Tarallo, Jorge (Uruguay, 1951-) Oil Painting. “Indian Encampment.” Oil on canvas. Signed lower right Jorge Tarallo C. In good condition. Measures 30” x 40”. Frame measures 36 ” x 46 ”.

From Artbrokerage.com: Jorge Andres Tarallo Braun Uruguayan Artist: b. 1951. Jorge Andres Tarallo Braun was born in 1951 in Montevideo, Uruguay where he studied at the National Arts School under the direction of the well-known artists Riveiro and Garino. In 1972, he came to the US to begin his career as a painter. A growing number of collectors have followed his work in gallery exhibitions in Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, New York, Chicago and other American cities.Tarallo signs his paintings J.T. Braun, and his adopted name of Braun is generally how he is known.Achieving a particular quality of lighting and shadows is a special concentration of Braun's. Critics frequently comment on a Rembrandt influence in his landscapes and seascapes, but Braun describes himself as an impressionist painter concerned with realism.

Askart.com: The following interview text, submitted December 2011, is written and copyrighted by Faye I. Moore, from Vista, California.

The author wrote: I am a freelance writer, and have been for over 25 years Several years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jorge Tarallo for a project I was co-writing the literature for (a Western Art Festival). In the course of my interview, I noticed that Jorge was sketching something. When the interview concluded, he signed the drawing and handed it to me as a memento of the occasion (he was staying with friends in San Diego, at their home in Alpine). I am attaching my recollection of that interview and the sketch itself. In closing, I wish to mention that I knew even then that Jorge would be very successful. It's a pleasure to see how far he has come. -Respectfully, Faye Hollins-Moore.

"Tarallo" by Faye I. Moore

When I first met Jorge (pronounced "hor hay") Tarallo, I was a fledgling freelance writer and he was trying desperately to come to the United States from his native Uruguay (specifically, the capital, Montevideo) and break into the western art community. I was interviewing him for a publication I was co-writing for a western art festival. We spoke about his heritage in the world of art. Both his father and grandfather were architects. In fact, his grandfather designed one of the best summer resorts in Uruguay, "Punta Del Este", with homes and ranches valued in the millions. His grandfather also painted in watercolors and this is where Jorge began to develop his considerable talents in this medium. His mother, Maria, had emigrated from Spain during World War II. She chose Montevideo for strictly economic reasons when she learned that the peso at that time was much stronger than the dollar. Jorge's (or "George", as he preferred) wife, Ana, was also an immigrant. This beautiful Lebanese found and married George in 1983 (having met him through her brother who knew George's brother). Then George began telling me about his paintings. He sold his first work, a watercolor, at the age of twelve and received what he called "very little payment", while in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He won several competitions in high school including the first prize for a sand sculpture which yielded him a one month stay in France. At the time of my interview, there was only one gallery representing his work located near the small town in California where he and wife, Ana, were staying with friends. He wasn't a member of any artists' guilds and very few articles had been written about him. He had an agent who was also an art dealer, however, that he had known for several years located in Chicago. And this was his only outlet for his spectacular works of art. Despite this distant representation, he was determined to remain in the United States preferring to paint portraits of our Native American culture. This resolve was bolstered by the fact that he had tried other methods of supporting him and his family without success. For years, he owned a leather coat factory in Montevideo until an employee put him out of business. I spoke with this determined man and I consider it one of the most fascinating interviews of my career. I knew that, even with so little exposure, I was watching and talking with what will one day be a renowned artist. We compared notes on how to practice our craft. He wondered what it was like to face a blank piece of paper and put words on it. I wondered about a blank canvass. And it got even more fascinating from there. For one thing, he uses a glass palette with a regular easel. He does no sketching first. As he put it, he just, "Thinks and then (starts) with a brush full of oil". And he paints from the perspective of a mirrored image, stating that it gives his paintings a more "objective" feel. He's always preferred oils especially when painting what he termed "Gaucho Art", which is the equivalent to our western art in his native Montevideo. And, of course, there is the lighting he requires. As he stated, "The ideal studio has large windows and isn't necessarily peaceful. If it isn't quiet, I just turn my back on the noise. The lighting has to be natural, northern in Uruguay and southern here". He expressed how difficult it is to find such a place: both in Uruguay and in the U.S. When I interviewed him, it was in a less than ideal studio setting. The friends he was staying with did their best to offer him a suitable environment for his work. But, at least for the time being, he had to restrict his painting to the early morning or evening hours only in order to even closely simulate his desired light source. But there was a dark side to his painting. Unscrupulous art dealers were taking advantage of his lack of business acumen for their own profit. There were, in fact, lawsuits pending against one local gallery including George and some of his fellow artists claiming that the gallery owner sold their paintings at a much higher price than what they were told: sometimes with a difference of thousands of dollars. And there was George's limited knowledge of our language that made for a miscommunication between him and various representatives of the art world. One incident, in particular, both perplexed and angered him. An out of state gallery that had been representing his work began to sell them wholesale. But he stayed in the U.S., despite bouts with greed and chicanery. And as I viewed his paintings that had been placed on display all around our interview, I found myself grateful that he chose to remain here. One in particular, Boxed Canyon, had me wondering if the two tribesmen were captured in the surrounding stone walls or making plans for passers-by. And there was the much more aggressive painting, titled, In Pursuit. The pointing finger of one tribesman is matched by the understanding facial response of the other. With hand-tethered horses standing by, the co-conspirators map out their plans to proceed. And the details of their faces make it appear that Tarallo must have had actual subjects, but he doesn't. Not only does he draw their native costumes; but, through their motions, he actually depicts their thinking and spirit. Because the Native American culture is his first love. He feels much more at home with what he calls, "Our ingrained image of 19th century western living". At one time, in his homeland, Tarallo thought he could easily portray the Atlantic seascape and old houses there that had been abandoned by disillusioned fishermen. He did this through the use of watercolors and abstracts. But it lacked the richness of the American west. And he found that the use of oils was much more instinctive, too. He developed a method of contrast and definition by placing a great deal of dark coloring followed by lightness. But the paintings that resulted also brought a dilemma for him. In his words, "The problem I find is naming my pictures like an American would". In his painting of a lone horse standing in a prairie home's rain drenched front yard, Tarallo sets the scene for a number of titles. But he settles on one, Waiting. His portrait of the trailed out cowboys' at a well-lit saloon with the unkempt streets, showing the horses at bay and cowboys embarking on a rare night of relaxation gave Tarallo a suitable title, The Last Chance. And, with this title in particular, I could see the irony between his painting and his American west: both were being given one last chance.