De Lempicka adaptations on display through end of year

Twentieth-century painter Tamara De Lempicka is getting a couple of gifts this holiday season in Laguna Beach: namely, size and color.

A pair of oil-on-linen paintings by Donald McPherson, based on works by De Lempicka, are on display through the end of the year in the Art Deco-style building at 580 Broadway St. McPherson, in a statement, said he tries to bring a personal twist to adapted works.

“I never actually copy what I’m working on,” he said. “I react to what I see and then make a conscious decision based on the reaction, not my memory of the viewed object, person, landscape, photo, etc.”

Donnie Wise, whose Joseph Wise Gallery put the paintings up, said McPherson’s works are larger and more colorful than the originals by De Lempicka, whose works seldom measured more than a couple of feet high.

“Her paintings are the size of an apple, whereas his are three times the size of hers,” she said. “They’re much larger and a lot more colorful. They’re like hers, but he’s embellished them quite a bit.”

Both paintings, which can be viewed through the window from the street, are for sale.

—Michael Miller