The Art Student

Sharon Sprung "The Art Student" 2011

New York City-based artist Sharon Sprung (b. 1953) paints still-life, landscape and portraits, but is perhaps best known for her figurative pieces of young women. This series generally features a single female figure, either nude or partially clothed, posed in a still, even contemplative, arrangement. Often the setting for the figure is highly simplified or abstracted. This piece (above) is somewhat unusual in its description of what looks like a real, day to day, space, inhabited by what appears to be a fully clothed young woman.

Sprung studied at Cornell University, the National Academy of Design and the Art Student's League,  in New York.  The artist has won numerous awards over the years including an Elizabeth  Greenshields Foundation grant, and prizes from the Art Renewal Center and the Portrait Society of America. In 2006 Sprung's work was selected for the prestigious Outwin Boochever Portrait Exhibition held at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.  Sprung is a popular teacher, leading workshops all around the world as well as teaching regular classes at the Art Student's League of New York. Sprung is currently represented by Gallery Henoch. Her website can be seen here.