Robert Florczak

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Robert Florczak

Field	Painter, illustrator
Training	Cooper Union

Robert Florczak is an American artist and illustrator.

Florczak attended the prestigious Cooper Union in New York City, studied painting under Will Barnet, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, was Artist-In-Residence at Widener University, and taught painting at The Art Institute of Philadelphia. As a professional artist, Florczak has enjoyed an active career that spans more than three decades, with extensive work in the fine art, advertising, entertainment, and publishing fields. Florczak’s original paintings are in the private collections of Mel Gibson, Michael Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Stewart (now at Princeton University), and Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft), among others, and in the corporate collections of AT&T, Random House and Beecham Pharmaceuticals.

Florczak’s art is characterized by an avid interest in historical, literary, and mythological themes of drama and romance, and an intimate understanding of the classical methods of the Old Masters. Additionally, his work reflects a passion for the Academic and Victorian narrative painters of the 19th Century, such as Leighton, Bouguereau, and Alma-Tadema, as well as the majestic landscapes of Bierstadt, Church and Moran. Whether working in layers of transparent oil glazes or meticulously rendered pencils and watercolors, Robert brings to his paintings a depth and attention to detail and themes uncommon in contemporary art. His designs and technique have been compared to the classical imagery of the Pre-Raphaelites and have been described as “Caravaggio crossed with Maxfield Parrish.” (School Library Journal, 10/5/95) According to one reviewer, Robert’s landscapes are “reminiscent of ambitious paintings from the Hudson River School.” (Booklist, 5/1/96)

Along with a vast amount of cinema art, posters, album covers, book and magazine illustration, Florczak has produced the artwork for eight published picture books. Florczak’s premiere book, "The Rainbow Bridge" was an American Bookseller Pick of the List. Following were "Rough Sketch Beginning" and "Birdsong". All three books were published by Harcourt. For HarperCollins, Florczak created the art for "The Persian Cinderella"; the book was on the master list for the 2001 Texas Bluebonnet Award. Charles Dickens’ "The Magic Fish-bone" (Harcourt), with Florczak's captivating paintings, was released in 2000. "A Cowboy Christmas" (Simon & Schuster, 2001), was followed by "YIKES!!!", his first self-authored book, which was published by Scholastic's Blue Sky Press, who will also publish his "The Incredibly Coincidental But Amazingly True Life Adventures Of A Boy Named Jack". 2004 saw the publication of "Horses Of Myth" (Dutton) For the Japanese limited edition art market, 2007 saw Florczak's completion of an eight piece series of elaborate oil paintings titled "Romance In Paradise".

As a recording artist, Florczak has performed in nightclubs and concert halls around the country, from New York's famed Bitter End to Aspen's Wheeler Opera House. His music has been recorded and released internationally, including the soundtrack he composed and performed for the motion picture Roar, recorded in London with The National Philharmonic Orchestra. In order to portray musically the character of life on the African savanna, while writing the movie score Robert lived on a private game reserve with over 150 wild lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs and elephants. As a promotion for the film, he performed in the video of the movie's title song, "N' Chi Ya Nani (Whose Land Is This?", filmed by famed director, Jan de Bont. Florczak also wrote and starred opposite Tippi Hedren in the film short "Twist", shown theatrically and for Academy consideration.

Florczak resides in Southern California.

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