A contemporary figurative painter whose art is rooted in both the past and the present, Alan Feltus specializes in enigmatic depictions of women. Notable for their purity and simplicity, his paintings combine elements of Classical Realism and surrealist fantasy while exuding what is most important to this artist––an exquisite mood of silence.
Born in Washington, D.C., Feltus received his earliest artistic training at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia (1961–62). He then attended the Cooper Union in New York (B.A., 1966), where he painted his earliest surrealist works and discovered his penchant for contemplative subjects. Following this, Feltus studied at the Yale School of Fine Arts, graduating with an M.F.A. in 1968. At Yale Feltus received instruction from such noted abstract expressionists as Lester Johnson and Jack Tworkov. However, intent on following his own artistic path, he rejected their gestural style and continued to pursue representational realism. He also realized that he was an intuitive artist whose aesthetic goals were best obtained by painting, as he put it, “mostly from within myself rather than painting from direct observation” (ibid).
Feltus taught at the Dayton Art Institute in Ohio from 1968 until 1970, when he was awarded the coveted Prix de Rome, which allowed him to pursue two years of study in Italy. As well as working independently, Feltus studied Greek sculpture and familiarized himself with painting from the Proto-Renaissance period. Feltus was especially drawn to the work of artists such as Giotto, Uccello, and Piero della Francesca, admiring their use of shallow, illusionistic space, sharply defined forms, and carefully structured designs. Feltus was equally impressed by their ability to evoke the psychological connections between figures through a careful manipulation of pose, gesture, and expression––pictorial devices that would play a seminal role in his own art. At the same time, Feltus developed an awareness of the work of a later coterie of realist painters, included Courbet, and more importantly, Balthus, whose dreamlike images of prepubescent girls set an important example.
So inspired, Feltus went on to create figure paintings––“invented images” as he calls them––in which he explores the complex interpersonal relationships between modern-day women in reference to universal themes of intimacy and detachment. In 1972, Feltus became an associate professor of art at American University in Washington, a position he retained until 1984, when he resigned in order to paint full-time. Three years later, Feltus and his wife, the painter Lani Irwin, settled on a farm in the hills outside of Assisi, Italy, where they continue to reside today. Over the course of his career, Feltus has had many solo exhibitions, both in the United States and abroad. His work has also been featured in important group shows devoted to American Realism, figurative art, and late twentieth century Classicism. In addition to private collections, examples of his work can be found in leading American museums, among them the National Academy of Design, New York; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
