Virtual Art Tour

James Zar, American, born 1941

Profiles of the Past

Art is the engine of the soul affecting the viewer as well as the creator. It shocks a person out of what he or she thought was reality and offers a greater alternative as it opens up to the beauty and the quiet dignity of life," explains James Zar in his biographical sketch for Contemporary Southwest Galleries.

Zar attended Valley Junior College, the Pasadena Playhouse and the San Francisco Art Institute, where his interest in art was encouraged and expanded by his mentor, the late master painter, Keith Finch. Joe Hales and Raymond Escar were influential instructors. Zar holds a lifetime adult teaching credential in California.

As with artists, an education in art is never complete and he is continually studying, exploring and growing in process, concepts and subject. He currently resides in Taos, New Mexico. Southwest Art magazine wrote, "Today after almost four decades as an artist, Zar says his education is ongoing. "An artist can't just stand still. I learn by studying paintings and talking to other artists." James Zar's career has included working in commercial art.

Although he paints a variety of subject matter, Zar’s current focus is still lifes."