NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2022 — The historic Grand Deesis monumental mural Icon by the Vatican Artist Guillermo Esparza is on view at The Edward Cardinal Egan Catholic Center at New York University, part of NYU’s Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life, and is on loan from Maria Stalin-Andriasova and Guillermo Esparza’s private collection. The mural Icon of the Pantokrator, The Grand Deesis by Guillermo Esparza is installed at the Edward Cardinal Egan Catholic Center at New York University.
The exhibition is part of the on-going award-winning sacred art exhibit by Guillermo Esparza, “Arcanum Angelorum” (“Mystery of the Angels”), which originated at The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, where Guillermo Esparza served as an artist-in-residence since 2009 until 2014. Guillermo Esparza was honored for the exhibit by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2009. The exhibit is presented and sponsored by Maria Stalin-Andriasova and Guillermo Esparza.
The mural Icon of the Pantokrator, The Grand Deesis, depicts Christ in His Majesty (“Majestas Domini”). The figure to the left of Christ is John the Baptist, Prodromos, the Fore-Runner. The figure to the right of Christ is the Virgin, The Theotokos, Mother of God. The Deesis means “Call to prayer, or supplication”.
Mr. Esparza started writing (composing) The Grand Deesis mural Icon at his Manhattan studio and completed the Icon at his studio at The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street in Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan. The mural Icon became the central part of the award-winning sacred art exhibit by Guillermo Esparza, “Arcanum Angelorum” (“Mystery of the Angels”.) New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg honored Guillermo Esparza’s sacred art exhibit “Arcanum Angelorum” (“Mystery of the Angels”) at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, and proclaimed its opening date of February 26, 2009 as the official “St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral Day” in New York City.
In February 2009, St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York City commemorated its 200 year anniversary with “Arcanum Angelorum” exhibit by American artist Guillermo Esparza.
Guillermo Esparza was the subject of the documentary film “Guillermo Esparza, an American Iconographer”, an original production by Studio International. Original soundtrack to the film was composed and performed by Maria Stalin-Andriasova. The film was released on June 1st, 2009 and premiered at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral for its 200-year anniversary on June 7th, 2009 after a historic Mass by Archbishop of New York Timothy Michael Dolan. The Old Cathedral was designated a Basilica by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on March 17, 2010.
Due to an extraordinary popularity and demand from the public, Guillermo Esparza’s sacred art exhibit “Arcanum Angelorum” (“Mystery of the Angels”) was extended and remained open to the public from February 2009 through May 2014 at The Holy Name Chapel at The Basilica, where two daily masses were served by the presiding Pastor, Msgr. Donald Sakano, Msgr. John Ahern, Rev. Andrew Thi, and visiting clergy, including His Eminence Crescenzio Sepe, Cardinal Archbishop of Naples, Italy, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who created and proclaimed Cardinal-Deacon of Dio Padre misericordioso by Pope John Paul II in the Consistory of 21 February 2001 and was one of the Cardinal electors who participated in both the 2005 and 2013 conclaves that selected Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis respectively.
The blessing of Guillermo Esparza’s mural Icon of The Deesis took place on October 28, 2010 in a private ceremony in the Holy Name Chapel (the lower church) of The Basilica of Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York City and was celebrated by Msgr. Donald Sakano, The Basilica’s presiding pastor.
Permanent installations by Guillermo Esparza, which were commissioned by private donors in New York area, include the following Cathedrals and Churches:
Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York; The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. John The Theologian in Tenafly, NJ; Saints Peter & Paul Byzantine Catholic Church, Somerset, NJ; The Church of the Holy Innocents, Manhattan; The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, Manhattan; The Church of St. Paul The Apostle, Manhattan, and others.
Guillermo Esparza has also worked closely with another important supporter and patron of his studio: businessman and philanthropist Michael Parlamis of Tenafly, New Jersey. One of their projects is a 60-foot Peace Dove mural that is installed at the Peace Memorial Gymnasium adjacent to the St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tenafly, NJ. The mural was commissioned by Mr. Parlamis. The mural was blessed by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios in 2002, and by His All Holiness Bartholomew I in 2004.
Guillermo Esparza’s monumental sculpture of Archangel Michael, which he carved out of Vermont marble, is installed at S.S. Peter and Paul Byzantine Church in Somerset, NJ. Mr. Esparza designed and built the Shrine as well, including carved glass doors and icons. The sculpture took two years to carve and was blessed by Bishop Michael Joseph Dudick.
Another major work by Guillermo Esparza in New York area is his original Mural Icon of the Pantokrator, 15 foot by 20 foot painting in oil and 24 karat gold on Belgian linen. It is installed 60 feet above the nave of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, and is a gift from the Very Rev. Robert V. Wilshire, who served for 20 years as Dean of the Cathedral, seat of the Long Island Episcopal Diocese. Dean Wilshire died on July 22, 1999. The Rt. Rev. James Cordone and The Rt. Rev. Orris G. Walker Jr., Bishop of Long Island, were instrumental in having this project funded and realized.
Guillermo Esparza’s “Arcanum Angelorum” (“Mystery of the Angels”) sacred art exhibit is presented and sponsored by Maria Stalin-Andriasova and her husband Guillermo Esparza.
ABOUT MARIA STALIN-ANDRIASOVA:
Maria Stalin-Andriasova’s famous childhood drawings cycle “Children and A Thousand Cranes” was the basis of Iosif Andriasov’s legendary Second Symphony for Soloists, Full Orchestra and Choir, text by Vladimir Lazarev, which was commissioned by The Russian Ministry of Culture. Widely considered a Wunderkind of an unprecedented caliber, Maria Stalin-Andriasova started composing and notating music at the age of three under the guidance of her father, the legendary Moscow composer and philosopher Iosif Arshakovich Andriasov (Andriasian). She is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
A winner of three consecutive Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Awards in Piano Performance (Lisbon, Portugal) and a recipient of four consecutive R.P. Shafer Awards (U.S. Governor of Pennsylvania), Maria Stalin-Andriasova (Andreasian) was instrumental in securing major grants, including The Initiative Recovery Award from The Fund for The City of New York and George Soros’ Open Society Foundation as well as grants from The Neuberger Berman Foundation, headed by George Walker IV of the Walker-Bush Family, as a volunteer Board Member for The Highbridge Voices, an after-school music and academic program for over 200 at-risk youths in The South Bronx.
Maria Stalin-Andriasova, born in Moscow into a family of celebrated scientists and musicians, is the daughter of the great Russian composer and philosopher Iosif Arshakovich Andriasov (Andriasian). She came to live in New York City in 1979 with her parents after monumental efforts by the U.S. Senators Jacob Javits, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Edward Kennedy after her father refused The Lenin Prize in 1974 from the Soviet government.
As a concert pianist, Maria Stalin-Andriasova performed for many of the world’s dignitaries, including His Holiness Pope John Paul II in New York City in 1995 at a Gala Concert dedicated to the friendship between the United States of America and The Vatican.
Maria Stalin-Andriasova and Guillermo Esparza live and work in New York City since 1979.
ABOUT GUILLERMO ESPARZA:
A visionary in the world of public art in the United States, Guillermo Esparza is the first co-recipient of the “Percent-For-Art” public commissions from the State of Arizona for his two monumental sculptures, part of Smithsonian Museum: “Celebrate The Arts!”, Demeester Outdoor Performance Center, Reid Park, and “Follow The Yellow Brick Road”, Reid Park Zoo, Tucson, Arizona.
Internationally recognized, Guillermo Esparza’s original art is in the permanent collections at The Vatican Museum in Rome, The Phanar Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, The United States National Archives, The Smithsonian Institution, numerous cathedrals, churches, museums, universities, monasteries, seminaries, as well as public and private collections. As an ecumenicist, Mr. Esparza’s commissions for murals, sculptures and full shrines come from many denominations, and his original works are installed in Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Byzantine-Catholic, and Greek Orthodox Churches.
Guillermo Esparza’s honors for his art and humanitarian work come from many, including His All Holiness Bartholomew I, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Edward Cardinal Egan, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, U.S. Navy (for his Centennial Monument dedicated to the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilders, Bath Iron Works for General Dynamics defense contractor, part of Smithsonian), and others.
Born in San Antonio, TX, raised in San Francisco, CA, Guillermo Esparza attended UC Berkeley and originally studied literature and chemistry, while working for NASA as a communications engineer. He studied architecture with his grandfather, Benito Hernandez. Guillermo Esparza is married to The Juilliard School piano virtuoso Maria Stalin-Andriasova.
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