Brian Tivel: An Artist's Life And Work
On October 26, 2020, Brian Eugene Tivel passed away at the Enloe Medical Center, Chico, California, at the age of 81.
My memories of Brian are mostly from his youth. He was a popular student, played football and baseball, and was an exceptionally talented artist. He was also a natural clown, when he wanted to be.
A favorite family book was Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Dad would turn on the recorder and Brian would voice Toad perfectly, including the “Poop-poop-poop” of the motor car Toad snatched. As memorable as his improvisations were, though, it is Brian the artist I remember most.
Often, the family would watch Brian create his pictures on whatever was available (canvas, paper, window shades--anything) with whatever media he was experimenting with at the time. Brian worked with oils, water color, pencil, pen and ink, and many other media. An orange peel rubbed in ink made a wonderful texture on the page. I particularly remember his pencil and pen-and-ink drawings that came to life after just a few adept strokes. Brian was encouraged in his artistic endeavors by his grandmother, who painted in oil, and by Kendall (Casey) Poole, a teacher and superb artist himself.
One Of Brian's First Line Drawings
A Few More Lines
One Of Brian's Early Paintings
Gallery
This gallery will, I hope, give you an idea of Brian's life and work.
The Tivel Family
A Young Artist
In 1957, Brian was 17 years old and still in high school when he entered an art contest sponsored by Scholastic Magazine. The contest took place at the Emporium, San Francisco, California. Brian took home 8 first places and 17 second places.
Renaissance Arcitecture
Robert Olwell, working for Reid & Tarics Associates (John Lyon Reid, Sandor G. Tarics), designed both the Ascension Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Oakland, California, and the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Belmont, California. He designed the buildings in the Byzantine tradition but used modern materials, design, and engineering. For an interview of Olwell about the projects, see the "Resources" section at the end of the gallery. I will be quoting Olwell elsewhere in the gallery from the same document.
Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross
The Artists, As Chronicled By Olwell
"...John [Reid] had adopted this young fellow. He worked here in the office as an office boy, and John would bring in some drawings occasionally that he (Brian Tivel) had been doing. And I had the notion, "Well, why don't we get Brian to do the icons," because I was just so depressed by the usual commercial church art, particularly Greek church art, which has such a marvelous heritage, and they were doing, you know, kind of cigar-box-top, Italian cemetery-art practically; awful stuff, to my mind anyway."
...
"Brian's sketches, although he was only nineteen at the time, had a kind of a purity and a sweetness that the old ones had, so Father [George Vlahos] was very enthusiastic, but he had a lot of opposition; a lot of the congregation wanted, you know, the Victorian picture-poster kind of thing, because that's what they were used to. So Father was really the person who forced it through; they never would have okayed it without him."
"Then there was a guy in the congregation, Cedric Bourboulis, who was a commercial painter really, but he had had more experience in transferring big things like this, so Brian painted the things about like this [gesturing], and then they were photographed up, and then we pounced them off, you know, you run'a pounce wheel like needles over the design and then you take a bag of carbon, and then once it's pressed on the wall, that just makes little like dots for the design. Then Cedric got up on the scaffolding, and he did the ones on the ceiling. I think that he changed them all a little bit too much in the process. He had a taste for a little bit more, you know, gaunt-looking things, than Brian did. Brian did the Platytera himself. But then Brian did all the icons here and all the small ones on the top."
Artist Andrew Saffas also assisted with the Oakland dome paintings.
"Later, in the Belmont church, Cedric started the Pantocrater, but Brian was discontented, myself also, and Brian went up and finished it himself, and I think that it's just a knockout, a really superb drawing and feeling about the whole thing. Mrs. Dimitroff, who is Lucienne Bloch, did the pavings in both churches, but these were really better in Belmont."
In an interview by the Ascension Historical Society,
"... Cedric [Bourboulis] also mentioned his working in the Belmont church and working on the paintings in the dome there also. He stated that he planned it out and had all the supplies ready (including 24 karat gold leafing) but then was injured and Brian was asked to complete the work."
In Brian's Studio
Much of the work for both the Oakland and the Belmont churches was done at Brian's San Francisco studio. The following images show some of his work, some completed and some unfinished. This work included an engraved wooden statue for Oakland. John Reid assisted Brian with the statue.
Inside The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension
The following 9 images are courtesy of Carolyn Sakkis, Director-Ascension Historical Society, Oakland, California
Inside The Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross
Over the last several years, the Belmont church has transitioned to all mosaic art work by Sirio Tonelli. Brian's work no longer exists in the church. Although it is sad to see the painted icons go, the mosaics are beautiful, too. The following four images show the transition.
A New Family
I have taken the liberty of quoting from a legal document which chronicals Brian's relationship to the Reids (see "Resources" for the complete document)."Brian was born on May 12, 1939, the son of Carl and Anna Tivel. In 1959 and for approximately ten years prior, Carl Tivel was employed as the Superintendent of Schools of the Larkspur School District in Marin County, California. At that time John Reid...was an architect whose firm performed architectural services for the school district. As a result of such contact, John and Lilya Reid became acquainted with Carl Tivel and his son, Brian."
"In September 1959, a tragic event occurred. Carl Tivel took his life and that of his wife, Anna, leaving Brian an orphan at the age of twenty. Thereupon, Brian, at the request of John Reid, became employed in the Reid architectural firm."
"By early 1960, a substantial bond of affection had developed between the Reids and Brian, leading the Reids to inquire of Brian if he would be receptive to the idea of their adopting him as their son. Brian responded affirmatively. To effectuate the adoption, the Reids and Brian, pursuant to the advice of the Reids' now deceased attorney, executed an Agreement of Adoption dated April 10, 1960, prepared by the attorney."
"For the next eleven years, Brian and the Reids were in constant daily contact, while Brian began a career in church-related, and then commercial, art work."
...
"In 1971, eleven years after the adoption, John and Lilya Reid decided to retire and relocate in Red Bluff, California, near the family home of John Reid."
"John Reid had been an acute diabetic for some time prior to their retirement. They felt that Lilya Reid could not undertake his care alone. After family discussions between Brian and the Reids, they decided that Brian would accompany the Reids on their relocation in order to help in caring for John Reid. Brian assisted in the family move and thereafter resided in Red Bluff with the Reids. As a result of this move, Brian turned down an attractive promotion to the position of Art Director of the San Francisco advertising firm of Allen & Dorward, Inc., and left their employ."
"Two years after the move, ...Lilya Reid contracted cancer of the esophagus, which later spread to other organs, including the lungs. She was diagnosed as terminal and rapidly became bedridden and incapable of basic bodily functions. In addition, John Reid suffered increasingly from his advanced diabetes. For more than a year prior to...[Lilya's death] on June 2, 1974, Brian assumed sole responsibility for the constant daily care of his adoptive parents."
While the Reids still had their health, the new family had many fun times while living in San Francisco and, later, in Red Bluff.
Brian is buried at the Pine Mountain Cemetery,Atascadero,CA.,where he rests with other members of the family.
Resources
- RENAISSANCE OF RELIGIOUS ART AND ARCHITECTURE IN THE SAN FRANCISO BAY AREA Contains interview with Robert Olwell,
- Artist Biography & Facts, Brian Tivel,
- 17-Year-OldArtist Wins 25Awards In Region contest,
- Cory v. Brian Eugene Tivel... -- Contains the history of Brian's realationshp with the Reids,
- R. F. Olwell Clipped From Daily Independent Journal,
- Obituary of Fr. George A. Vlahos,
- How to use a pounce wheel,
- Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension,
- Oakland, California Ascension Historical Society,
- Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross,
- Albums at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross,
- Ouspensky, Leonid and Vladimir Lossky. The Meaning of Icons, St. Vladimir's Press, Chrestwood, New York, 1989,
- Ascension Cathedral, Celebrating Our First 100 Years, 1917~2017 -- A 100th Anniversary Album by the Ascension Cathedral, Oakland, California. The album is dedicated to Mary Mousalimas and the Ascension Historical Society who worked to create the album.