David Kassan
Encyclopedia
David Jon Kassan is a contemporary American painter best known for his life-size realist
portraits. The paintings combine figurative
subjects with abstract backgrounds or “tromp l’oeil texture studies,” reportedly inspired by Franz Kline
and Robert Rauschenberg
. Of this dual representation strategy Kassan notes, “my effort to constantly learn to document reality with a naturalistic, representational painting technique allows for pieces to be inherent contradictions; paintings that are both real and abstract.”
Kassan currently lives and works in Brooklyn
, New York, and teaches painting classes and workshops at various institutions around the world.
, Syracuse, NY. He continued his studies at The National Academy, and the Art Students League of New York
, both in Manhattan
, and won awards for his paintings from the Portrait Society of America,http://www.portraitsociety.org/ the Art Students League of New York
, the Society of Illustrators,http://societyillustrators.org/index.cms and Communications Arts magazine. http://www.commarts.com/
He has also won the Newington-Cropsy Foundation’s http://www.newingtoncropsey.com/ Travel Grant, which allowed him to travel, study and sketch in Italy in the summer of 2003. There he conducted sketch studies of various masterworks, which are source of inspiration to his own work.
Kassan also cites a number of other varied influences, including the “sheer conceptual and executed realism” of Caravaggio
and American realists, in particular John Sloan of the Ashcan School
.
extensively, reflecting a scientific understanding of the muscular structures beneath the skin. Kassan has written extensively on the subject and its relation to conveying emotion, including publishing an “Artist’s Guide to Portrait Anatomicae” http://www.davidkassan.com/book_index.html and several articles on the topic for magazines such as Artist Daily.http://www.artistdaily.com His technique of creating layered application of pigments has been hailed by critics as creating a highly realistic impression of skin and flesh.
In addition to work in traditional drawing and painting media, Kassan is also exploring the use of digital media, including the use of the iPad as a portable drawing tablet, used for study sketches and impromptu demonstrations. His YouTube demonstration "Finger Painting on the Apple iPad from the live model"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OLP4nbAVA4 achieved over 1 million views within 6 months of posting. This also resulted in considerable news-media coverage in the printed press and on television
A DVD on his drawing technique in charcoal and chalk is available from his website, and he has posted demonstrations online at YouTube and ustream
Realism (visual arts)
Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...
portraits. The paintings combine figurative
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
subjects with abstract backgrounds or “tromp l’oeil texture studies,” reportedly inspired by Franz Kline
Franz Kline
Franz Jozef Kline was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement centered around New York in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and attended Girard College, an academy in Philadelphia for fatherless boys...
and Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
. Of this dual representation strategy Kassan notes, “my effort to constantly learn to document reality with a naturalistic, representational painting technique allows for pieces to be inherent contradictions; paintings that are both real and abstract.”
Kassan currently lives and works in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York, and teaches painting classes and workshops at various institutions around the world.
Life and work
David Kassan received his B.F.A. in 1999 from the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse UniversitySyracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, Syracuse, NY. He continued his studies at The National Academy, and the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
, both in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and won awards for his paintings from the Portrait Society of America,http://www.portraitsociety.org/ the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
, the Society of Illustrators,http://societyillustrators.org/index.cms and Communications Arts magazine. http://www.commarts.com/
He has also won the Newington-Cropsy Foundation’s http://www.newingtoncropsey.com/ Travel Grant, which allowed him to travel, study and sketch in Italy in the summer of 2003. There he conducted sketch studies of various masterworks, which are source of inspiration to his own work.
Kassan also cites a number of other varied influences, including the “sheer conceptual and executed realism” of Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
and American realists, in particular John Sloan of the Ashcan School
Ashcan School
The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, is defined as a realist artistic movement that came into prominence in the United States during the early twentieth century, best known for works portraying scenes of daily life in New York's poorer neighborhoods. The movement grew out of a group...
.
Technique
Kassan has studied human anatomyHuman anatomy
Human anatomy is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the human body. Anatomy is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of anatomical structures that can be seen by the naked eye...
extensively, reflecting a scientific understanding of the muscular structures beneath the skin. Kassan has written extensively on the subject and its relation to conveying emotion, including publishing an “Artist’s Guide to Portrait Anatomicae” http://www.davidkassan.com/book_index.html and several articles on the topic for magazines such as Artist Daily.http://www.artistdaily.com His technique of creating layered application of pigments has been hailed by critics as creating a highly realistic impression of skin and flesh.
In addition to work in traditional drawing and painting media, Kassan is also exploring the use of digital media, including the use of the iPad as a portable drawing tablet, used for study sketches and impromptu demonstrations. His YouTube demonstration "Finger Painting on the Apple iPad from the live model"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OLP4nbAVA4 achieved over 1 million views within 6 months of posting. This also resulted in considerable news-media coverage in the printed press and on television
Instruction
David Kassan has conducted workshops and demonstrations on drawing and painting at various international locations, including Bangalow, Australia, in April 2007, Faro, Portugal September 2009, and a month-long workshop in Porcheresse, Belgium in July 2010A DVD on his drawing technique in charcoal and chalk is available from his website, and he has posted demonstrations online at YouTube and ustream