BIOGRAPHY
“Art, like life, is an ever changing process: I change through every painting, and every painting becomes my internal process.” This is how David C. Stewart defines his creativity. His works belong into the realm of Classical Realism with occasional transgressions into Modernism. They are characterized by subtle imagery which the artist energizes through his accomplished handling of chiaroscuro techniques. Stewart may reach as far back and beyond the Ming Dynasty and into the early Dutch and Flemish Schools to lend an intriguing “deja-vu” quality to his work.
A native of North Carolina, the United States, Stewart's first keen sense of art came through drawing classes that he attended as a child. “At this early age, I began to tap into the vein of classical drawing and painting which was to set the foundation for a life of art later.” Stewart received a degree in Art History and Anthropology from the University of Tennessee in 1974. A number of years of study at New York's Art Students League followed, beginning in 1979. His teachers included such notables as Robert Beverly Hale, Robert Phillips, Robert Maione, Gustav Rehberger, Richard Seyffert, Daniel Greene, Mario Cooper and David A. Leffel. Human anatomy and classical drawing were mentored by Hale; form, chiaroscuro, and the open and limitless sense of inner self exploration through Maione and Leffel. In 1985, Stewart left New York following numerous and successful competitions and exhibitions in the city in order to spend time on the New Mexico ranch of well-known painter R. Brownell McGrew who, with his wife Ann, spurred and supported Stewart's achievements. “McGrew was an important mentor for me and deepened my desire for classical painting and living life in that vein.”
Travel has been instrumental to Stewart's development as a person and painter. He spent time studying at the Louvre in Paris, London's National Gallery, and the major museums in the Netherlands and Italy as well as museums in the United States. A few of the great painters who continue to influence Stewart are Velasquez, Rembrandt, Chardin, American painters Emil Carlsen and George Inness and Armenian painter Hoosep Pushman as well as the modern day Italian Master, Pietro Annigoni. In the works of Annigoni, Stewart encountered ancient presences appropriately filtered through the artist's reworking of them in a modern and symbolic key. Throughout the years, Stewart has continued to seek heightened understanding through on-site exploration of highly diverse cultures, encompassing Native American, Mayan, Incan, Pre-Columbian, Egyptian, Greek, Nepalese, Tibetan, Chinese, and Celtic traditions.
The artist lived and worked in Santa Fe, New Mexico for many years, a place he feels is essential to his formulation of artistic and spiritual pursuits. Following his time in Northern New Mexico, Stewart moved to Asheville, North Carolina along with his partner, David Frechter, which proved to be a gentle and nurturing environment for them. Both locations spoke deeply, yet, differently to Stewart as he reached for new dimensions. This certainly was magnified by his move to the 11th Century hill town of Cetona in Southern Tuscany, Italy 10 years later. There Stewart reached deep into the beauty, light, landscape, culture, and inspiration of the arts of which makes up the great Italian heritage. Four years later, Stewart returned to Asheville, North Carolina where he continued to paint in his beautiful studio/gallery in the River Arts District. His compositions often combine familiarity with a Zen-like surprise, resulting in a masterful statement of harmony and meaning with added symbolism. Infused with Eastern inspiration, Stewart's paintings convey a deep sense of contemplative intimacy and quiet. “Light becomes the tool by which I direct the eye to the significant” says Stewart. Winds of change came once more and Stewart relocated to San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico where he lives and paints part of the year balanced the rest of each year back in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Both Mexico and New Mexico nurture Stewart's well being, creativity and painting equally well.
EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS
• Hudson Valley Art Association Exhibitions, White Plains, NY
• Young Realists National Juried Exhibition, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
• Knickerbocker Artists National Exhibitions, New York, NY
• Salmagundi Club Membership and Exhibitions, New York, NY
• Allied Artists of America Exhibitions, New York, NY
• National Academy of Design National Exhibition, New York, NY
• Grand National Exhibition of the American Artist Professional League, New York, NY
• O'Brien's Art Emporium Exhibitions, Scottsdale, AZ
• US Delegate to the American/Russian International Arts Congress, Moscow, Russia
• Art LXIII, National Rotary Exhibition (Invitation Only), Amarillo, TX
• Meyer Gallery Exhibitions, Park City, UT
• Nordstroms Department Stores, One Person Exhibition, Salt Lake City, UT
• The Biltmore Galleries Exhibitions and One Person Show, Rancho Santa Fe, CA
• Vail Fine Art Gallery Exhibitions, Vail, CO
• Beaver Creek Fine Art Gallery Exhibitions, Beaver Creek, CO
• The Perna Gallery Exhibitions and One-Person Shows, Taos, NM
• Maxwell Galleries Exhibitions and One Person Show, San Francisco, CA
• US ART Exhibition, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
• Eisenhauer Galleries Exhibitions, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, MA
• The Crane Collection Exhibitions, Wellesley, MA
• The Lido Gallery Exhibitions, Park City, UT, Gallery Americana, Carmel, CA
• Santorini, Greece
• Southern Tuscany, Italy
• Benrimon Contemporary, New York, NY 10011, Exhibition entitled "FLEURS,” 1880 - 2010.
“So the darkness shall be the light...
And the stillness the dancing.”
—T.S. Eliot
DAVID C. STEWART FINE ART STUDIOS
San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mexico, and
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Phone: +1 828-318-4252
Email: dstewartstudio@att.net
YouTube (produced in Asheville, NC studio):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrY0sTmAmg