Steven J. Levin, a native of Minnesota, was interested in an art career even as a young boy. His aptitude for art was inspired and nurtured by his father, a commercial artist.
     This desire continued throughout his childhood and by age fifteen, Levin had firmly decided on a career in art. After high school, he enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. The training there however did not have the emphasis on drawing and painting that he had hoped, and after a year, he left and enrolled at the Atelier LeSueur in Excelsior, Minnesota.
     Modeled after the studio schools of nineteenth century France, the training at the Atelier consisted entirely of studio work under the direction of professional painters. He remained for the next six years, honing his artistic skills in drawing and painting from life. He completed his studies with an extended stay in England to copy works in London’s National Gallery in the time honored tradition practiced by the earlier American Impressionists.
     In his professional work, Levin continues to paint from life asserting that it is the best way to achieve a forceful representation. He draws his inspiration from many sources and his work reflects this diversity of interests with subject ranging from portraits, still lifes, and landscapes, to figure paintings.
 
Steven J. Levin’s artwork exhibits a decided influence of the Masters and he cites Vermeer, Rembrandt and Hopper among those whose work has left a mark on his own development.
     Steven’s portraits have won numerous awards and garnered traveling commissions in England, and his interest in landscape painting has taken him on excursions to Colorado, Switzerland, France, Italy and Russia. He has exhibited widely, including with the Plein Air Painters of America, the Salmagundi Club in New York, and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London.
     Levin has been featured on the cover of American Artist and has been the recipient of many national awards, including three awards from The Artist’s Magazine, the Outstanding Merit Award from The Portrait Institute in New York, and the Grumbacher Gold Medal Award from Oil Painters of America.
 
Steven J. Levin’s work may be found in private collections across the country and abroad. He is represented by galleries in California, Minnesota, and on the Web by Gandy Gallery.