. It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power ...

Awakening – A Gentle Guide to

Chakra A chakra (; ; ) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The concept of the chakra arose in Hinduism. B ...

Activation and Spiritual Growth.''Selby, Jon and Selig, Zachary. (1992) Kundalini Awakening, a Gentle Guide to Chakra Activation and Spiritual Growth, New York: Random House, (0-553-35330-6) Selig was a

magic realist Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical rea ...

painter.Ginsburg, Steve "Euroflash Takes L.A." ''W Magazine'', August 21, 1989. pp. 20–21. His skills as a spiritist and

led to the creation of a unique

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

titled ''Relaxatia'', an ancient Solar

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( ) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. The word ''paradigm'' is Ancient ...

that he rediscovered through

Purépecha The Purépecha ( ) are a group of Indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the derogatory term " Tarascan", an exonym, app ...

Nahaulli high priests in

Zihuatanejo Zihuatanejo (), and/or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was known by 18th-century English mariners as Chequetan and/or Seguataneo. Politically the city belongs to the municipalities of Mexico, m ...

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

, Mexico. It is a

of the human

chakra A chakra (; ; ) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The concept of the chakra arose in Hinduism. B ...

system and the solar light spectrum, designed to activate

in color-coded paintings. Selig made commissioned portraits and works of art for Isabel Goldsmith-Patiño,Christy, George "The Great Life." ''The Hollywood Reporter'', October 6, 1988. p. 19.Ginsburg, Steve "North of the Border." ''Women's Wear Daily'', January 31, 1989. eldest daughter of Sir

James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His controversial business and finance career led to ongoing clashes with British media, fr ...

and granddaughter of

Antenor Patiño Antenor Patiño Rodríguez (12 October 1896, in Oruro, Bolivia – 2 February 1982, in New York City) was a Bolivian tycoon, heir to his father Simón I. Patiño, called "the King of Tin". Family He married firstly in Paris, France on 8 April ...

,Christy, George "The Great Life." ''The Hollywood Reporter'', February 9, 1989. p. 50. Prince Egon von Fürstenberg,Quinn, Joan A. "Click: Zachary Selig honors Prince Egon von Furstenberg." ''The Herald Examiner'', January 26, 1989.

Catherine Oxenberg Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime-time soap opera ''Dynasty (1981 TV series), Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of ...

and

Kelly Le Brock Kelly LeBrock (born March 24, 1960) is an American actress and model. Her acting debut was in '' The Woman in Red'' (1984), alongside Gene Wilder. She also starred in the John Hughes film '' Weird Science'' (1985), and in '' Hard to Kill'' (199 ...

,Ginsburg, Steve "Eye in California – L.A." ''Women's Wear Daily'', February, 1988. among others. Exhibitions featuring Selig's paintings include "100th Anniversary of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

- Portraits of the Stars" held at the

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aero ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and "Organic Landscapes" sponsored by

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

. An ''

E! True Hollywood Story ''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E!. Overview ''E! True Hollywood Story'' originally started as a series of specials beginning on March 29, 1996, but evolved into a weekly biographical documentary ...

'' featured Selig and his close friendship with actress and fashion model

Margaux Hemingway Margaux Louise Hemingway (born Margot Louise Hemingway; February 16, 1954 – July 1, 1996) was an American fashion model and actress. The granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway, she gained independent fame as a supermodel in the 1970s, appear ...

.''E! True Hollywood Story''. Season 1, episode 4. 1997.
/ref> He helped launch Hemingway's career in the 1970s, and established the initial marketing and public relations format that helped make her a global celebrity, introducing Hemingway to a circle of fashion professionals in

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 ...

that included photographer

Francesco Scavullo Francesco Scavullo (January 16, 1921 – January 6, 2004) was an American fashion photography, fashion photographer best known for his work on the covers of ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' for over three decades, and his celebrity portr ...

, designer

Halston Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer, who rose to international fame in the 1970s. Halston's minimalist, clean designs, which were often made of cashmere or ...

, ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' editor Francis Stein and Marian McEvoy, a fashion editor for ''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides i ...

''.''E! True Hollywood Story''. Margaux Hemingway episode. 1997.
/ref> Selig and Hemingway privately studied Solar

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

together at the Hemingway family's property in

Ketchum, Idaho Ketchum is a city in Blaine County, Idaho, United States. Located in the central part of the state, the population was 3,555 at the 2020 census, up from 2,689 in 2010. Located in the Wood River Valley, Ketchum is adjacent to Sun Valley and ...

, adjacent to Sun Valley.''Extra''. Margaux Hemingway TV episode. July 3, 1996.Albright, Syd "Idaho Lures the Hollywood Rich and Famous Since the 1920s." ''Magicvalley.com by Times-News'', September 4, 2015.
/ref> Several years later, Hemingway made Selig the

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

for her 1990 ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine cover and pictorial by photographer

Arny Freytag Arny Freytag (born April 12, 1950) is an American photographer who specializes in glamour photography. He began working for ''Playboy'' magazine in 1976 and at one time was one of only two photographers who produced the ''Playboy'' centerfold pho ...

that was shot in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

.Hemingway, Margaux "Papa's Girl." Pictorial by Arny Freytag. ''Playboy Magazine'', Vol. 37, Issue 5. May, 1990. pp. 126–135. Selig was a Yoruba

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and spiritual

consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

.Zachary Selig – authors – Random House
/ref> He was the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

phenomena A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...

for director

Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror filmmakers of al ...

and the production of ''

Spontaneous Combustion Spontaneous combustion or spontaneous ignition is a type of combustion which occurs by self-heating (increase in temperature due to exothermic internal reactions), followed by thermal runaway (self heating which rapidly accelerates to high tem ...

'' (1990), a film about

psychokinetic Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

powers.Zachary Selig – Imdb
/ref> It received a nomination for best film in the 1991

Fantasporto Fantasporto International Film Festival (Portuguese: Festival Internacional de Cinema do Porto) is an international genre film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Screening and awarding fantasy, sci-fi and horror orient ...

International Fantasy Film Awards.Spontaneous Combustion - awards - Imdb
/ref> Selig performed an

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African a ...

spiritual cleansing ritual in the 2013

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''A Journey to Planet Sanity'',Rechtshaffen, Michael "A Journey to Planet Sanity: Film Review." ''The Hollywood Reporter'', December 4, 2013.
/ref> a film about psychics and the paranormal. His background as an artist, spiritist and his

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

painting were used in his work as

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

."The Art of Living in L.A." ''Los Angeles Magazine'', July 1989. He trained with the

interior design team of Bunny Mellon and

Cartier Cartier may refer to: People * Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player Places * Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australi ...

designer Aldo Cipullo, where he mastered trompe-l'œil painting techniques. His first commissioned trompe-l'œil interiors were showcased in a 1971 ''

House Beautiful ''House Beautiful'' is an interior decorating magazine that focuses on decorating and the domestic arts. First published in 1896, it is currently published by the Hearst Corporation, who began publishing it in 1934. It is the oldest still-publi ...

'' article featuring Cipullo's residence in

. In 1977, Selig worked in

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

and created the MU clothing collection in

, which was produced by artisans in Zihuatanejo.Sanchez-Osorio, Nicolas "Novissimo: Vesitdos y Esculturas de Zachary y Hellen Negreto." ''Periódico Excélsior'', December 17, 1977. In

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, he restored and decorated a suite of interiors in the Villa d'Este, a historic

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

courtyard

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

that was built circa 1928 for

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

.Barrie-Anthony, Steven "Preservation: Idyllic ... and Endangered." ''Los Angeles Times'', June 24, 2004. The early 20th-century Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style building, with its elaborately painted

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

, ceiling decorations and

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

, was a former residence of

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

star

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienn ...

.Gebhard, David and Winter, Robert. (1994) Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide, Utah: Gibbs Smith Publishers, (978-0-879-05627-8), p. 128. Selig specialized in Sekhem, utilizing an 8,000-year-old pre-

dynastic A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. Historians ...

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Neteru design

theurgy Theurgy (; from the Greek θεουργία ), also known as divine magic, is one of two major branches of the magical arts, Pierre A. Riffard, ''Dictionnaire de l'ésotérisme'', Paris: Payot, 1983, 340. the other being practical magic or thau ...

with classical and modern design elements in the art of

harmonics. Selig contributed to

Maureen Orth Maureen Orth (born 1943) is an American journalist, author, and a Special Correspondent for '' Vanity Fair'' magazine. She is the founder of Marina Orth Foundation, which has established a model education program in Colombia emphasizing technolog ...

's book ''Vulgar Favors'' about the death of

Gianni Versace Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up ...

.Orth, Maureen. (2000) Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History, New York, N.Y. Dell Publishers, , p. 527. Selig had a home in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, from 1996 to 2004, and was associated with Versace's circle of friends, spending the Sunday before Versace's death with him and a group on the 11th Street Beach in

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...

. In 2011, Selig contributed the first detailed biographical data of Bridget Bate Tichenor's mother Vera Bate Lombardi and her relationship to

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and Businessperson, businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with populari ...

for the book ''Sleeping With The Enemy – Chanel's Secret War'' by Hal Vaughan.Vaughan, Hal. (2011) Sleeping With The Enemy – Chanel's Secret War, New York: Borzoi Book by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House Publishing, , pp. 176–180."McAuley, James "The Book Bench: The Exchange: Coco Chanel and the Nazi Party." ''The New Yorker'', September 1, 2011.
/ref> Artist Pedro Friedeberg dedicated a chapter on Zachary Selig in his book of memoirs ''De Vacaciones Por La Vida (Holiday For Life)'' with eight friends that included

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

Leonora Carrington Mary Leonora Carrington (6 April 191725 May 2011) was a British-born, naturalised Mexican Surrealist painter and novelist. She lived most of her adult life in Mexico City and was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movem ...

, Kati Horna,

Tamara de Lempicka Tamara Łempicka (; 16 June 1894 – 18 March 1980), known outside Poland as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art Deco portraits of aristocr ...

Mathias Goeritz Werner Mathias Goeritz Brunner (4 April 1915, Danzig, German Empire – 4 August 1990, Mexico City) was a Mexican painter and sculptor of German people, German origin. After spending much of the 1940s in North Africa and Spain, he and his wife, ...

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inheri ...

, and Bridget Bate Tichenor."Friday Art Pick: Pedro Friedeberg." ''L'Etoile Magazine'', May 6, 2011.
/ref> His artwork was represented by Friedeberg Fine Arts in the USA, France, United Kingdom and Mexico.Pedro Friedeberg Fine Arts
/ref> Friedeberg's 2013 ''Too Much is Not Enough'' exhibition at the Casa Diana Gallery in

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the Municipalities of Mexico, municipality of San Miguel de Allende (municipality), San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the t ...

featured Selig's ''Spiritual Guides'' series of paintings. Selig's artwork was included in Friedeberg's 2014 ''Manos por Mexico'' exhibitionTalavera, Juan Carlos "Intervienen manos de Pedro Friedeberg." ''Excélsior'', June 6, 2014.
/ref> at the

Franz Mayer Museum The Franz Mayer Museum (), in Mexico City opened in 1986 to house, display and maintain Latin America’s largest collection of decorative arts. The collection was amassed by stockbroker and financial professional Franz Mayer, who collected fine ...

, where it drew over 18,000 visitors;Museo Franz Mayer, Esposiciones: Manos por México. Pedro Friedeberg
/ref> it was later exhibited at the Pinacoteca de

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

."Tendencias: Artistas reconocen trayectoria de Pedro Friedeberg." ''Milenio'', 2014.
/ref> In 2014, a portrait painted by Selig was featured in the exhibition ''Joan Quinn Captured'' at the

Brand Library and Art Center Glendale Public Library is a name used for a group of eight library branches in Glendale, California, under the Library, Arts & Culture Department. Founded in 1907, the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department includes six neighborhood librar ...

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

.Joan Quinn Captured at Brand Library Art Center
/ref>Banks, Alicia "Brand Library exhibit captures artists' muse Joan Quinn" ''Glendale News-Press'', July 2, 2014.
/ref> A solo exhibition of Selig's latest ''Magic Talismans''The magic talisman art of Zachary Selig - Catalogue
/ref> series of paintings opened on April 1, 2015, at the Sollano 16 gallery in San Miguel de Allende,

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

, Mexico. In September 2015, the

Museo de Arte Moderno The Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) is a museum dedicated to modern Mexican art located in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. The museum is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura and provides exhibitions of national and internat ...

in Mexico City displayed Selig's work in its 10-year anniversary exhibition ''10 años de "Arte Vivo"''.Arte Vivo 2015, p.265
/ref> An exhibition of Selig's '' Magic Talismans'' paintings was presented at

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

2015 in Miami Beach by the Bertil Bernhardt Design and Art Gallery."Bertil Espergen kicks off Art Basel Miami with the grand opening of Bertil Bernhardt Design & Art Gallery." ''Venue Magazine'', December 2, 2015.
/ref>The Magic Talismans by Zachary Selig - Catalogue - Art Basel Miami 2015 - Bernard Bernhardt Art Gallery- Miami, Florida
/ref>

Painting technique

Selig's art was inspired and influenced by Mexican culture, along with Meso-American magical

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

symbols and mysticism, as were his European mentors who were Mexican expatriate Surrealists. Selig painted with an

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil paint also has practical advantages over other paints, mainly because it is waterproof. The earliest surviving ...

medium and used an

easel An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it, at an angle of about 20° to the vertical. In particular, painters traditionally use an easel to support a painting while they work on it, normally stan ...

. At age 20, the artist Bridget Bate TIchenor taught him an Italian 16th-century painting technique that she had learned from artist

Paul Cadmus Paul Cadmus (December 17, 1904 – December 12, 1999) was an American artist widely known for his tempera, egg tempera paintings of gritty social interactions in urban settings. He also produced many highly finished drawings of single nude male ...

in 1944. The labor-intensive painting formula involved multiple transparent thin oil glazes, building layers applied with #000 sable brushes on egg-shell

gesso A restored gesso panel representing St. Martin of Tours, from St. Michael and All Angels Church, Lyndhurst, Hampshire Gesso (; 'chalk', from the , from ), also known as "glue gesso" or "Italian gesso", is a white paint mixture used to coat rigi ...

, resulting in a deep, detailed and jewel-like

three-dimensional In geometry, a three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values (''coordinates'') are required to determine the position (geometry), position of a point (geometry), poi ...

finish. Mexican Surrealist Pedro Friedeberg introduced Selig to

esotericism Esotericism may refer to: * Eastern esotericism, a broad range of religious beliefs and practices originating from the Eastern world, characterized by esoteric, secretive, or occult elements * Western esotericism, a wide range of loosely related id ...

and shared many of his creative interests, helping build the foundation of Selig's career as an artist. Friedeberg guided Selig's perspective drawing and use of magical cosmograms and symbols. Selig's artwork can be considered both Surrealist and Magic Realist, but it does not adhere solely to the principles of Surrealism. His paintings juxtaposed spiritual themes that reflected his extensive 40-year background as an artist and spiritist.

References

External links

*
Zachary Selig website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selig, Zachary 1949 births American occultists 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Trompe-l'œil artists American spiritual writers Painters from California American interior designers Kardecist spiritism People from Seguin, Texas American portrait painters American psychics New Age writers Artists from Texas Babalawos Parsons School of Design alumni École des Beaux-Arts alumni University of Houston alumni 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American Jews 2016 deaths