Alan Sonneman
Art in Embassies
Alan Sonneman
Art In Embassies - U.S. Department of State
Alan Sonneman has been privileged to contribute to the U.S. Department of State's Art in Embassies Program. In 2016, Sonneman was commissioned by the Department of State to produce an image from the Karakoram Range, which includes some of the world's highest mountains, for the lobby of the U S Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. Additionally, two existing paintings of the Sierra Nevada by the artist were also included in the purchase to compliment the Karakoram painting. Another painting permanently hangs in the office of the Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Sonneman also participated in an extended exhibition at the Ambassador's residence in the ancient city of Skopje, North Macedonia, in 2011. In 2018 he had the privilege to have his work exhibited at Spaso House which is the residence of the United States Ambassador to Russia’s residence for a period of two years.
U.S. Embassy, Islamabad, Pakistan
In 2016, three paintings by Alan Sonneman were permanently installed in the lobby of the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, as part of the Art in Embassies program of the U..S. Department of State. The purchase was consisted of two existing paintings of California's Sierra Nevada and the commission of an image from the Karakoram range in Northern Pakistan. Initially the Department of State discussed sponsoring a trip to the Baltoro Glacier, which runs through the Karakoram range, but it was ruled out because of security concerns. Sonneman chose to paint Mitre Peak from an image by the climber Jorge Kotsky. Mitre Peak is directly opposite of K2 which is the highest peak in that range and the second highest in the world. It is known for its near vertical face, extending the entire height of the mountain.
Spaso House, Moscow. Russia
From 2018 through 2020, several paintings of the Sierra Nevada by Sonneman were on display at Spaso House, the Ambassador's residence in Moscow, in the very room where, in 1935, the first ambassador to the Soviet Union, Willian Bullitt, held the notorious "Spring Ball of the Full Moon" which is immortalized by the Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov great satire of the Soviet era, The Master and Margarita."
