Matthew Holden Bates

I was born in Washington, D.C, where I attended the Sidwell Friends School and had Percy Martin as my art teacher. Percy made it really easy to love art, and from there I moved on to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where I studied with master sculptor Thomas Marsh. He told me about Florence, how I had to go there, so I did. That was in 1990. I attended the Gonzaga University in Florence where I studied with Art History Professoressa Mercedes Carrara. She showed me the beauty that is the Renaissance, and it instilled in my young mind the desire to paint realism. I think that it is impossible to not be inspired by Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli, Donatello and all of the other masters from the golden age of Florentine art. I moved back to stay in Florence in 1992. I would say that although I have been transformed by the Renaissance, I am still an American. I have been captivated by the Photo Realists in New York, especially Richard Estes, so in a way I blend the two cultures in my unique way of painting. I am not strictly a photo realist, nor do I use only ancient techniques. I am a modern painter, but I live in an ancient city. My oil paintings hang all over the world. I have had shows in Paris, Rome, New York, Washington, D.C. and Boston to name a few. I have also had many shows here in Florence including a monografia at Padiglione Berti in Sesto Fiorentino and a monografia at Palazzo Medici Riccardi.