The vast majority of art in this collection are paintings by contemporary artists. It’s easy to assume that living artists will always be around to create more beautiful paintings. But that’s not a sure thing. One of our favorite artists and friends was Berto Ortega. His unfortunate death in 2015 cut short a life of amazing talent and potential. This painting was purchased in 2018 from his estate. It is one of the last works ever painted by Berto and reminds us to never take for granted the precious nature of an artist’s talent nor their friendship.