Adrian Martinez b. 1949
Adrian Martinez was born in Philadelphia in 1949 and grew up in Washington, D.C., where he took advantage of the free access to museums and galleries. He received his BFA from the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore, studied at the St. Martins School of Art in London, and received his masters from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In the early 1960s Martinez focused on abstract and conceptual art, but his studies in London inspired him to work in a realistic Western European style. Martinez has become best known for his meticulous still life paintings inspired by the Old Masters. He also worked for nearly a decade as an exhibition designer at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, which informed his artistic practice. In 2007, Martinez was commissioned by the White House to create two large landscape paintings commemorating the National Parks. The paintings are currently installed in the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, Texas. Martinez lives, works and teaches painting in Downington, Pennsylvania.
