Richard Whitney

Home / Salons / 16th ARC Salon

Richard Whitney

United States

View ARC Gallery

Town and Country magazine has named Richard Whitney one of the top dozen portrait painters in America.  Fine Art Connoisseur called him one of “the giants of the field” of figurative painting.  He uses his mastery of drawing and composition to create paintings of compelling depth and clarity. Full of sensitivity and emotion, his attention to detail is of the highest form. One can actually feel the softness of a sweater or the moisture of the skin.  Whitney says his constant goal is "to capture what is beautiful in each person and make it come alive."

Whitney has won over 50 regional and national awards as well as three grants from the Greenshields' Foundation of Montreal.  His paintings hang in over 800 public and private collections throughout the United States and abroad.  Whitney has painted nearly 400 portraits including numerous CEOs of industry, presidents of universities and educational leaders as well as family and individual portraits. He has painted nine US Governors including Mitt Romney; US Senators Tom McIntyre, Judd Gregg and James Webb, Jr.; Nobel Laureates Paul Samuelson and Dr. Phillip A. Sharp; Secretary of Labor Robert Reich; Cardinal Humberto Medeiros; Father McGivney, Founder of the Knights of Columbus; actor, Ethan Hawke and Astronaut John Glenn.   

 

Whitney graduated the University of New Hampshire in 1968 and received an Honorary Doctorate in 2015.  He studied with the eminent Boston painter R. H. Ives Gammell over a period of five years and recently published Mr. Gammell's letters to him in the book Advice to a Young Artist.  In 2017 he received the Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure Award from the NH Council of the Arts.  He is an Honorary Member of the Allied Artists of America and the American Artists Professional League and a Lifetime Member of the Copley Society of Art. Memberships have also included the Guild of Boston Artists, the National Arts Club, the Players, and the Society of Illustrators.    He is Chairman Emeritus of the American Society of Portrait Artists Foundation.

 

 Whitney is the author of the book Painting the Visual Impression which has been read by artists and art lovers world-wide.  He has also published a retrospective exhibition of his work in The Art of Richard Whitney.  He is listed in a dozen reference books including, Who's Who in American Art, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the 21st Century.   

 

 Strongly drawn to both art and music, Whitney trained as a classical pianist, even as he began concentrating in art.  His paintings reflect both interests: they are luminous expositions of light, shadow, and form.   His canvases are imbued with such emotional sensitivity that each subject emerges in an aura of perfect harmony.

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.