Neilson Carlin

Inspired by the heroes of the imagination, Neilson Carlin has always been fascinated with people. A childhood love of mythology and comic books nurtured this interest until he was introduced to the great painters and sculptors of the Italian Renaissance. Consequently, portraiture and the human figure have been the central motifs in much of his work.

Throughout his education, Neilson was attracted to instructors who mirrored not only his interest in the figure but also his love of masterful realist painting. While earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Neilson was fortunate to study under Martha Erlebacher and Renee Foulks, both leading contemporary figure painters. He concluded his studies privately with New York figure painter and instructor Michael Aviano. Through Aviano, star pupil of the Art Students League instructor Frank J. Reilly, Neilson traces his instructional lineage directly to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of 19th century France.

Motivated by interests in theology and philosophy, Neilson uses allegory to create paintings that reflect sacred themes fundamental to the human experience. Whether still life or figure, each work is an effort to selectively re-create the world to communicate universal ideas. To constantly renew his sense of the sacred in the world around him, he paints almost exclusively from direct observation.

As an instructor at the Brandywine Atelier School of Classical Painting, he hopes to attract students who share his goal of championing realism. By concise instruction in drawing, painting and composition, he is training the next generation of artists and advancing the Classical Realist tradition.

Neilson’s work has been selected for exhibitions at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Franklin Mint Museum and The Salmagundi Club. In 2003, his painting “Transcendence” was awarded First Place in the Still Life category of The Artist’s Magazine’s 20th Annual National Art Competition from among thousands of entries.

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