Artist Biography & Facts

Adrian Gottlieb

Naturalist painter and portraitist Adrian Gottlieb was born and raised in northern Vermont, and currently (2003) lives in Southern California where he teaches drawing and painting at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art in Van Nuys, California.

Since early childhood, Gottlieb's inherited talent and passion for creating art was clearly evident. With no elementary art curriculum available in rural Vermont at the time, Adrian and his older brother, Dylan Gottlieb (now a 3D organic modeler for George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic), began by drawing and painting from life, renting taxidermy specimens, and copying 19th century drawings of animals. Both developed a special interest in figurative drawing and painting, an early passion for representational expression that continues to shape their creative focus.

By the time he was 15, Adrian Gottlieb had already exhibited around Vermont, including the State Capitol. In 1993, his work earned him his first national recognition, and was displayed at the Jefferson Building of the US Library of Congress. In 1993, he received his first national award, as well as letters of commendation from Vice President Al Gore, US State Senators Jim Jeffords and Patrick Leahy and US Congressman Bernard Sanders. That same year, in addition to winning numerous national competitions, Gottlieb sold a painting of members of Vermont's Abenaki tribal council to the University of Vermont for permanent exhibition.

Gottlieb's educational background includes a year at Carnegie Mellon University in 1994-95. He began atelier study while enrolled as an undergraduate at the Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Art & Design. Hungry for training in the classical techniques of drawing and painting, he enhanced his undergraduate study by attending Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence Italy, for three summer terms during 1996, 1997 and 1998. It was under the tutelage of American painter Charles Cecil, a student of R. H. Ives Gammell and Richard Lack, that Adrian was first exposed to the nearly-lost drawing and painting techniques and methods developed from the Renaissance through the 19th Century French Academic tradition. The works of the Flemish Masters especially inspired him.

Further intrigued by anatomy lectures and an exhibit presented at the La Specola Anatomy Museum, he returned to the States and pursued independent study in gross anatomy and anatomical drawing as part of a cooperative program designed by RIT in cooperation with Rochester University Medical School.

Gottlieb earned his BFA (with honors) in November of 1998, and decided to defer his planned pursuit of an MFA. Seeking a more pragmatic and comprehensive art education, he enrolled full-time at Florence Academy of Art. Gottlieb competed the program in painting and drawing in December of 2001, and served as an instructor from 2000 to March, 2002, at which time he left the atelier environment to focus on his personal artistic exploration.

Gottlieb, as mentioned, is a member of the faculty of the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, located in Van Nuys, California, near Pasadena. He continues painting independently, traveling back and forth between Tuscany and the US. His signature style is based on a naturalist's approach to painting. Although he has expanded his themes to include plein air and still life, his main interests center on portraiture and the figure in the environment interpreting the images of nature. Adrian stretches and prepares his own canvases, grinds his own pigments and prepares his own mediums. He continues to make significant contributions to the 21st century Renaissance movement.

Gottlieb is a member of the American Society of Classical Realism, the Art Renewal Center International, The Portrait Society of America, among numerous affiliations.

Today, Adrian Gottlieb's works are in private and public collections in Vermont, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Maine, Massachusetts in Italy, France and Scotland.

Credit for the above information is given to the website of the Los Angleles Academy of Figurative Art; the artist's own website; the website of New Classical Arts; and to the website of Rose Royce Gallery.

Adrian Gottlieb is an internationally-recognized artist who began painting commissioned works at an early age. His extensive fine arts education includes a degree in Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology and summer programs at the Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy.

Following his undergraduate studies, Gottlieb enrolled at The Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy to complete three years of intensive training in drawing and classic painting.

Gottlieb’s themes are wide-ranging; however, his emphasis is on painting figurative compositions and commissioned portraits. His impressive list of sitters includes American statesmen and European nobility.



Adrian Gottlieb has the ability to infuse the two-dimensional surface with a luminous vitality, creating a palpable energy that is unique to his work.



Selected Collections:



Nokia Corporation, Espoo, Finland
Ollila Estate;

Wilton House 

Pembroke Estate, Wiltshire, UK

Saint Sophia Cathedral 

Huffington Center, Los Angeles, United States of America




Professional Membership
Signature Member, California Art Club