Jim Egan is not just a retired businessman and Coachella valley philanthropist–he is a celebrated painter with a new show at the Artists Center at the Galen in Palm Desert. Egan’s latest show “Icons: Painting by Jim Egan” features over 60 acrylic portraits of his heroes, in a colorful, geometric modern style. The show features paintings of celebrities like Lady Gaga and Tom Hanks and local desert celebrities like Barry Manilow, Donna MacMillan, and of course–Harold Matzner!
Egan’s show also includes extensive notes on why he chose each subject. Here are his notes on why he chose to paint Harold:
I admire Harold Matzner so much. He and I started the same way, selling door-to-door as kids. He represents the essence of capitalism: Work hard all your life, create wealth, and spend your retirement giving it away to make the community better. He spends most of his time giving away the wealth he created and serving on the boards of many non-profit organizations: McCallum Theatre, Palm Springs Art Museum and Eisenhower Health to name a few.
Read more in the Desert Sun.
See all of the ICONS series here.