Linda Mann
My dramatic still life oil paintings explore a contemporary realism, wherein everyday objects are imbued with weight and meaning. I learned the techniques that I use—of glazing, scumbling, and direct painting—from studying the old masters and adapting their methods to modern tools and my own sensibilities. Though my paintings may appear traditional at first glance, they contain and celebrate contemporary objects, placing the work firmly in the present.
Every color, object, and relationship in my still lifes is chosen and arranged into unexpected compositions that explore the dramatic intersection of light and shadow. Always observing reality, I use perspective, rich color harmonies and subtle gradations in tone to depict objects with striking realism. I aim for the viewer to feel that they could reach in and pick them up. My paintings are rich in details yet include only those essential to my vision and design, thus feeding the viewer’s hunger for clarity and insight, without overwhelming with minutia.
Working exclusively from life, I observe the ephemeral effects of light and color on form, and re-create the experience in oil paint. I never work from photographs, which flatten form and fail to capture these nuances of color and value.
With my still lifes, I invite the viewer to discover self-contained worlds where everything is chosen and nothing left to chance, and where there is always something exciting to find and contemplate.
EDUCATION
1992 – 1997 Studio Classes, Gage Academy of Art (fka. Academy of Realist Art), Seattle, WA
1991 Studio Classes, Academy of Art College, San Francisco
1983 B.S., Industrial Design, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
-International Guild of Realism, 16th Annual Juried Exhibition, McBride Gallery, Annapolis, MD
2021
-Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Foundation, Associate Online Exhibition
-American Artist’s Professional League 93rd Grand National Exhibition,
Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
-Jackson Fall Arts Festival, Quent Cordair Gallery, Jackson, WY
2016
-Two Art Forms-One World with Sandra Shaw, Hyatt Regency,
Bellevue Washington
COLLECTIONS
The Challenger School Corporate Headquarters, Ogden, Utah
AWARDS AND HONORS
2022
Finalist in Art Renewal Center’s 16th International Salon
2021
Finalist in Art Renewal Center’s 15th International Salon
2020
Finalist in Art Renewal Center’s 14th International Salon
2018
Selected as an ‘Associate Living Master’ by Art Renewal Center
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2022
O’Hern, John. “Dynamic Strengths : Collector’s Focus-- Women Artists,“
American Art Collector, March 2022, Issue 197.
2021
Plasse, Tibby. “Artist’s Realism is at home at Cordair,“ Jackson Hole
News and Guide. Wednesday, November 10, 2021.
2005
Biddle, Craig. “An Interview with Linda Mann,” The Intellectual Activist,
vol. 19, No. 4.