Steven J. Levin - (b. 1964) is classical realist oil painter living and working in Stillwater, Minnesota. He grew up painting alongside his father—a commercial artist—and knew he wanted to be a painter early on. After high school he enrolled in the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and then the Atelier LeSueur in Excelsior, Minnesota (a descendant of the 19th century Boston School ateliers)—where the training was more in line with what Levin was drawn to as an emerging artist. Levin remained at the atelier as a student for five years and then a teacher for seven more years. He completed his studies with an extended stay in England to join the copyist program at London’s National Gallery.
Although he enjoyed working in The Boston School tradition, Levin started to draw inspiration from artists with richer pallets such as Vermeer and Edward Hopper. Levin’s reputation as a colorist is strong and getting stronger with each passing year. His compositions range from surrealistic still lifes to multifigure scenes to landscapes—all done with precision and careful consideration of color, light, tone and composition. His “visual pun” paintings have delighted collectors and gallerists for years. This includes his “Plumage” series (which plays with the formal similarities of hats and bird’s nests), his “Books and Butterflies” series, and museum series (depicting paintings within paintings).
Levin has exhibited widely and taken part in significant group and solo exhibitions in New York, London, San Francisco, Beijing, and Barcelona. He has been featured on the cover of American Artist Magazine and has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes in national competitions including the American Society of Portrait Artists, the Allied Artists of America, the Portrait Institute, American Artist's Magazine, the Artist’s Magazine, the Oil Painters of America and the American Artists Professional League. Most recently, he is the First Price recipient for the ARC 2016 Salon in the still life category.
Artist Statement
Essentially, my paintings are about beauty. Whether it be in my still life work, where I begin with a consideration of just the abstract elements of form and color, and then try to build interest with the careful arrangement of objects, or in the interior scenes which are usually about light, atmosphere, and mood, beauty is always the first subject.
In some of my work I enjoy a kind of visual pun, as in the still life series called Plumage, where the juxtaposition of hats and bird’s nests are so similar in shape and with each having the element of feathers. The paintings of my museum series are undertaken with an implied wink at the depiction of paintings within paintings.
Though I see painting as first and foremost a craft, it isn’t only that. Painting is about projecting that craft through a personality, memory and emotion in the attempt to capture an intangible thing which speaks in a language unavailable to any other mode of expression.
Awards
2017 Honorable Mention, Art Renewal Center
2017 Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic Award, Salmagundi Club, Non-Members
Juried Exhibition
2016 1st Place, Still Life, Art Renewal Center
2014 Purchase Award, Art Renewal Center
2010 Honorable Mention, Art Renewal Center
2007 Honorable Mention, Art Renewal Center
2000 President’s Award, American Society of Portrait Artists
2000 People’s Choice Award, American Society of Portrait Artists
2000 John R. Grabach Memorial Award, American Artist Professional League
1999 Allied Artist of America Award
1998 Lelia Garden Sawyer Award, Salmagundi Club, Non-Members Juried Exhibition
1996 Third Prize, The Portrait Institute
1996 Second Prize, The Artist’s Magazine
1995 Grumbacher Gold Medal Award, Oil Painters of America
1994 Third Prize, Akron Society of Artists
1993 Leila Garden Sawyer Award, American Artists Professional League
1992 John S. Dole Memorial Award, American Artists Professional League
1992 AAA Award, Academic Artists Association
Solo Exhibitions
- 2013, 2018, The Minneapolis Club, Minneapolis, MN
- 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014 John Pence Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2008, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
- 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, White Oak Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
- 1994, Minnesota River Studios Gallery, Burnsville, MN
- 1991, 1993, Meadow Creek Galleries, Edina, MN