Daniel Pontet, a South Florida artist known for his paintings, courtroom sketches and political cartoons, has died

HOLLYWOOD — Daniel Pontet, an artist and activist who was known for his large-scale expressive works but also his sketches of some of South Florida’s biggest courtroom dramas, has died.

Pontet, who moved to Florida from Uruguay in the early 1990s, had sketched scenes of major federal and international criminal court trials, worked as a political cartoonist for newspapers and magazines and had become a staple of Hollywood’s monthly ArtWalk event, where he would often paint with his feet to the beat of local drummers and other musicians.

In his personal life, he was known as a present and loving father who took his daughters and friends — new and old — out to coffee. He studied Buddhist teachings and became a vegetarian, yet still cooked his daughter’s favorite salmon dish.

Pontet died in his sleep of heart failure on April 11, his family said. He was 64.

Born in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, Pontet moved to Miami in 1991. For the past several years he had lived near Hollywood’s Young Circle in an apartment filled with realist paintings that looked like photographs, wild abstract and expressionist works, sculptures and other 3D pieces.

Artist Daniel Pontet, who hails from Uruguay, paints on large canvases with this feet. (Robert Duyos / Sun Sentinel)

“He was a very giving person, very caring,” said his daughter, Sophia Pontet. “He was always very present in everyone’s life. Anyone who was friends with him would say this, he was always there for them.”

Pontet would do anything to help someone, even if he barely knew them, she said, but he still was present in every aspect of his daughters’ lives.

“Art was his life. Everything in his life was art, even cooking,” she said. “He became a vegetarian but he used to make really good salmon.”

A favorite memory that often comes to Sophia Pontet’s mind were her frequent outings to get coffee with her father and sister.

“It was something he used to do growing up in Uruguay so he would take my sister and I for coffees all the time and we would just talk about life,” she said.

About 100 people mourned Pontet at a vigil outside SASA Cafe in Hollywood Saturday night.

Jeffrey Lee, owner of Resurrection Drums in Hollywood, developed a close bond with Pontet over the years. Lee, who organized and hosted the ArtWalk event, choked back tears as he recited a poem and spoke about Pontet’s work, life and legacy.

“Daniel Pontet was an artist,” Lee said. “He was a father. What a great father. He was a friend and a community activist. He lived art. His life was art.”

Pontet’s transformed his nearby apartment into an art studio, where he’d often brew coffee, burn incense and play Indian music, according to Lee.

“There were no TVs, there was no fake laughter, no news, no interruptions to his life,” he said.

In addition to the art he did for himself and his community, he drew courtroom sketches of prominent defendants in federal court cases in South Florida, as well as in Latin America, for the Associated Press, Washington Post, Reuters, CNN, Miami Herald and countless other news outlets.

Among those he sketched in court include:

Accused Chinese spy Yujing Zhang, who was arrested after allegedly trespassing at Mar-a Lago
Trump ally Roger Stone, at his trial for witness tampering and lying to prosecutors
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, in court for his alleged involvement in the January 6 riot
Cesar Sayoc, the accused South Florida mail bomber
Former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, at his trial on charges of child sex trafficking

1 of 4

In this artist sketch, a Chinese woman, Yujing Zhang, left, listens to a hearing Monday, April 8, 2019, before federal Magistrate Judge William Matthewman in West Palm Beach, Fla. Secret Service agents arrested the 32-year-old woman March 30 after they say she gained admission by falsely telling a checkpoint she was a member and was going to swim. (Daniel Pontet via AP) (Daniel Pontet / AP)

Sketching people often accused of heinous crimes took an emotional toll on Pontet, according to those who knew him. Being in close proximity to defendants and hearing detailed allegations would upset him. But he did his best to stay focused on his work and keep the mood light with those he interacted with in the courtroom, colleagues said.

Paula McMahon, a former reporter covering federal courts for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, met Pontet several times while on assignment.

“Daniel was an extraordinarily talented artist across different genres,” said McMahon, now a spokeswoman for the Broward County State Attorney’s Office. “He had the ability to walk into a courtroom and quickly and accurately capture the essence of what was going on there.

“Cameras are not allowed in federal courts but Daniel was able to bring the scene alive and convey the emotion and drama of the courtroom to people who were not there.”

Pontent could do with his feet what most artists can’t do with his hands, McMahon said. She characterized him as a “caring and friendly” man who adored and beamed with pride at his daughters.

Pontet also did political cartoons of dictators and other prominent American and foreign political figures, as well as caricatures of celebrities, athletes, politicians and others for the Miami Herald’s Spanish language publication El Nuevo Herald.

As a young man in Uruguay, he studied under artists such as Esteban Garino, Americo Sposito and Hector Laborde. He spoke in previous interviews about the influence that political conflict, both in Uruguay and around the world, had on his work, often inspiring a sense of conflict and color. He also studied art history at the University of Uruguay.

Once he immigrated to the U.S., Pontet studied sculpture and welding at Sardi’s Studio in Miami Beach. As technology developed, he learned graphic design and other digital art.

Pontet also taught art at his own studios in Uruguay and Miami throughout the 80s and 90s.

He won several awards for his work, including first place in the Heineken Hispanic Mural Program in 2004; first, second and third place for best original art work at the 2003 city of Las Vegas’ Arts Grants and Funding Support Program; and first place for a 1987 design competition at the Victoria Plaza Hotel in Montevideo, Uruguay.

In 2010, Fusionarte Association named him one of the “Top 100 Latinos in Miami.” He had also exhibited his art and performed live at Art Americas and Art Basel Miami.

In 2013, he made a one-story mural with two standing knights and another atop a horse at the Hollywood Academy of Arts & Science.

“His eye for detail and passion for quality made him our muralist of choice,” Donte Fulton, the charter school’s principal, said at the time. “Mr. Pontet was able to take a simple vision and create a wonderful work of art for all to experience.”

At the Hollywood ArtWalk performances dubbed ”Reactionary Impulse Art,” Pontet would listen to musicians — often drummers and percussionists. Once he internalized the rhythms they were playing, he started painting, and almost dancing, with his feet.

Evan Kline, one of the drummers who often accompanied Pontet during the performances, said their drumming sped up or slowed down according to the colors and shapes the artist used.

“It’s definitely a symbiotic relationship,” Kline told the Sun Sentinel at a 2013 ArtWalk performance. “It’s not just our energy feeding him. It’s him feeding us too.”

Kline said at the time that the show is spiritually uplifting, especially for those who join in with their own instruments.

“People can show up with something to hit or shake and join in the rhythms with us,” he said. “You can bring djembes (hand drums), congas, bongos, floor toms, maracas, cowbells, pots, pans. It’s South Florida, it all works.”

Painting with his feet was physically exhausting, Pontet said in 2013. The performances would usually last an hour, with Pontet painting for at least half that time. It would often take a while before the subject of the painting would take shape. Attendees would gasp and clap as they began to recognize the subject.

“When I’m done, my whole body hurts and it takes a few days to get back into shape,” he said. “It’s hard to keep your balance when you’re standing over slippery paint. There are times when I have to take a skier’s posture, you know, where you stand with your legs far apart for balance.”

Celia Brugman, Pontet’s sister-in-law, recalled a family vacation to New Orleans where Pontet and his older daughter painted pictures as they enjoyed jazz music from outside the bars and nightclubs.

They were just painting for fun, Brugman recalled, but multiple people wanted to buy the paintings and said Sophia Pontet, at just a few years old, sold her first artwork for $1.

“He was one of the most positive people, if not the most positive person, I’ve ever met,” said Lisa Liotta, redevelopment and operations manager at the Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency. “He always had the ability to turn negative situations around and it’s hard to do that now.”

Pontet is survived by his two daughters, Sophia, 18, and Francesca, 15.

An art exhibit and celebration of his life is scheduled for Wednesday, April 20, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Hollywood ArtsPark Gallery, 1 Young Circle, Hollywood, FL 33020.

Austen Erblat can be reached at aerblat@sunsentinel.com, 954-599-8709 or on Twitter @AustenErblat.