ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 18, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Portrait owners say that the compelling blue eyes of one modern-day portrait of Christ convey a sense of "teacher," "trusted friend" and "listener." The painting has been featured on radio, television, on QVC for five years running, in two Avon catalogs and on World Youth Day posters, and is now in more than 280,000 homes across the nation. The bottom line is that there's something about this particular portrait that really "speaks" to people today.
Painted by master portrait artist Stanley Gordon-who has painted a list of dignitaries including six U.S. Presidents, Pope John Paul II and a multitude of other religious and international leaders, this painting has become the most sought-after portrait of Christ in modern times.
"I think the eyes are very important in a portrait," explains Gordon. "I feel the only way you can communicate to someone is directly through the eyes. In this portrait, I have Jesus looking directly at the viewers. I feel I created something in the eyes of this portrait - a gentleness, a listening compassion - that I was not aware of at the time I painted it."
Portrait owners agree. "It's the first thing I look at when I get up in the morning and the last thing I look at before I go to bed," says one female portrait-owner from Arizona. "It's just magnificent. I feel lucky to have a print by such a master artist as Stanley Gordon. You can see every brush stroke. It's like no other I have ever seen."
"In this portrait you can see the compassion and love in Jesus' eyes. When you hang it in your house, it has such a presence," says another lady from Pennsylvania. These comments are typical of hundreds received by the painter over the years.
"This portrait of Jesus will be my father's legacy," says Kevin Gordon, an NBC news anchor in New York, an artist in his own right, and son of the renown portrait artist, Stanley Gordon. "When you look at this painting of Christ, it's like looking into the eyes of Jesus of Nazareth."
Rochester businessman Dan Morgan, best known for his phenomenal success as a Florida housing developer first discovered this portrait by chance, in a gallery at Rockerfeller Center in New York City.
"When I grew up," recalls Morgan, "there was a picture of Christ in every home. But that's no longer the case. The moment I saw this portrait of Jesus by Stanley Gordon, it drew me in. I knew this was the one to bring back that tradition into family life."
For more information or to view this portrait of Jesus, go to its new Web site at www.faceofjesus.com.
Photos available.