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Matt Lamb : The Art of Success
In this tell-all biography, journalist Richard Speer gives readers an all-access pass into the uproarious, uplifting life of Matt Lamb, a highly successful businessman turned world-famous painter. A rich and inspirational story, Matt The Art of Success captures the essence of this flamboyant yet enigmatic figure and details how he transformed from his first success as CEO of a multi-million-dollar business to become one of the art world's most celebrated and controversial painters. Through candid interviews with Lamb, his family members, friends, detractors, and critics, readers will discover how Lamb came to run a family-owned funeral business with all the drama and pathos of the hit TV show, Six Feet Under only to be told by doctors he was dying of a grave illness and should begin planning his own funeral. Page after engaging page, Matt The Art of Success moves on to reveal how Lamb beat the illness and lived to become a spiritually driven painter hailed as an heir to Pablo Picasso, all the while thumbing his nose at critics who dismissed him and his millions as the antithesis of starving-artist chic. Now in his 70s, Lamb is still moving and shaking, redefining the art world, and tackling his toughest challenge painting for world peace. This book will uncover the secrets to Lamb's success in business and art and leave readers What new adventures are around the corner for this maverick entrepreneur/philosopher? And what can we learn from his life?
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2005
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 20, 2021
It was a interesting book, that provided a unique look into a man with a vast amount of experience and ability to use his monetary gains to experience the highs and lows of being an artist.
March 18, 2011
This is a biography of Chicago artist, Matt Lamb. It fell into my lap, so to speak, so I felt like it should be my next read.
Matt Lamb; the art of success, was a very well written biography about an intriguing man whose life I can barely get my mind around! Born in the same neighborhood in Chicago where my father was born, the blue collar, hard scrabble South Side neighborhood of Bridgeport, he grew up to take over his father's undertaker business, Blake-Lamb Funeral Homes, which also happens to be the funeral home both my parents were waked in. This is where the connection ends though. Lamb and his younger brother turned their father's struggling funeral home into a multi-million dollar business venture, all the while keeping the integrity that was the cornerstone of the business from its early days. Through other this and other investments Matt Lamb was a very rich man living in a Gold Coast mansion by middle age. However, things changed when Lamb received a life threatening medical diagnosis from his doctor. He worked 3 years more but then his symptoms intensified to the point that, at his doctor's suggestion, he began to get his business in order and plan his funeral. Then in 1983 at the age of 51 he told his wife, "If I somehow manage to beat this I'm going to start painting." His wife recommended that he get another opinion so he went to the Mayo Clinic for a barrage of tests. The surprising result was that they found no evidence of any of the 3 diseases he had been diagnosed with 3 years previously. Therefore, he was either originally misdiagnosed or, as Lamb himself believes, he was miraculously healed.
After the clean bill of health, his symptoms gradually disappeared and true to his word, this man with no artistic training whatsoever, untangled himself from his many business ties and became a full time painter. What is even more amazing is that his work, which is categorized as "Outsider Painting" due to his lack of professional training, is known world wide and is often compared to Picasso and Chagall, both in style and in quality. His career has brought him all over the world with paintings hung in places ranging from the Vatican Museum to local Chicago schools on loan. At the same time, he has his detractors who think he's just a rich man who bought himself a successful artistic career. This book is almost as much about the art world with its politics and pretension as it is about Matt Lamb. But as far as Matt Lamb goes, this is a character larger than life who has had such an unlikely and amazing life that I am surprised that before reading this I wasn't even aware of this local enigma! Lamb's home base is still Chicago - in fact it was while doing some work at Lamb's Chicago studio that my husband got talking to his assistant and ended up coming home with, not only this biography, but a gorgeous book of the artists work as well as a stack of glossy exhibit pamphlets that were all given to him for his "wife who majored in art" ! He also has studios and homes in Florida, Paris and - here's another connection - Ireland! With all these studios and agents to go with them Mr. Lamb has managed to do what most trained and often very talented artists cannot - make a huge amount of money as a painter!
As far as Lamb goes - I think he is a man who has managed to turn what appears to be an Obsessive Compulsive personality into a strategy for success. I also think there is no doubt that his wealth was a big factor in his ultimate success as a painter. However, that doesn't take away from his talent as a painter and his courage and energetic dedication to developing his own style and use of media to achieve his vision - a vision which by the way, he says is of the spirit world that he feels all around him. I suppose it's no surprise that an ex-mortician would be in touch with the spirit world!
Matt Lamb; the art of success, was a very well written biography about an intriguing man whose life I can barely get my mind around! Born in the same neighborhood in Chicago where my father was born, the blue collar, hard scrabble South Side neighborhood of Bridgeport, he grew up to take over his father's undertaker business, Blake-Lamb Funeral Homes, which also happens to be the funeral home both my parents were waked in. This is where the connection ends though. Lamb and his younger brother turned their father's struggling funeral home into a multi-million dollar business venture, all the while keeping the integrity that was the cornerstone of the business from its early days. Through other this and other investments Matt Lamb was a very rich man living in a Gold Coast mansion by middle age. However, things changed when Lamb received a life threatening medical diagnosis from his doctor. He worked 3 years more but then his symptoms intensified to the point that, at his doctor's suggestion, he began to get his business in order and plan his funeral. Then in 1983 at the age of 51 he told his wife, "If I somehow manage to beat this I'm going to start painting." His wife recommended that he get another opinion so he went to the Mayo Clinic for a barrage of tests. The surprising result was that they found no evidence of any of the 3 diseases he had been diagnosed with 3 years previously. Therefore, he was either originally misdiagnosed or, as Lamb himself believes, he was miraculously healed.
After the clean bill of health, his symptoms gradually disappeared and true to his word, this man with no artistic training whatsoever, untangled himself from his many business ties and became a full time painter. What is even more amazing is that his work, which is categorized as "Outsider Painting" due to his lack of professional training, is known world wide and is often compared to Picasso and Chagall, both in style and in quality. His career has brought him all over the world with paintings hung in places ranging from the Vatican Museum to local Chicago schools on loan. At the same time, he has his detractors who think he's just a rich man who bought himself a successful artistic career. This book is almost as much about the art world with its politics and pretension as it is about Matt Lamb. But as far as Matt Lamb goes, this is a character larger than life who has had such an unlikely and amazing life that I am surprised that before reading this I wasn't even aware of this local enigma! Lamb's home base is still Chicago - in fact it was while doing some work at Lamb's Chicago studio that my husband got talking to his assistant and ended up coming home with, not only this biography, but a gorgeous book of the artists work as well as a stack of glossy exhibit pamphlets that were all given to him for his "wife who majored in art" ! He also has studios and homes in Florida, Paris and - here's another connection - Ireland! With all these studios and agents to go with them Mr. Lamb has managed to do what most trained and often very talented artists cannot - make a huge amount of money as a painter!
As far as Lamb goes - I think he is a man who has managed to turn what appears to be an Obsessive Compulsive personality into a strategy for success. I also think there is no doubt that his wealth was a big factor in his ultimate success as a painter. However, that doesn't take away from his talent as a painter and his courage and energetic dedication to developing his own style and use of media to achieve his vision - a vision which by the way, he says is of the spirit world that he feels all around him. I suppose it's no surprise that an ex-mortician would be in touch with the spirit world!
March 21, 2011
I really liked this book because I have met Matt Lamb several times and visited him in his studio and his farm. He is an amazing person and a peacemaker. This is a great read about self taught artist and his journey.
February 29, 2008
What can I say? Richard Speer is a brilliant writer. As I wrote to my then husband in a poem before he left for Taos to write this book: "paint the life of an artist with your words." He succeeded.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews