Kansas City, MO - Upon meeting the celebrated Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev in 1974, American artist James Wyeth was captivated by the beauty and intricacy of the art of dance, as well as Nureyev's charismatic personality and exceptional talent.  The two artists developed a close friendship, and a fruitful collaboration resulted, inspiring Wyeth to produce over 35 paintings and drawings of Nureyev.  Capturing Nureyev: James Wyeth Paints the Dancer is organized by the Farnsworth Museum, Rockland, Maine.  On exhibit at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art until 20 August.

The portraits of Rudolf Nureyev in the exhibit Capturing Nureyev: James Wyeth Paints the Dancer reveal not only the personality behind the famous dancer, but also the development of Wyeth's style of painting over the years he was inspired by Nureyev.

Wyeth began painting Nureyev in 1977. Upon first getting to know Nureyev, Wyeth became fascinated with him as a person, not just as an acclaimed dancer.  His works from this period mostly consist of preliminary sketches of the dancer's face and body, not of images depicting Nureyev dancing.

Of course, stardom had already brought about countless images of Nureyev to magazines and television.  But although his likeness had already been captured on film, Wyeth wanted to reveal more of who Nureyev really is in his portraits.  "Photographs can give something, but perhaps only the artist can reveal the skull beneath the skin, the soul behind the image."

In order to capture Nureyev's likeness in the late 1970s, Wyeth created several sketches, acting as studies to familiarize himself with the dancer's features, particularly the nuances of his facial expressions.  Many of these explorations also included notes that explain the proportions of Nureyev's body, such as "calf is 2 widths of ankle," a technique that dates back to Leonardo da Vinci, who wrote about proportions of the human figure extensively in his notebooks.

Wyeth's desire for accuracy dates back to his training at a morgue when living in New York, where he would sketch parts of cadavers.  To ensure accurate depictions of Nureyev's body, Wyeth would use calipers to measure the dancer's calf, shoulder, and wrists.

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