What must it have been like to walk into Stradivarius’ workshop in Cremona, and see glowing and newly varnished violins hanging on the walls, stacks of wood ready for carving, chisels lined up in size order, wood chips on table tops? For the modern mind, this scene seems more fairy tale than reality- that is, until one enters the workshop of John Monteleone.

In a handsome, small structure beneath a canopy of trees, there is a modern day Stradivarius, honing his craft, tapping on his chisels, as the waters of the Great South Bay lap the nearby docks. My palette loaded with paints, my brushes dancing rapidly over the canvas, I looked at John’s serene face and traced the cool natural light of the window above intermingling with the warm glow of the work lamp below. Watching John’s hands glide over the surface of the guitar body in steady rhythms, his tools removing thin skeins of woody pulp, I understood why Degas so delighted in painting the rhythms of ballet dancers.

Taking occasional breaks, John would walk over and pick up a simple block of wood, and begin to describe it. I was in awe of the way that this man was so immersed in his craft, that he could tap on this wood and identify if the note was an E, or a C. And I thought- where other men saw a mountain of marble, Michelangelo saw his Pieta within it. Where other men see a slab of common wood, John sees his calligraphic guitar. John sees potential, and his work is to extricate the sublime from the mundane.

For several months, John made trips to my studio to sit for his painting, and we spent hours painting and playing music and sharing stories and laughing. Some days, I would bring the easel to John’s workshop down the road, and I would paint him in his world. It was an honor of a lifetime for me to paint this living legend, a pleasurable experience that I hope my painting somehow captures. – Kevin McEvoy

This painting was painted entirely from life without the use of photography, projectors, AI or any technology for that matter beyond paintbrushes, canvas and paint.

Master Guitar Maker: John Monteleone

Oil on Linen, 48” x 60”, $18,000 (financing available)

A true modern day master of his craft, John Monteleone builds arch top guitars for the leading musicians in the world. John has a permanent exhibit at the MET museum in NYC of his stunningly beautiful “Four Seasons” guitars. Kevin’s portrait of John making a guitar was installed in an exhibit at the Long Island Museums, having been painted from life in John’s own personal studio, amidst wood shavings, guitars and carving tools. This painting captures the master in the moment of creating his craft – one can sense his pleasure as the wood begins to take form.

“His uniquely designed instruments are the essence of artistic expression, reflected in the subtle but challenging marriage of form and function.

John Monteleone has been pushing the luthiery envelope for more than forty years with his refreshing passion for new and elegant designs. Producing instruments of great tonal expression is also one of Monteleone’s missions in life.” Monteleone.net

The Long Island Museum (LIM), a Smithsonian Affiliate located in Stony Brook, New York, holds outstanding collections of Long Island regional art and history. This exhibit celebrated John Monteleone by displaying over 50 guitars he’s made loaned from the MET, and included his portrait painted by Kevin McEvoy – painted specifically for this exhibit. Learn more about this exhibit here on LIM’s website.