Nelson Shanks

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Nelson Shanks
Self-Portrait by Nelson Shanks
Born	1937 Rochester, New York
Nationality	American
Occupation	Painter

Nelson Shanks is an artist and painter who was born in Rochester, New York in 1937. He lived in Wilmington, Delaware for most of his childhood. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and in New York City at the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League.^[1] His most famous work is likely his portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales, completed in 1996. The painting was first shown at Hirschl & Adler Gallery in New York City, April 24 to June 28, 1996. Shanks has been on the faculty of the Memphis Academy of Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Students League in New York, the National Academy of Design and Studio Incamminati and is a resident of Andalusia, Pennsylvania. He is an honorary member of the American Society of Classical Realism Guild of Artists.^[2]

Shanks is a world-renowned painter^{[citation needed]}, teacher and art historian who has been influential in the revival of classical realism in the United States. His portraits of royalty, famous politicians and celebrities have added to his international fame as one of the foremost contemporary figurative painters. Shanks' philosophies and skills have been shared through his teaching at various public and private institutions and in 2002, he founded Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; an academy dedicated to the study, practice and spread of realist art using the philosophy and techniques espoused by Mr. Shanks.^[3]

Early Life

Shanks studied at New York's Art Students League, where he earned his tuition serving as a monitor in classes taught by Robert Brackman, Ivan Olinsky and Edwin Dickinson. He studied privately with John Koch and Henry Hensche. Grants from the Greenshields Foundation and the Stacey Foundation allowed him to study in Florence with Pietro Annigoni at the Accademia de Belle Arti. He then taught in Memphis, Chicago and Pennsylvania, where he has maintained a studio for more than three decades.^[4]

Career

Commissioned work

His most famous work is likely the portrait of HRH Diana, Princess of Wales, completed in 1996. The painting was first shown at Hirschl & Adler Gallery in New York City, April 24 to June 28, 1996 and now hangs in Diana's ancestral home at Althorp.^[5] Other notable commissions include His Holiness, John Paul II, President Ronald Reagan, President Bill Clinton and Luciano Pavarotti.

Exhibitions

His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Kensington Palace in London and Fortezza Firmafede in Sarzana, Italy. During the summer and fall of 2011, he had solo exhibitions in Russia at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg and the Russian Academy of Art, Moscow. He is one of two living American painters to have been invited to exhibit at either of these venues.^[6]

Other museum and gallery exhibitions include the National Academy of Design; Hirschl & Adler Galleries; Coe Kerr and FAR Galleries in New York; Dayton Art Institute; the Butler Institute of American Art; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Philadelphia Art Alliance; the New Jersey State Museum; the National Gallery of Art; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Oklahoma University; the University of Pennsylvania; Temple University, Jefferson University, Johns Hopkins University; the College of William and Mary; the Allentown Art Museum, the Palmer Museum of Art; George Washington University; the University of the Arts; Oglethorpe University Museum; LaSalle University; the Royal Palace, Stockholm; and Kensington Palace, London. A major one-man exhibition was held at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts as well as Hirschl & Adler exhibition, "Yanks Paint Brits." In August 2004, the city of Sarzana, Italy hosted a one-man exhibition entitled 'Dal Maestro'/'From the Master', in a fifteenth-century fortress called Fortezza Firmafede. The Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also hosted an exhibition 'Dal Maestro' in October, 2004, of more than fifty works by Nelson Shanks. In addition, his work is held in distinguished collections worldwide.^[7]

Portrait of HRH Diana, Princess of Wales by Nelson Shanks

Portraiture

Known for his skill in capturing the complex nature of his subjects, Shanks' revelatory portraits have contributed to his fame as one of the foremost contemporary figurative painters. Among his notable commissions are HRH Diana, Princess of Wales, His Holiness Pope John Paul II for the Vatican Museum, Margaret Thatcher, U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton for the National Portrait Gallery. Significant commissions also include Luciano Pavarotti for the Metropolitan Opera, Mstislav Rostropovich for the Kennedy Center, Denyce Graves for the National Portrait Gallery and the private collection at Althorp of Charles, Lord Spencer. Noted portraits include His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, J.Carter Brown, Katharine Graham, Judge Guido Calabresi, Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop, Robert Wood Johnson,Jr., James Burke, Marcus Wallenberg, Dr. Peter Wallenberg, Ms. Darla Moore, Mr. Lionel Pincus, Mr. Jerry Speyer, Chairman of the Board, Museum of Modern Art, Arthur O. Sulzberger,Sr., Chairman of the Board, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chairman Emeritus New York Times, Mary McFadden, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and many others. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, Kensington Palace in London and Fortezza Firmafede in Sarzana, Italy.^[4]

Teaching

Shanks is a realist, capturing the essence of his subjects through acute observation and technical skill. Whether the subject is still life, landscape or figurative, the work evokes emotion and challenges the viewer to make close examination. His portraits describe individuals with insight and truth without deference to the fame or influence of the subject. In the words of the artist, "The Realistic painting must be nothing less than a meditation on the nature of existence and the individual. It must create likeness with the power to kindle the observer's imagination and awaken memories.... It must encompass all that the Realist painter sees before his eyes and therefore feels in his heart."^[8]

Shanks' teaching philosophy emphasizes the importance of gaining knowledge and training the student to "see" with the understanding that it takes years of concentration and practice to become a highly skilled painter.^[9] Throughout his career, Nelson Shanks has painted nearly every day of the year—landscape, still life, the figure and portraits. He sets goals to grow and improve with every painting and encourages students to do the same.^[4]

Shanks has taught on the faculty of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Students League, National Academy of Design, George Washington University and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, among others. He established an apprentice program at his Bucks County home and studio, where artists received room, board and instruction at no cost. In the late 1990s, he launched a successful series of workshops in response to the growing need for serious art instruction. The need for students to immerse themselves deeply in his teaching principles was made clear by the high demand and extensive over subscription to these workshops, which led to the decision to open a full-time atelier program in 2002, named Studio Incamminati, which can be translated from the Italian as "those who are progressing". The name also aims to invoke the spirit and practices of its namesake - the studio founded by the Renaissance artist Annibale Carracci. Nelson, and his wife, Leona Shanks, founded Studio Incamminati to provide a place where artists devoted to realism could study painting and acquire other skills necessary for successful artistic careers. Nelson Shanks is committed to changing the world's view of art and through Studio Incamminati has attracted people willing to pledge and devote time to this cause. He has sacrificed painting time to teach at Studio Incamminati and is rewarded by the progress of its students.^[10]

Reception

Recognition and awards

In 1996, Shanks was awarded the "Sargent Medal" for Lifetime Achievement by the American Society of Portrait Artists^[11]

In 2006, Governor Edward Rendell presented Shanks the Governor’s Distinguished Arts Award, which recognizes a Pennsylvania artist of international fame or renown whose creations and contributions enrich the Commonwealth. Among those contributions noted were his lifelong commitment to teaching and his establishment of Studio Incamminati.^[12]

In 2009, Shanks was awarded the Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Portrait Society of America.^[13]

In 2011, for "transcendent work" and contributions to culture, the members of the Russian Academy, the centuries-old institution that governs art education and exhibitions in the Russian Federation, voted to make Shanks an honorary member of their ranks.^[14]

Further reading

Mastery & Meaning: The Paintings of Nelson Shanks. Union League of Philadelphia. 2006. 

Manzo, Kathryn. "Nelson Shanks: Humanist Realist". Art Renewal Center. Art Renewal Center. Retrieved 7 February 2014. 

Shanks, Nelson (1996). Paintings by Nelson Shanks. The Academy. ISBN 9780965509701. 

References