artists

SHARON SPRUNG

To view all available work by Artist Sharon Sprung visit artsy. For Brooklyn painter Sharon Sprung, art is a vehicle to elevate the human condition by bridging gaps, creating visual and physical connections that transcend political and personal agendas. Whether it be intimate portraits, emotionally perceived cityscapes, or exuberantly charged still life paintings, the work is arrived at by flawless draftsmanship and bright, vibrant colors. Sprung is an artist who paints any subject matter she chooses with equal command, with not a single imaged note out of place. Her work is nationally and internationally collected, with a three decade span of prestigious exhibitions. This year Ms. Sprung’s show that began at the National Arts Club travels to eight museums in China. The subject of numerous articles and awards, Sprung is one of the premier realist artists in the country.

Sharon Sprung, contemporary representational artist

I love painting people, struggling through the paint to create on a two-dimensional surface the three-dimensional experience of another.

Teaching Experience

  • Landscape & Cityscape Painting for 8 days in Havana, Cuba, January 2014
  • Painting of the Figure, for 12 days at SACI in Florence, Italy, Spring, 2013
  • “Expressing Form Using Color” Portrait Society of America Conference, May 2012
  • Master Class in St. Petersburg at the Russian Academy of Art, Fall 2009
  • Figure Painting for 2 weeks at SACI in Florence, Italy, Spring 2009
  • Instructor of Painting-The Art Students League, 2004-date
  • Instructor of Painting and Drawing-National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, 1993-date

Publications

  • Brookner, Anita, UNDUE INFLUENCE, Random House, New York, 1999, 'City Wildlife," cover.

Bibliography

  • Pratique des Arts, Portfolio des artistes, “Peintres ’a l’atelier, In the May 2013 issue, page 45.
  • Ginzberg, Max, The Artist’s Magazine, “A Tale of Two Countries, a powerful exhibition of 100 paintings by 51 American realists in Beijing, China”. In the March 2013 issue, pages 14 to 16.
  • Egnoski, Christine, International Artist Magazine, “Words of Wisdom, from the 2012 Faculty”
  • In the February/March 2012 issue, pages 26 to 31. Passing on traditions to future artists.
  • Parks, John A, American Artist Magazine, "Inspiring Figures: Portraits by Women" in the November 2010 issue, pages 40 to 47, an article about the current exhibition at the Butler Institute of Art.
  • Poets and Artists Magazine, (online) Volume 3, Issue 9, October 2010, Profile and 6 images, pages 42 through 47.
  • Harris, Lauren and Wetmore, Gordon, American Art Collector, Art of the Portrait section, "Inspiring Figures" August 2010 edition, pages 68 through 73. With Mary Beth McKenzie and eight other artists.
  • McElhinney, James Lancel and the Instructors of the Art Students League, "Classical Life Drawing Studio: lessons & teaching in the art of figure drawing," with a foreword by Will Barnet. Published by Sterling, New York & London 2010, 207 pages.
  • Apostal, Amanda, Journal of the Portrait Society of America, "Mirrors with Powerful Reflections", Issue No. 45, 3rd Quarter 2009
  • Finkelstein, Alix, Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, "New Directions in Child Portraiture", December 2009, pp. 39-42
  • Hafesh, Louise, The Artist's Magazine, "Abstractly Real", April 2008, pp. 26-34
  • Ball, Jennifer, The Artist's Magazine, "The Art is in the Details", October 2003, p. 41
  • Who's Who in American Women, from 1996
  • Fried, John, Worth, "Master Strokes", June 2000
  • Who's Who in the East, from 1997
  • Where/New York, Nov. 1992
  • Art News Reviews, "To Grant or Not to Grant?", Knoxville Museum of Art, Nov. 1991, p154
  • Williams, Don, Knoxville Museum of Fine Art Exhibit Asks: TO GRANT OR NOT TO GRANT?"
  • The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Sunday May 5th 1991, cover and p. 3, color reproduction
  • Von Weist, Powell, "Art and Antiques - This Month's Important Shows," Nov. 1990, p.12 color reproduction
  • Baker, Penny, "The Art of Loving Care, Charity," depicted in the Noyes Museum Show", Garden State Press, Jan. 21, 1990, pp. H1-H3 Mode et Mode, 1985
  • Singer, Joe, "How to Paint the figure in Pastel", Watson-Guptill, New York, NY, 1976, p. 120, reproduction.

Selected Public Collections

  • Bell Laboratories, Oradell, NJ
  • AT & T Jacksonville, FL
  • Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
  • Scott Bennett, Inc., New York, NY
  • Sherman and Sterling, New York, NY
  • The Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY
  • Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY
  • United States House of Representatives, Washington, DC
  • Hobart and Smith College, Geneva, NY
  • Federal Courthouse, Southern District of New York, New York City

Education

  • Art Students League, New York, NY
  • National Academy of Design, New York, NY
  • Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Awards & Recognition

  • Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award by The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, Spring Gala, New York City, May 2012
  • "Sari" wins Third Place, Member's Only Competition, Nude Category, of The Portrait Society of America, Winter 2012
  • Appointed Member of the Board, Artist's Fellowship, Inc., Fall 2011
  • Reclining Girl" oil on panel, 16"x28" has been awarded the Purchase Prize and The William Bouguereau Award by the Art Renewal Center, 2011
  • "Broken Window" wins First Place in the annual National Portrait Competition of The Portrait Society of America, 2011
  • Second Prize Winner in International Artist Magazine's - Challenge No. 58 competition: "Favorite Subjects". August/September 2010 edition, page 6.
  • Interviewed on WNET's “SundayArts Profiles the Art Students League”. Aired Sunday, May 16, 2010
  • Interviewed on WNET and WLIW. The 15-minute profile portrays the League as a vibrant community of learning, working, and teaching artists
  • U.S. State Department: Master Class “Self-Portrait and Portrait of an Artist from the 18th to the 21st
  • Century” at St. Petersburg Academy of the Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009
  • Judges Excellence Award, Blossom - Art of Flowers Competition, 2007
  • First Place, Portrait & Figure Category, The Artist's Magazine, 2006
  • Honorable Mention, Third International Art Salon, Art Renewal Center, 2006
  • Awards Finalist, The Artist's Magazine, 2006
  • Jury's Selection, Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, 2006
  • Awards Finalist, Second International Art Salon, Art Renewal Center, 2005
  • Awards Finalist, The Artist's Magazine, 2002
  • American Society of Portrait Artists 2001
  • Stacey Foundation Grant, 1982
  • Greenshields Foundation Grant, 1975

Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • One Person Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2013
  • One Person Show, O’Kane Gallery, Houston, TX, 2012
  • One Person Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2008
  • Drawn to the Surface, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2002
  • Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1999
  • One-Person Show, Sundance Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY, 1994
  • One-Person Show, Asher Gallery, Boca Raton, FL, 1993
  • Opposites Attract, Sherry French Gallery, NY, 1992
  • One-Person Show, Sherry French, New York, NY, 1990
  • One-Person Show, Sherry French, New York, NY, 1989
  • One-Person Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1987
  • One-Person Show, The Saint, New York, NY, 1985
  • One-Person Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1983
  • One-Person Show, Harbor Gallery, Long Island, NY, 1980
  • Two-Person Show, Harbor Gallery, Long Island, NY, 1978

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • Portraits Inc., Spring Portrait Exhibition at Aradar Galleries, New York, 2013
  • ACOPAL “Exhibition of Contemporary American Realism” traveling to 8 museums in China through November, 2013
  • Portraits Inc., Spring Portrait Exhibition at Aradar Galleries, New York, NY, 2012
  • ACOPAL (American China Oil Painting Artists League) "Exhibition of Contemporary American Realism" At the National Arts Club, New York, NY, 2011
  • Included as an invited artist in "Inspiring Figures" an exhibition celebrating American Women in Figurative Art, at The Butler Institute of Art, Youngstown, OH, 2010
  • "Summer Group Show" Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2010
  • Stone Quarry Hill Art Park's exhibition, "The Contemporary Portrait and Figure" at Art Park's John and Virginia Winner Memorial Art Gallery, Cazenovia, NY, 2010
  • The Synergies Exhibition of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, sponsored by UNEP (the United Nations Environment Programme). At The Bohemian National Hall, Czech Center New York, 2010
  • "Still Lifes” Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2009
  • "Self-Portrait and Portrait of an Artist from the 18th to the 21st Century", the Museum of the Russian Academy of the Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009
  • "Art 20" at the Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, 2009
  • "Artists and Monitors" at The Alex Adam Gallery, New York, NY, 2009
  • "Remnants of War" Exhibition at the National Arts Club, New York, NY, 2008
  • Los Angeles Art Show, Santa Monica, CA, 2008
  • "Male/Female," Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2007
  • "The Colors of My Home," The African American of Nassau County, Nassau Community College, Long Island, NY, 2007
  • "Hyacinth/Tulips" Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX (travels to: Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI; The Dunnegan Gallery of Art, Bolivar, MO; Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute, Tucson, AZ; The R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA; The Wildlife Experience, Parker, CO; The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN; The Spartanburg County Museum of Art, Spartanburg, SC; The Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH), 2007-09
  • Los Angeles Art Show, Santa Monica, CA, 2007
  • Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2007
  • "Juxtaposition," Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2006
  • "Why The Nude?" The Art Students League, New York, NY, 2006
  • "The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Exhibition," Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC., 2006
  • "Forty Years: A Dealers Collection," Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2006
  • Art of the Twentieth Century, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, 2006
  • Art Chicago in the Park,  Chicago, IL, 2006
  • Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2006
  • "Teachers from the Art Students League, Daniel Green, Burton Silverman & Sharon Sprung," Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2005
  • Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2005
  • Art in the 20th Century, New York, NY, 2005
  • USArtists, Philadelphia, PA, 2005
  • San Francisco Int'l Art Exposition, San Francisco, CA, 2005
  • Art Chicago in the Park, Chicago, IL, 2005
  • Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2004
  • National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2004
  • Art Students League, New York, NY, 2004
  • Portraits Inc., New York, NY, 2004
  • Art of the Twentieth Century, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, 2004
  • Carriage Barn Fine Arts Center, Sponsored by the New Canaan Society, New Canaan CT, 2003
  • National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2003
  • Portraits Inc., New York, NY, 2003
  • Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2003
  • Portraits Inc., New York, NY, 2002
  • National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2002
  • Art of the 20th Century, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, 2002
  • Portraits Incorporated, New York, NY, 2001
  • National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2001
  • Holiday Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2001
  • National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2001
  • Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA, 2000
  • Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 2000
  • Portraits Incorporated, New York, NY, 2000
  • "American Figurative Painters," Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1999
  • National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 1996
  • ART MIAMI, International Art Exposition, Miami Beach, FL, 1996
  • "Virtuosity International Art Fair", Art Communication International, New York, NY, 1995
  • ART MIAMI '95, International Art Exposition, Miami Beach, FL, 1995
  • Portraits Incorporated, New York, NY, 1994
  • Fall Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1994
  • Two-Person Show, Sundance Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY, 1994
  • "The New Whitney Dissenters," Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY (Traveled to: Rockford College Art Gallery, Rockford, IL; Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA), 1992-93
  • "The Children Among Us", Krasdale Foods Gallery, White Plains, NY, 1991-92
  • "The Eternal Male: Ares and Pluto", Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY, 1991
  • "To Grant or Not to Grant", Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY (Traveled to: The Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN), 1991
  • "INAUGURAL EXHIBITION II: Gallery and Invited Artists", Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY, 1991
  • "Objects Observed: Contemporary Still Life", Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1990
  • "165th Annual Exhibition", National Academy of Design, New York, NY, 1990
  • "Pastels '90", Midwest Pastel Society, Fifth National Juried Exhibition, Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts, Chicago, IL, 1990
  • "Collector's Show", The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, 1990
  • "Site Specific-Available for Commission", Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY, 1990
  • "The New Era", James Cox Gallery, Woodstock, NY, 1990
  • "Waiting for Cadmium", Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY, 1990
  • Chicago International Art Exhibition, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL, 1990
  • "Illumination and Radiance: Epiphanies in Contemporary Painting", Sherry French Gallery New York, NY (Traveled to: Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts, Kalamazoo, MI; The University of Oklahoma Museum of Art, Norman, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX; Rahr-West Art  Museum, Manitowoc, WI), 1990-92
  • "Revelation and Devotion: The Spirit of Religion in Contemporary Art", Sherry French Gallery, New York,NY (Traveled to: Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA; Art Gallery at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN; Valparaiso, IN; Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY), 1989-91
  • "Love and Charity: The Tradition of Charities in Contemporary Painting", Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY, (Traveled to: Dowd Fine Arts Gallery, SUNY at Cortland, NY; The Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ; Roland Gibson Gallery, SUNY at Potsdam, NY; Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts, Roanoke, VA), 1989-90
  • "The Feminine", Sherry French Gallery, NY Chicago International Art Exposition, Navy Pier, Chicago,IL, 1988
  • "Toys", Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1987
  • Pastel Society of America, New York, NY, 1986
  • National Academy School of Fine Arts, NY, 1986
  • Museum of National Arts Foundation, Mead Data Central, Washington, D.C., 1986
  • Group Show, Gallery 99, Bay Harbor, FL, 1986
  • Hermitage Foundation Museum, Norfolk, VA, 1985
  • National Academy of Design, New York, NY, 1984
  • "Harrison Council for the Arts", SUNY at Purchase, NY, juried by Alice Neel, David Findlay Jr., and Ned Rifkin, Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1983
  • 10th Congress-International Association of Art, Helsinki, Finland, 1983
  • Hudson River Museum, New York, NY, 1982
  • Harbor Gallery, Long Island, NY, 1982
  • Gallery Henoch, New York, NY, 1982
  • Christopher Gallery, New York, NY, 1982
  • Allied Artists of America, New York, NY, 1982
  • Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, 1981
  • Christopher Gallery, New York, NY, 1981
  • Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, 1981
  • "Contemporary Naturalism", Doll and Richards, Boston, MA, 1979
  • Pastel Society of America, New York, NY, 1978
  • Group Show, Harbor Gallery, Long Island, NY, 1978
  • Allied Artists of America, New York, NY, 1978
  • Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, 1978
  • Pastel Society of America, New York, NY, 1977
  • National Arts Club, New York, NY, 1977
  • Allied Artists of America, New York, NY, 1977
  • "Seven Young Realists", Baruch College, NY, 1977
  • Allied Artists of America, New York, NY, 1976
  • "Young Artists", Harbor Gallery, Long Island, NY, 1976
  • "Young Artists", Harbor Gallery, Long Island, NY, 1975