Steven Assael

Steven Assael, born in New York City in 1957, is recognized nationally as one of the leading representational figurative artists of this generation. His portrayal of the human image is empathetic, ennobling and psychologically penetrating. Assael's figure compositions reflect a love of painting and drawing that synthesize the characteristics of the past masters with a selective eye for the present. His compositions suffuse elements of naturalism and romanticism that blend the contemporary with the techniques of the old masters. Assael works from life and not photography, Arlene Raven has said of him, "Assael wants 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."

Assael's work is included in public and private collections around the world. Some are, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art & Design (Kansas, Mo.); Naples Museum, Naples FL;Yale University (Hartford, Conn.) Chicago Institute of Fine Arts (Chicago, Ill.); Solo and group exhibitions have included the Staempfli Gallery, New York, NY: Forum Gallery, New York, NY; Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C.; NY; Yale University Hartford, Conn.; San Francisco Museum of fine Art, San.Fran. Ca.; Arkansas Art Center; Kennesaw State University,Kennesaw, GA ; Stephen F Austin State College , TX: North Carolina University, Chapel Hill, NC; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK; and the National Museum, Gdansk, Poland: Naples Museum, Naples FL.

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.

Publications include .. Steven Assael Drawings, Linden Hill ArtBooks 2000; Steven Assael Paintings and Drawings, 2009, Naples Museum.

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, New York, NY, and at The New York Academy of Art, New York, NY. Assael is currently represented by Forum Gallery, New York, NY and currently resides in New York City.