Martin McKeown

Artist who brings stars down to earth opens his first Scottish exhibition.

His work often turns his famous subjects into figures of fun, yet they are still appreciated and collected by some of Hollywood's aristocracy.

Over the past two decades Sebastian Kruger has become a friend to the stars after immortalizing them on canvas in comical, caricature form.

Celebrities including actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Clint Eastwood, Musicians Madonna, Bono and the Rolling Stones, and sports stars Mike Tyson and Boris Becker have all been given the Kruger treatment.

Many of Kruger's best known portraits – described as "classics of their kind" – even hang on the walls of mansions belonging to A-list stars across Los Angeles.

Now the German born artist is bringing his collection of works to Scotland for the fist tim with a new exhibition in Edinburgh later this month. More then 30 paintings, which have already been on display in New York, Boston and glitzy Santa Monica, will go on show at the Roxburghe Hotel.

Born in Hamlin, Kruger was always destined to make a name for himself in the art world studying fee painting at the Academy of Graphic Arts in Brunswick.

But it was in caricature study that he truly excelled, and by the time he was 26 a number of his works had already been published in magazines, newspapers and calendars, as well as on the cover of music CD's

His quirky portraits of the likes of Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne and clint Eastwood brought him attention in Hollywood, while his works on the Rolling Stones were exhibited around the world.

Many of his paintings feature the rock group because of his love of their music, and over the years he became close friends with the band members. Keith Richard's was the first to be captured before the other Stones members were sketched and painted.

In 1999 Kruger released a book of many of his best portraits including Robert De Niro, Sting, Leonardo DiCaprio and Janis Joplin.

According to his on line biography the artist loves exaggerating the features of his subjects. But is states "despite such exaggerations and maniacal morphs, Kruger approaches nearly all of his subjects with a level of respect and sincerity. "his goal is to reach inside them and pull out the very essentials of their character. This requires empathy by the artist, as well as the requisite artistic skills."

Exhibition organizer Jonathan Poole said yesterday: "Kruger takes his art very seriously and I have the utmost respect for his unique artistic abilities."

"Kruger has a genius for capturing the soul and spirit of his subjects through his distinct style of painting."