World famous portrait artist Maciej Maga honored Arthur E. Benjamin and his work saving dogs across the globe with a life-size oil painting Wednesday night to an audience of friends and local and international civic and business leaders from as far away as Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Maga has hundreds of commissions to his name, including international leaders and statesmen like Pope John Paul II, Prince Albert of Monaco, President Ronald Reagan and U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Maga shared with the group that he was particularly moved by this painting because of Arthur’s love for animals and his work in the community and across the globe.

Benjamin, an executive producer of the recently released film “JOBS” and an international entrepreneur who joined Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the US Entrepreneurial Mission to Indonesia in 2011, has founded dozens of companies in Texas and across the nation.

Benjamin was completely surprised by the content of the painting which captures the essence of his relationship with canines. Mr. Benjamin’s canine projects are as varied as bringing 18 dogs from Afghanistan home to their returned U.S. soldiers in recognition of their service, to saving a pup from the Thai meat-trade and fostering it in Texas before re-homing it in Melborne, Australia, to leading an organization that trains several hundred service dogs for disabled troops returning to the US. He is the founder of American Dog Rescue based in Dallas, and also the host of “For The Love Of Dogs,” a weekly TV show which airs in Dallas and Houston.

Guests attending the event included Ahmed Al Sarkal, managing director of Flag Holdings, UAE who is one of Benjamin’s business partners, Sundays Hunt, a state director of the Humane Society of the United States, and Michael Cain, Benjamin’s partner in Trinity Film Fund and who fostered Arthur’s multi-year involvement and sponsorship of The Dallas Film Festival.