John Currin, 1962 | Figurative painter

John Currin is an American painter based in New York City.

He is most recognised for his technically proficient satirical figurative paintings that explore controversial societal topics.

His work shows a wide range of influences, including sources as diverse as the Renaissance, popular culture magazines, and contemporary fashion models.

He often distorts or exaggerates the erotic forms of the female body, and has stressed that his characters are reflections of himself rather than inspired by real people.

Lorenzo Quinn, 1966 | Figurative sculptor

Contemporary Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn is a leading figurative sculptor whose work is inspired by such masters as Michelangelo, Bernini and Rodin.

Exhibited internationally, his monumental public art and smaller, more intimate pieces transmit his passion for eternal values and authentic emotions.

He is best known for expressive recreations of human hands:

"I wanted to sculpt what is considered the hardest and most technically challenging part of the human body", he asserts.

"The hand holds so much power - the power to love, to hate, to create, to destroy".

Andrey Belle, 1957 | Figurative painter / sculptor

Aндрей Белле was born in Minsk, Bielorussia. Since his birth, he lived and studied in Leningrad, now St Petersburg.

From 1975-1977, he served in the Soviet Army.

In 1977, he went straight from the army into the V. I. Mukhina Leningrad Higher School of Commercial Art.

He began to exhibit his work while still at the institute.

Upon graduating and being professionally assigned to the Lot Central Research Institute, he started work as an independent artist - a painter and graphic artist.

Pasquale Celommi | Verist painter

Pasquale Celommi (1851-1928) was born in Montepagano - Italy, into a family of fishermen.

Celommi showed an early interest in art and often drew in his home as a child.

Celommi decided to receive academic training and moved Florence to study under Antonio Ciseri at the Academy of Florence.

He was a strong student and often praised by his teacher Ciseri. Celommi started exhibiting his work in various regions of Italy.

Celommi had a large exhibition in Turin and eventually in Rome.

Nikki Marie-Smith | Mixed-media painter

Nikki Marie Smith is an artist, mother,and entrepreneur. She creates themed art, including a music-inspired series, and received the FAA Artistic Merit Award.

"- I am an artist, a mother, and an entrepreneur. I'm passionate about music and color and seek to convey the transformative power of music through my paintings.

My artwork and tutorials have been regularly featured in Cloth Paper Scissors and Cloth Paper Scissors PAGES magazines.

Ric Nagualero | Surrealist / Outdoor painter

Ric Nagualero (1972-2022) was an internationally collected, award winning wilderness painter and outdoors man, with more than 12 years of professional experience in his field.

He's the man behind one of the most popular YouTube channels on the subject of outdoor plein air painting and wilderness painting adventures.

"With a bit of "know how" everyone can learn how to paint, you just need the basics, patience and to practice, practice, practice the skills you are taught, so you can “earn” and keep them for as long as you live" - Ric Nagualero.

Robert De Niro, Sr | Abstract Expressionist painter

Robert Henry De Niro, better known as Robert De Niro, Sr. (May 3, 1922 - May 3, 1993) was an American abstract expressionist painter and the father of actor Robert De Niro.

Robert De Niro, Sr., was born in Syracuse, New York, to an Italian American father, Henry Martin De Niro (1897–1976), whose parents emigrated from Ferrazzano, in the province of Campobasso, Molise, and an Irish American mother, Helen M. (née O'Reilly; 1899–1999).

He was the eldest of three children; he and siblings John and Joan were raised in Syracuse, New York.

Ilian Rachov, 1970 | Baroque Era style painter

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Ilian Rachov starts his artistic career like self-taught man in 1988 realizing copies of medieval orthodox icons and frescoes, re-discovering ancient techniques of gilding methods and how to engrave after the golden backgrounds of the icons.

His personal elaboration of that kind of old techniques and his modern view of this very antique art helps him to develop an own personal and unmistakable style in the iconography field.