Chesterfield Company Leads the World in the Field of Commemorative Fine Art

Where could you go to purchase an 1896 Olympic Games poster, a painting by Peter Max for 2006 Torino, Italy Olympic Games or a sculpture by marine life artist Wyland for the 2008 Beijing games?

The answer is as close as Chesterfield Valley. , a local gallery, has the official license to provide art for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

In 1988, Fine Art LTD's owner Jack Scharr came to the attention of the committee because of his success on a commemorative project for Ellis Island in New York. When they offered him the license, Fine Art LTD was born.

Scharr's company has since provided artwork for 13 Olympics from the converted 1950s artist's studio on Chesterfield Airport Road.

The committee relies on Fine Art LTD to handle the complete process for each Olympics. Scharr selects the artists, who create the poster or sculpture based on the committee's theme. Fine Art LTD also commissions someone to do acrylic casts and limited edition prints, decides how many to produce and markets the art.

For the 2008 Beijing summer games, for example, Scharr convince Maya Angelou to write a poem about Olympians. The poem, "Amazement Awaits," appears with the original artwork on the poster.

Fine Art LTD also sells the art, including posters dating from the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens to this year's winter games in Vancouver, both in the gallery and online.

"Olympic art is collected by people from all over the world," Scharr said.

The prices range from a $15 poster to an original painting for $100,000. Posters are the biggest sellers, Scharr said.

"We own a huge collection of Olympic art—350 pieces of original art—which has been on display all around the world," Scharr said.

Scharr credits Pierre de Coubertin, a founding member of the International Olympic Committee who is known as the father of the modern games, with insisting that culture be part of the Olympics. A poster was commissioned for the 1896 games in Athens, the first international Olympics of the modern era.

Fine Art LTD has directed the creation of and published art for world-class international events other than the Olympics, including the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"We are the largest company in the world doing commemorative events," Scharr said.

Why run a business with global connections from the Midwest?

"The people are friendly and easy to work with and the central location is a plus for shipping. Chesterfield is a wonderful place to live and work," Scharr said.