Italy, 1992: that’s when so much changed for an American painter named Dan McCleary teaching at the the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy. There was much about the trip and his time there that made a lasting impact on his art practice, but it was one simple suggestion that changed his life: use an Impressionist color palette. 

This new approach to color opened up the painter’s artistic abilities, and when he coupled that with the beauty of the country and its lifestyle and culture, a new painter was born. From 1993 on, McCleary's work took on a new form. 

A former professor at USC and local Angelino, McCleary arrived at the USC Fisher Museum of Art a few weeks ago to unveil his best works following that epiphany. 

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“We have long admired Dan as an artist and appreciated him as a person, and we thought a survey of his body of work of the past 20 years was timely and well deserved,” said Fisher curator Ariadni Liokatis. 

The 16 paintings on display at Fisher were narrowed down by McCleary and Liokatis. The collection is called “Every Day is Sacred,” a title that tells you everything you need to know about the man and his works. It opened earlier this month and received positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times and the Huffington Post.

But it was clear, by getting to know those in attendance, that this celebration wasn't just for the art, but for the artist himself.

A group of admirers, old high school friends and students gathered on the Friday of the exhibit's opening week inside a large, white room with slick, tan wooden floors. Lights shone from above on 11 of the paintings, hung neatly around the room. The remaining five were in a small adjacent room, where some of the paintings were framed elegantly.

There he stood, a gray-haired man in his early 60’s, wearing a dark blue button-down shirt neatly tucked into black suit pants, with the grin of a young child standing proud in front of his masterpieces. McCleary went around the room and discussed the story behind each painting as well as his craft in general. 

McCleary’s art can be simply described as realistic depictions of normal, everyday events. From a painting of a woman painting her nails to one of a man weighing himself, McCleary captures the sharp realness and power in the most common moments in our lives. His work is heavily influenced by master artists like Johannes Vermeer and Édouard Manet, traces of whom can be seen in all his works. The simplicity of real moments and attention to detail, along with his old-fashioned style, is what his friends and observers find beautiful. 

It became apparent very early on that everyone there was acquainted with McCleary, and you would learn as much about him from his work as you would from watching how those in attendance responded to him with warmth. Their body language described McCleary as someone they felt deeply for and whom they could confide in. 

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Among those in attendance were five of his students at the Art Division, a non-profit art school in Los Angeles for students ages 18-24. Upon talking to one of his students, Jairo Perez, it became obvious McCleary was more than just a teacher. Perez described McCleary as a “grandfather figure” to all of the students.

“He wants you to succeed… he doesn’t want anything [else] from you,” said Perez. As McCleary’s students were leaving the museum, he got up and embraced each and every one of them in a personal and affectionate manner. 

Personal. That’s a good way to describe the paintings in “Every Day is Sacred,” but it's an even better way to describe a man who has made an impact on many lives, with and without his color palette.

Contact Contributor Max Holm here.