Career
In 1972, he was commissioned to paint the royal invitation for the opening of the Sydney Opera House by Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1977, he carved John Wayne’s face in a 116-ton rock that had fallen onto Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. It sold in 1979 for US$1.1 million to an Arizona company, and currently resides in the library of Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas.
Strong created a life size bronze statue of John Lennon, entitled Imagine. He began work on the sculpture as a tribute to Lennon six months before the celebrated musician’s death in 1980. Originally unveiled in New York City by Andy Warhol, it currently is in the possession of a private collector.
Strong painted a portrait of Michael Jackson entitled The Book which reportedly sold for $2.1 million to Hiromichi Saeki Corp in 1990, making it the most money every paid to a living artist for the sale of a portrait. Jackson once referred to Strong as a modern day Michelangelo. This portrait is claimed to be the only portrait that Michael Jackson sat for an artist's rendering and made its first appearance since 1992 on Thursday July 2, 2009. It was displayed for public viewing in Harlem NY near the Apollo Theatre to honor Michael Jackson.
In the 1980s, Strong also completed work on the very impressive U.S. Presidency Monument and :The National Monument to the U.S. Constitution both commissioned by former Chief Justice Warren Burger. The monument was to have been dedicated by President George W. Bush and placed on the grounds of the White House. Currently these two monuments are part of an unprecedented nationwide educational program entitled The Spirit of Freedom about the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
In the mid 1980s, Strong's painting Homage a Henri Rousseau became the cover artwork for the Fleetwood Mac album Tango in the Night. The original painting had been bought by singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham which was hanging in his home at the time.
Strong created NASA’s National Space Exploration Monument for display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. On July 16, 1994, Vice President Al Gore announced this monument honoring the men and women of the United States Space Program and celebrating the anniversary of man’s landing on the moon. In the late 1990s Strong proposed the City of Angels Monument project designed to create a symbol for Los Angeles along the lines of New York’s Statue of Liberty or Paris’ Eiffel Tower. The $4 billion development was to cover 122 acres (0.49 km2) in downtown Los Angeles with the central focus being a 750-foot (230 m) tower as the base for a 350-foot (110 m) female angel, wings spread, holding a sword of light above her head.
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Famous quotes containing the word career:
“They want to play at being mothers. So let them. Expressing tenderness in their own way will not prevent girls from enjoying a successful career in the future; indeed, the ability to nurture is as valuable a skill in the workplace as the ability to lead.”
—Anne Roiphe (20th century)
“I restore myself when I’m alone. A career is born in public—talent in privacy.”
—Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962)
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)