Steven Assael
Encyclopedia
Steven Assael is an American
painter
recognized nationally as one of the leading representational figurative artists of his generation. His portrayal of the human image is empathetic, ennobling, and psychologically penetrating. Assael's figure compositions synthesize the characteristics of the past masters with a selective eye for the present, suffusing elements of naturalism and romanticism
to blend contemporary techniques with those of the past.
His paintings have been called Post-Post Modern and works strictly from live models. Arlene Raven describes him as wanting "the greater possibilities of duration. More variety, and a broader range of values and colors, a chronicle of the transformations of changing light, spent over real minutes and hours with his model." In speaking of his work and how it contributes to contemporary art
, Assael stated that, "Even though art is dead as we have known it, painting is not."
Born and raised in New York, NY, Assael showed an enthusiasm for art at a young age, taking art classes at the Museum of Modern Art
at the age of four. He attended Pratt Institute
in Brooklyn and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts
in New York and at The New York Academy of Art
.
Assael's work is included in public and private collections around the world. Some are, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
(Kansas, MO), the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(New York, NY), Yale University
(Hartford, CN), and the Chicago Institute of Fine Arts (Chicago, IL). Solo and group exhibitions have included the Staempfli Gallery (New York, NY), Forum Gallery (New York, NY), Fendrick Gallery (Washington DC), National Arts Club
(New York, NY), Yale University (Hartford CN), San Francisco Museum of Fine Art (San Francisco, CA), Arkansas Art Center (Little Rock, AR), Kennesaw State University
(Kennesaw, GA), Stephen F Austin State College (Nacogdoches, TX), University of North Carolina
(Chapel Hill, NC), Phillbrook Museum of Art (Tulsa, OK), and the National Museum in Gadansk, Poland. In 1999 his work was exhibited in a ten-year retrospective at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington and CBS Sunday Morning ran a feature on the artist and the show.
Assael is represented by Forum Gallery and currently resides in New York City.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
recognized nationally as one of the leading representational figurative artists of his generation. His portrayal of the human image is empathetic, ennobling, and psychologically penetrating. Assael's figure compositions synthesize the characteristics of the past masters with a selective eye for the present, suffusing elements of naturalism and romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
to blend contemporary techniques with those of the past.
His paintings have been called Post-Post Modern and works strictly from live models. Arlene Raven describes him as wanting "the greater possibilities of duration. More variety, and a broader range of values and colors, a chronicle of the transformations of changing light, spent over real minutes and hours with his model." In speaking of his work and how it contributes to contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
, Assael stated that, "Even though art is dead as we have known it, painting is not."
Born and raised in New York, NY, Assael showed an enthusiasm for art at a young age, taking art classes at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
at the age of four. He attended Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
in Brooklyn and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in New York and at The New York Academy of Art
New York Academy of Art
The New York Academy of Art or the Graduate School of Figurative Art is an American private, not-for-profit art university, located at 111 Franklin Street in the Manhattan borough of New York City.-Foundation:...
.
Assael's work is included in public and private collections around the world. Some are, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 in Kansas City, Missouri. The core of the museum's permanent collection is the Bebe and R. Crosby Kemper Jr. Collection, a gift of the museum's founders. The collection includes works created after the 1913 Armory Show to works by present-day...
(Kansas, MO), the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
(New York, NY), Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(Hartford, CN), and the Chicago Institute of Fine Arts (Chicago, IL). Solo and group exhibitions have included the Staempfli Gallery (New York, NY), Forum Gallery (New York, NY), Fendrick Gallery (Washington DC), National Arts Club
National Arts Club
The National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...
(New York, NY), Yale University (Hartford CN), San Francisco Museum of Fine Art (San Francisco, CA), Arkansas Art Center (Little Rock, AR), Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University, also referred to as KSU, Kennesaw, or Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational, comprehensive university that is part of the University System of Georgia. The university's main campus is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States, approximately north of Atlanta...
(Kennesaw, GA), Stephen F Austin State College (Nacogdoches, TX), University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
(Chapel Hill, NC), Phillbrook Museum of Art (Tulsa, OK), and the National Museum in Gadansk, Poland. In 1999 his work was exhibited in a ten-year retrospective at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington and CBS Sunday Morning ran a feature on the artist and the show.
Assael is represented by Forum Gallery and currently resides in New York City.