Island Art Gallery - Hyatt Waikiki
Saturday December 27 was a very special evening for The Island Art Galleries as they filled the entire Hyatt Waikiki gallery with art painted by the famed Makk family.  Eva Makk, her husband Americo Makk, and their son A.B. Makk are all artists in their own right and have over 45 years of professional experience and accomplishments.
Americo Makk was born in 1927 in Hungary. He studied art at the Hungarian National Academy in Budapest and won a scholarship to Rome, where he won the Vatican Portrait Award. He and Eva were both appointed Professors at the Academy de Bellas Artes in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There they became official artists of the Brazilian government. In 1962 they came to New York City to escape Brazil’s political instability.

Me and Eva by On Wings
I was excited to get a picture taken with Eva next to her painting, “On Wings” which has hung dominately in my home since 1991. I saw it in the window of a gallery one day, walked in and bought it. Later I learned that Eva was born in Ethiopia. Her father was a diplomat, and her mother was an Hungarian baroness. She began painting at age four, studied art in Paris and graduated summa cum laude from the Rome Academy of Fine Arts, where she met Americo. Together they painted huge murals while in Brazil and once spent thirteen months in the Amazon jungle on a painting expedition.

Masae, A.B. and Eva
In the photo above you see Masae, Eva and her son A.B. who was born in 1951, while she and Americo were living in Brazil. A.B. began exhibiting at the age of five, when he was called “the little Picasso”, for his then cubist style works. He graduated high school in New York City and got his degree in psychology from the University of Hawaii. Masae brought along her Makk Family book “A Vision of Life” and had it signed by the entire family, including Sylvia; wife of A.B. and an artist as well.

New Masterpiece
Americo helped Eva unveil her latest masterpiece, and then went on to show new works by them all. This was a memorable evening finely presented by the team at Island Art Galleries.

Unexpected Signing
I was really taken by surprise when three girls visiting Hawaii from Greece popped in and presented me with copies of Retail Selling Made Easy to sign for them. They had just got the book from a retailer that hired them for seasonal work while here on vacation. This world is really shrinking.

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