artist biography

10 Artist Biographies To Read This Year

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What would the winter holidays be without those warm, comforting afternoons spent under the blankets or close by the chimney? If you’ve exhausted all the classics of French literature and the summer’s bestsellers, why not try another genre: the artists’ biography? Since many artists have lived thrilling lives, Artsper suggests these biographies of artists whose lives make for a compelling novel!

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Dazzling Epic of the Precursor of Street Art

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), whose works can be found on Artsper, was undoubtedly one of the artists who made the biggest impressions on the New York underground art scene in the 1980s.

Born in Brooklyn, this African-American with a rebellious temperament left school when he was a teenager to devote himself to his passion: art. His personal graffitis were quickly noticed for their tribal signs and naïve characters. Criticizing consumerism and the exclusion of ethnic communities, Basquiat has his first exhibition at the age of 21. This remarkable arrival brought him to the forefront of the art scene.

These profoundly violent, tortured works relate to art brut and include numerous evocations of death. This work continued to torment him until his death, caused by an overdose when he was only 28 years old.

Short but prolific, the career of the child prodigy of urban art has recently been related in a graphic novel written by Julien Voloj and illustrated by Søren Mosdal. While based on real events, the book tries to reveal the artist’s demons, which inspired him but precipitated in his demise.

Andy Warhol: Icon of Pop Art

Close to Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) collaborated with him on over 200 works. They shared the same favourite theme: consumer society. If Basquiat is the emblem of Street Art, Andy Warhol (available on Artsper ) is unquestionably the emblem of Pop Art .

Beginning his career in advertising, he became world famous in the 1960s thanks to his screen prints of mass products, then eventually became one of the most iconic artists of all time. Duplicating his works in a multitude of flashy colours, he brought art into the category of consumer goods. In order to produce in industrial quantities, he created his Factory in 1964, a giant studio central to New York artistic life. His works are now among the most sought-after within the contemporary art market.

His biography was written by Victor Bockris, who was close to the artist, is the result of a meticulous investigation of his entourage. It reveals the career of this leader of pop culture, from his precarious childhood in a family of Slovakian emigrants to his breakthrough into the world of show business.

Raphaël: Genius of the Renaissance

Like Jean-Michel Basquiat , Raphael (1483-1520) is regarded as a precocious artist prodigy, whose early death only helped to create a myth.

At a young age, he acquired important notoriety in Northern Italy thanks to his realistic style, characterized by his great gentleness and harmony of shapes and colors. His achievement was completed in 1508, when Pope Julius II asked him to create monumental frescoes to decorate his apartments in the Vatican.

2020 being the anniversary of his death, Raphael is honoured by two major retrospectives. The first, in France, at the Musée de Condé du Domaine de Chantilly and extended until August 30th, displays a large number of his drawings. The second, in Rome, at the Scuderie del Quirinale and open until August 31st, allowing visitors to see his greatest pictorial masterpieces.

On this occasion, art historian Stefano Zuffi published a biography that allows visitors to (re)discover the life of the “prince of painters”, according to Giorgio Vasari. A fascinating biography with the details of his works as guiding thread.

Caravaggio: The Prodigious Criminal

What could be more gripping than the life of Caravaggio (1571-1610)? Raphael’s calm and luminous works are the opposite of the brutal and dark works of the master of chiaroscuro. It has been said that this 16th century Italian artist revolutionized painting.

Breaking tradition, Caravaggio depicted uncompromising realism of sacred Bible characters, transcended by powerful contrasts of light. Like Raphael, he was already famous during his lifetime. The birth of Caravaggism at his death demonstrates his influence on the many artists of the early 17th century. But the comparison stops just as quickly! Aggressive in his paintings as in life, he was compelled to exile himself from Rome after killing a man in a duel. Leaving for Malta, he was finally imprisoned there for a criminal case. After his escape from the island, he died days later near Rome.

Yannick Haenel tells us the story of the tumultuous life of this rogue, “bad boy” painter. Through the analysis of his works, the writer attempts to unlock the mysteries of this famed murderous artists. Discover this fascinating genius of tenebrism!

Artemisia Gentileschi: Revenge of the Humiliated Student

Although attached to the Caravaggesque school, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) clearly distinguished herself from the other disciples of the Italian master, as much by her talent as by her success. In fact, few women painters could have a career in the 17th century since they were not allowed access to artistic education… Nevertheless, Artemisia Gentileschi managed to be recognized of her time thanks to the singularity of her painting.

The violence of her scenes, depicting courageous, active women, taking their destiny into their own hands, often earned her the label of feminist artist before her time! Unfortunately, her painting is often interpreted in the light of her personal life. Raped at the age of 19 by her drawing teacher and humiliated by the trial that followed, many art historians justify her choice to paint women in the midst of revenge by her trauma. However, her talent cannot be reduced to the simple representation of strong female subjects. Rather, her subtle and powerful mastery of chiaroscuro must be noted.

Awaiting the retrospective at the National Gallery in London this autumn, the exciting life of one of the first renowned women painters is to be discovered in Alexandra Lapierre’s book. Lapierre’s book received the Prize for Best Historical Novel when it was published in 2012.

Niki de Saint Phalle: The Mentor of Feminist Artists

Also assaulted in her childhood, Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002), whose drawings are for sale on Artsper, choose art as an outlet.

Her decisive encounter with the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely enabled her to join the group of the Nouveaux Réalistes in the early 1960s. She began her series of “Shooting” which scandalized the public as much as it brought the artist international recognition. Her performance paintings are made by shooting with a rifle at pockets filled with paint. They were a means of “shooting at society and its injustices”, especially those suffered by women. She keep on with her commitment through the production of her Nanas since 1965, female figures liberated from the patriarchal and misogynistic world. Behind the appearance of joyful and naive creations, Niki will not end to be committed to the defence of the feminine cause.  

This world of fantasy and colour is transcribed in the first graphic biography devoted to her. Plunging us into her artistic universe, the book retraces her journey with great sensitivity.

Frida Kahlo: Art as Therapy  

One of the greatest artists who left their imprint on 20th century art is undoubtedly Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). While politically committed and defending communist values, Frida Kahlo was best known for being one the most famous members of surrealism in Mexico.

Her painting is deeply poetic and inspired by Mexican folklore. This activity has also been the way enabling her to express her suffering through dreamlike worlds. Indeed, Frida’s life was full of tragic events, which nevertheless destroyed her unfailing joy of life. At the age of 18, a bus accident seriously injured her spine, crippling her for life and forcing her to wear a metal corset for the rest of her life. Finding refuge in art, she developed a passionate relationship with the artist Diego Riveira. They tried to conceive, but Frida had multiple miscarriages. Her global recognition allowed her to pass to posterity, while constituting a model for many women through her independence and strength of character.

This rich and dramatic life is told to us in a delicate, touching way by Rauda Jamis, a French author of Latin American origin.

Tina Modotti: Disowned Activist Photographer

Tina Modotti (1896-1942) died in Mexico and was politically committed like Frida Kahlo. Unlike her compatriot, Modotti was long forgotten by art history. She was known as a great photographer during her lifetime; nothing predestined this young girl who was forced to work in a factory at the age of 12.

After emigrating to the United States, she was spotted for her beauty and became a model, before starting an acting career in Hollywood. She met there the photographer Edward Weston, who made her his muse and taught her the technique of photography. It was during their trips to Mexico that she met artists link to the Communist Party. She decided to use her art to support political and social causes and became a photojournalist for the Mexican communist newspaper, El Machete. After leaving photography behind, she fully devoted herself to the fight against fascism. In 1936, she joined the International Red Cross and took part in the defense of Madrid against the Francoists. After fleeing Spain for America, she helped Spanish refugees and died there at the age of 45.

Gérard de Cortanze dedicated his last novel to the life of Tina Modotti. He had made a series of biographies about women within the 20th century artistic world, including Frida Kahlo and Violette Morris, in a style that is as romantic as ever, making the story more exciting. 

Camille Claudel: Madness Before Oblivion

If Camille Claudel (1864-1943) is one of the most famous French female artists and sculptors in the world, the whole first half of the 20th century passed her by in silence. Like Tina Modotti, she was subject to a late rediscovery.

Claudel was an apprentice of Rodin in the 1880s before having an affair with him. She hardly managed to emerge from the shadow of her mentor despite her undeniable talent. They separated after ten years of a passionate and destructive relationship. Camille Claudel was convinced that her lack of recognition was caused by Rodin and later developed paranoia disorders; leading to her admission into a psychiatric hospital in 1913. Her family’s opposition to her requests for release explains that she ended her days in total indifference, confined in an asylum until she died in 1943.

This novel about a tragically cursed artist was written by Anne Delbée, who received the 1983 Readers’ Choice Award of the revue Elle for her book.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Duo You Cannot Ignored in Contemporary Art

This article has surely made you aware of the difficulties for women artists to obtain recognition from their peers… A fact that has motivated many authors to take an interest in these complex, exciting journeys! Some artists have overcome their obstacles by working in tandem, blossoming both personally and artistically. One of the most famous couples in art is none other than Christo and Jeanne-Claude!

Christo (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) have always worked together, each finding in the other a respective source of inspiration. Attached to the Land Art movement , they are famous for their monumental and ephemeral productions, especially their “wrappings”. They never stopped traveling the world to reveal its beauty.

With Christo’s death on 31 May 2020, the retrospective of the couple’s creations in Paris at the Centre Pompidou (ends October 19th, 2020) has become a tribute. The wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in September 2021 will be their final salute. Jacob Baal-Teshuva’s book browses their entire work: the passionate adventure of two lives.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of a few artist’s biographies. Learn more about the captivating personalities who were often subjected to the margins of society. While being stunning and entertaining, these artist stories act as a gateway to understanding their artworks by revealing the behind-the-scenes representations of simple appearances. 

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The Importance of Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait With Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

Frida Kahlo painted many self-portraits throughout her career. Following her divorce from her ex-husband and fellow Mexican painter Diego Rivera, Kahlo painted the introspective self-portrait Autorretrato con Collar de Espinas that has wowed audiences since.

Landscapes Throughout Art History

The earth has been a source of artistic inspiration for thousands of years. Discover how landscapes have evolved throughout art history!

About Artsper

Founded in 2013, Artsper is an online marketplace for contemporary art. Partnering with 1,800 professional art galleries around the world, it makes discovering and acquiring art accessible to all.

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Last updated: September 14, 2024

Maria Loh, Professor of the History of Art at CUNY Hunter College, chooses her best books on the lives of famous artists . Her choice is varied, including works on portraiture in the renaissance, as well as On Photography by Susan Sontag and Just Kids by Patti Smith. Meanwhile, Adam Eaker, assistant curator in the department of European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, chooses his best books on the Dutch masters .

Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at Oxford University, one of the world’s leading authorities on the work of Leonardo da Vinci, chooses his best books on one of the most famous of all artists .

Five Biographies of Artists , recommended by Sue Prideaux

Caravaggio: a life sacred and profane by andrew graham-dixon, tove jansson: life, art, words by boel westin, young rembrandt by onno blom, surreal spaces: the life and art of leonora carrington by joanna moorhead, studio of the south: van gogh in provence by martin bailey.

From the Baroque painter who killed a man in Rome during the Counter-Reformation to the surrealist artist who left Britain and died in Mexico City in 2011, award-winning biographer Sue Prideaux talks to us about her favorite biographies of artists. Her new biography of Paul Gauguin, Wild Thing , is out this week and has been longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize.

The best books on Goya and the art of biography , recommended by Janis Tomlinson

Catherine of aragon: henry's spanish queen by giles tremlett, de kooning: an american master by annalyn swan & mark stevens, el «cuaderno italiano», 1770-1786: los orígenes del arte de goya by jesús urrea fernández & manuela b. mena marqués, cartas a martín zapater by mercedes águeda & xavier de salas, the peninsular war: a new history by charles esdaile.

The art of Francisco de Goya reflects the social and political chaos of Spain in his day, leaving later generations to read into his prolific work—by turns formal and bizarre, official and fantastic—many often contradictory interpretations. Art historian Janis Tomlinson recommends books that disentangle Goya from the retroactive projections of later admirers and situates him in his own time. We also consider what makes for a compelling biography.

The best books on Lucian Freud , recommended by William Feaver

Emil and the detectives by eileen hall (translator) & erich kästner, private view: the lively world of british art by antony armstrong-jones (lord snowdon), bryan robertson & john russell, a free house: or, the artist as craftsman by walter richard sickert, memoirs of the life of john constable: composed chiefly of his letters by c.r. leslie, nollekens and his times: comprehending a life of that celebrated sculptor, and memoirs of several contemporary artists.

Though ferociously private, Lucian Freud spoke about painting, the art world and his life and loves to his confidante and frequent collaborator, William Feaver , on the phone most weeks for many years. Feaver's transcript forms the core of his definitive two-volume biography . He speaks with us about the best books for understanding the life and work of this renowned painter, and the very particular collaboration that led to this magisterial account of one of the finest painters of the last century.

Though ferociously private, Lucian Freud spoke about painting, the art world and his life and loves to his confidante and frequent collaborator, William Feaver, on the phone most weeks for many years. Feaver’s transcript forms the core of his definitive two-volume biography . He speaks with us about the best books for understanding the life and work of this renowned painter, and the very particular collaboration that led to this magisterial account of one of the finest painters of the last century.

The best books on Andy Warhol , recommended by Blake Gopnik

The lives of the artists by giorgio vasari, the arts and man by raymond s. stites, swasarnt nerf's gay guides for 1949 by hugh hagius, factory: andy warhol by andy warhol & stephen shore, the andy warhol diaries by pat hackett.

Andy Warhol's ubiquitous soup cans – and his willingness to play the naïf – eclipse the leading Pop Art figure's depth, as Blake Gopnik reveals in his magisterial new biography. Here, Gopnik discusses five key books that offer crucial insight into Warhol the man.

Andy Warhol’s ubiquitous soup cans – and his willingness to play the naïf – eclipse the leading Pop Art figure’s depth, as Blake Gopnik reveals in his magisterial new biography. Here, Gopnik discusses five key books that offer crucial insight into Warhol the man.

The best books on Leonardo da Vinci , recommended by Martin Kemp

The divine comedy: inferno, purgatorio, paradiso by dante alighieri, art and illusion: a study in the psychology of pictorial representation by e.h. gombrich, leonardo da vinci: i documenti e le testimonianze contemporanee by edoardo villata, the literary works of leonardo da vinci by jean paul richter, leonardo da vinci by kenneth clark.

Every generation has its own Leonardo, and for many he remains a man of mystery. Martin Kemp , Emeritus Professor in Art History at Oxford and the author of Mona Lisa: The People and the Painting, helps us identify the non-mythical Leonardo. What might Leonardo be doing were he alive today, in our own digital age?

Every generation has its own Leonardo, and for many he remains a man of mystery. Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor in Art History at Oxford and the author of Mona Lisa: The People and the Painting, helps us identify the non-mythical Leonardo. What might Leonardo be doing were he alive today, in our own digital age?

The best books on The Lives of Artists , recommended by Maria Loh

The moment of self-portraiture in german renaissance art by joseph leo koerner, the self-aware image: an insight into early modern meta-painting by victor stoichita, on photography by susan sontag, camera lucida by roland barthes, just kids by patti smith.

We live in an age obsessed with self-image. Technology has made the ‘selfie’ a ubiquitous form of social currency. Renaissance means may have been very different, but celebrity artists in Medici Florence dealt with many of the issues relating to identity and authorship that we grapple with today. Maria Loh , author of Still Lives: Death, Desire, and the Portrait of the Old Master , talks to Five Books about the curated self.

We live in an age obsessed with self-image. Technology has made the ‘selfie’ a ubiquitous form of social currency. Renaissance means may have been very different, but celebrity artists in Medici Florence dealt with many of the issues relating to identity and authorship that we grapple with today. Maria Loh, author of Still Lives: Death, Desire, and the Portrait of the Old Master , talks to Five Books about the curated self.

The best books on The Dutch Masters , recommended by Adam Eaker

Still life with oysters and lemon: on objects and intimacy by mark doty, the embarrassment of riches: an interpretation of dutch culture in the golden age by simon schama, vermeer by lawrence gowing, rembrandt's enterprise: the studio and the market by svetlana alpers, art of the everyday: dutch painting and the realist novel by ruth bernard yeazell.

The past may be a foreign country, but the world portrayed in the art of the Dutch Masters is not so very far from our own, says Adam Eaker of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For a society that struggles with materialism and consumption, there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from the 17th century Golden Age.

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Later career

What was Salvador Dalí’s early life like?

Where did salvador dalí get his education, what is salvador dalí best known for.

• What are some of the major film festivals?

Salvador Dalí

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• artnet - Biography of Salvador Dalí
• The Art Story - Biography of Salvador Dali
• Art in Context - Salvador Dalí – The Archetypal Surrealist
• Guggenheim - Biography of Salvador Dalí
• Academia - Salvador Dali and surrealism
• Official Site of The Dali Museum
• Salvador Dali - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Salvador Dalí - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

Salvador Dalí was the son of Salvador Dalí Cusí, a notary, and Felipa Domènech Ferrés. His family lived in Figueras, Catalonia , Spain , but spent summers in the seaside community of Cadaqués, where Dalí drew and painted the coastal landscape and his family. There he also studied painting with Ramón Pichot, a family friend.

Salvador Dalí began his formal education at a public school in Figueras, Catalonia , Spain , but, because of the boy’s daydreaming, his father switched him to a private school where instruction was in French. Later he studied at the San Fernando Academy of Art in Madrid , where he befriended Federico García Lorca and Luis Buñuel .

Salvador Dalí was a Spanish Surrealist painter and printmaker known for exploring subconscious imagery. Arguably, his most famous painting is The Persistence of Memory (1931), depicting limp melting watches. Dalí also collaborated with director Luis Buñuel on the Surrealistic films Un Chien andalou (1929; An Andalusian Dog ) and L’Âge d’or (1930; The Golden Age ).

Salvador Dalí (born May 11, 1904, Figueras, Spain—died January 23, 1989, Figueras) was a Spanish artist and filmmaker, who was part of the Surrealist group in his early career and continued to build on the movement’s ideas and imagery throughout his life. His eccentric behavior and his eerie paintings made him the best known of the group .

Dalí was born in Figueras, Spain , a town in the Catalonia region. He was the son of Salvador Dalí Cusí, a notary, atheist, and Republican who supported Catalonia’s independence from Spain, and Felipa Domènech Ferrés, a Roman Catholic, who indulged her son’s quirky behavior. Salvador Dalí was their second son, the first had died nine months prior and had also been named Salvador. A younger sister, Ana María, was born in 1908. Salvador Dalí spoke Catalan at home but also learned Spanish and French. His mostly happy childhood and adolescence came to an end with the death of his mother of breast cancer in 1921. Soon after Dalí enrolled at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid.

As an art student in Madrid , Dalí assimilated a vast number of artistic styles and displayed unusual technical facility as a painter. It was not until the late 1920s, however, that two events brought about the development of his mature artistic style: his discovery of Sigmund Freud ’s writings on the erotic significance of subconscious imagery and his affiliation with the Paris Surrealists, a group of artists and writers who sought to establish the “greater reality” of the human subconscious over reason. To bring up images from his subconscious mind, Dalí began to induce hallucinatory states in himself by a process he described as “ paranoiac critical.”

Once Dalí hit on that method, his painting style matured with extraordinary rapidity, and from 1929 to 1937 he produced the paintings which made him the best-known Surrealist artist. He depicted a dreamworld in which commonplace objects are juxtaposed , deformed, or otherwise metamorphosed in a bizarre and irrational fashion . Dalí portrayed those objects in meticulous , almost painfully realistic detail and usually placed them within bleak sunlit landscapes that were reminiscent of his Catalonian homeland. Perhaps the most famous of those enigmatic images is The Persistence of Memory (1931), in which limp melting watches rest in an eerily calm landscape.

With the Spanish director Luis Buñuel , Dalí made two Surrealistic films — Un Chien andalou (1929; An Andalusian Dog ) and L’Âge d’or (1930; The Golden Age )—that are similarly filled with grotesque but highly suggestive images. During the presentation of the first film , Dalí met French poet Paul Éluard , one of the founders of Surrealism , and his wife, Gala. She married Dalí in 1934 and became his manager, model, and muse.

In the late 1930s Dalí switched to painting in a more-academic style under the influence of the Renaissance painter Raphael . His ambivalent political views during the rise of fascism alienated his Surrealist colleagues, and he was eventually expelled from the group. Thereafter, he spent much of his time designing theater sets, interiors of fashionable shops, and jewelry as well as exhibiting his genius for flamboyant self-promotional stunts in the United States , where he lived from 1940 to 1955.

In the period from 1950 to 1970, Dalí painted many works with religious themes, though he continued to explore erotic subjects, to represent childhood memories, and to use themes centering on his wife, Gala. Notwithstanding their technical accomplishments, those later paintings are not as highly regarded as the artist’s earlier works.

“Modesty is not exactly my specialty.”

The most interesting and revealing of Dalí’s books is The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí (1942). In addition to his art and writing , Dalí also created a monument to himself, the Dalí Theatre-Museum, in his hometown of Figueras, which opened in 1974 and features art from his collection. The museum was designed by the artist and constructed on the remains of the local theater building, which was destroyed in a fire during the Spanish Civil War . It was also where Dalí had shown some of his earliest art pieces. Dalí was buried under the stage after his death in 1989.

Another museum dedicated to the Surrealist was founded by collectors by A. Reynolds and Eleanor Morse in 1982 and is located in St. Petersburg , Florida .

How To Write An Artist Bio With Tips and Lots of Examples

I have summarized the more important parts of this article below. Let’s have a look at some tips for an artist bio and below it some tips for an artist bio for an emerging artist.

For a Professional Artist Biography:

• Keep it Short : Your biography should be a brief overview of key facts about your art career.
• Easy to Read : Start with a catchy first sentence to get the reader interested.
• Write as an Observer : Use the third person to talk about your art and career.
• Important Facts Only : Mention things like your birth date, nationality, job title, the art forms you use, your style and main themes, and other key career details.
• Ideal Length : Aim for about 120 words, but keep it between 80 and 140 words.

For an Emerging Artist Biography:

• Background Info : Mention where you were born and places you’ve lived.
• Artistic Roots : Talk about what or who inspires your art.
• Education in Art : If you’ve had any art training or education, include it.
• Self-Taught Artists : If you haven’t had formal training, explain how you’ve learned and developed your art skills on your own.

Keep reading as I cover the topic in more detail, giving artist bio examples and the like.

Writing an Artist biography is probably one of the hardest things I have had to write. If you are reading this then I assume you are struggling with this as well.

Whether you are an artist making modern art , a painter or a visual artist looking for representation in an art gallery then you need to get your artist bio done right.

What’s the difference between an artist biography, artist statement, and artist profile?

Here are some bullet points to summarize each for those who do not know the key differences.

Below are some bullet points that highlight the key differences between an artist biography, artist statement, and artist profile. I will then dive into more details of each with examples you can use.:

Artist Biography:

• Focuses on the artist’s life and career, often including personal information and significant events or achievements.
• Written in third-person perspective.
• Typically includes a summary of the artist’s education, influences, and creative process, as well as critical reception and awards.

Artist Statement:

• Focuses on the artist’s creative process and artistic vision.
• Written in first-person perspective.
• Typically includes a description of the artist’s style, techniques, themes, and motivations, as well as any philosophical or conceptual ideas that inform the work.

Artist Profile:

• Similar to a bio, but typically shorter and more concise.
• Often used as a promotional tool on social media, artist directories, or other online platforms.
• May include a brief bio, statement, and selected images of the artist’s work.
• Generally less formal than a traditional bio or statement, and may be written in first or third person.

What is an artist biography (Artist bio)?

Before we start, you should understand the difference between an artist biography and an artist statement vs an artist profile.

Each one serves its own purpose and should be used for a specific goal in mind.

In its simplest form, an artist biography is a summary of you as an artist in a few paragraphs (some say 50 words is all you need). Artist bios should detail your qualifications and any training you undertook as an artist (if you are not qualified you can just omit this part). You then detail your influences, your achievements and contact details. It is usually followed by a brief artist statement.

What to include in an artist biography about yourself

An artist biography needs to take into account the life and work of you as an artist. It usually covers significant events and accomplishments throughout your artistic career, as well as personal information that helps to understand the context in which your art was created.

An artist biography can also include information about your artistic education, influences, creative process, and the evolution of their style over time. It may also discuss the critical reception of their work, as well as any awards or recognition they have received.

Get to the point quickly

An artist bio should get to the point quickly. This is because the reader of the bio may have limited time or attention span, and may be looking for a quick summary of your artistic career and style.

A concise and well-organized bio can help to capture the reader’s interest and convey the most important information about your work in a short amount of time.

This can be really important in situations where you are trying to promote yourself or your art, such as when applying for grants, exhibitions, or other opportunities.

In addition, a clear and focused bio can help to establish your credibility and professionalism as an artist. It shows that you have a clear sense of your artistic identity and are able to communicate it effectively to others.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should sacrifice depth or detail in your bio. It’s important to strike a balance between brevity and substance, providing enough information to give the reader a sense of who you are as an artist and what makes your work unique.

Speak in your own voice

One thing to note, many artists refer to themselves in the third person which I believe can come across as a little pretentious.

Another pretentious artist is the last thing the world needs.

Here are some tips for writing an artist bio in your own voice:

• Start by brainstorming a list of the key points you want to convey about yourself and your work.
• Write in the first person (“I” instead of “the artist”).
• Use a conversational tone and avoid jargon or overly technical language.
• Highlight your unique qualities, experiences, and perspective.
• Include personal anecdotes or stories that illustrate your artistic journey.
• Focus on what motivates and inspires you as an artist.
• Be concise and to the point, keeping the reader’s attention in mind.
• Don’t be afraid to show some personality and express yourself creatively in the bio.
• Read your bio aloud to make sure it flows well and sounds natural.
• Have someone else read your bio and provide feedback on clarity and tone.

Here are some things not to include in your artist bio:

• Personal information that is not relevant to your art, such as your marital status or political beliefs.
• Negative or overly critical comments about other artists or art forms.
• A list of every single exhibition or show you have ever participated in. Instead, focus on the most significant or noteworthy ones. This is a big one ok!
• Unsubstantiated claims or exaggerations about your accomplishments or abilities.
• Vague or clichéd language that doesn’t really say anything about your work or style.
• Rambling or overly long paragraphs that make it difficult for the reader to follow.
• Too much technical jargon or insider terminology that may not be easily understood by a general audience.
• Personal opinions that may be divisive or controversial, unless they are integral to your artistic vision or message.
• Information that may compromise your privacy or security, such as your home address or phone number.

Using your own voice makes you more relatable.

Click here if you wish to skip to the section on How to write an artist bio with steps and examples.

Can a non-artist write an artist bio for you?

Artist biographies can also be written by art historians, curators or other experts in the field. This is because artist bios can also be found in exhibition catalogs, art books , and online resources.

A great artist bio can provide valuable insights into your artistic life and work and can help to deepen our understanding and appreciation of your art, especially if art lovers find something in your back story that they can relate to.

What is an Artist Statement

An artist’s statement is a brief description of your work as a whole. The purpose of an artist statement is to give anyone looking at your work some context around why you work a certain way so that they can either connect with you or the subject matter. The artist statement should cover the “why” you do things and not the “who you are”.

You would usually include an artist statement as part of the artist biography.

For more information on Artist’s Statements, wikipedia has some further reading.

What is an Artist Profile

The Artist Profile is quite interesting, it is a mix of both the artist bio and artist statement. The difference is the artist profile packages both pieces of information into an interesting page designed to ‘hook’ the reader into wanting to learn more about you as the artist as well as your art and your interests.

Think of the artist profile as the first page of a really interesting novel, designed to make the reader want to keep reading and learn more.

Use good story-telling techniques when planning your artist profile.

If you are struggling to write an Artist Biography and Artist Statement, try writing an Artist Profile instead as it lets you channel your creative energy rather than following a boring format.

Here is an example of an Artist Bio with an Artist Statement

Here are some real examples of artist profiles (some famous artists some not)

Anselm Kiefer

Someone like Anselm who has a long and distinguished career, his artist bio can start to look like a long laundry list of accomplishments and doesn’t actually tell us anything new. My tip is to not follow this example (see below for an image or click on the link above to view his page)

Do not write a laundry list of accomplishments and facts!

Rhian Malin (though it is written in the 3rd person..)

I quite like Rhian’s artist bio even though it is written in the 3rd person. But if you take a look at their artist biography you will notice that the first line makes her personable. She was inspired by her grandmother’s collection. We can all relate to seeing something at a grandparent’s home that would have awed us as children and then went on to influence us. Be personable.

Rhian then describes their approach and where they work. The list of accomplishments are not a laundry list and they appear at the bottom making you believe that accomplishments are a by product of inspiration and making art.

I quite like Rhian’s approach.

Larry Poons

Larry Poons also follows the more traditional approach to writing an artist biography. It is the typical laundry list of accomplishments and facts but what I do like is the photo. It is not a pretentious professional photo of the artist in a black turtleneck trying to look cool. The photo looks more natural.

Jeff Koons – As he has so many achievements, Jeff’s website also has formatted his bio into sections covering Awards and Honors , Talks and Lectures and Collections .

Another list of accomplishments and an unnaturally posed photo. Please do not go down this path of a boring artist bio, be original and be likeable. Make yourself relatable.

Be original, personable and likeable. Stay true to character and do not appear fake.

Why write an artist biography (bio). What is the purpose of an artist bio?

What is the purpose of writing an artist bio? Is it for vanity, was it requested by art galleries or was it just so that you could be found in search engines?

Most artists write an artist bio because other artists have written one. Pretty simple.

Personally I don’t have a formal artist bio written and the only time I pull one together is when I am entering an art competition and it is part of the entry form.

When we write our artist biography we need to ask ourselves “Who is it for?” You should write to your audience and not to yourself.

An artist bio Is like an informal Resume

Writing an artist bio is a bit like a resume. It can feel cold, impersonal and detached.

When we write a resume we are writing for a specific audience such as a recruiter but the goal is the same.

When we write an Artist Bio:

• We are writing to a curator or collector.
• We want them to know our skills
• We want them to know our qualifications
• We want them to know what we are good at
• We want them to know what makes us so much better than the next person that the reader will want to invest in us, our art
• and finally we want them to know WHY we became an artist and why we are pursuing the arts.

Give people your “why” when creating an artist bio

When you write an artist biography I have found it to be actually quite harder than a resume.

When we write a resume we tend to be able to be more objective about our skills, work and achievements but with art, we are emotionally invested and being an artist is core to our self identity.

Types of artist biographies

Artist biography for self taught artists.

Self taught artists may believe the lack of a formal qualification or training in the arts may preclude them from needing an artist biography.

I suffered from an inferiority complex for many years as I too am a self taught artist.

Self taught artists can usually do well with an artist profile instead of an artist bio as it can gloss over or skip over any need to highlight their qualifications.

So if you are a self taught artist, write your artist biography listing all your achievements, influences, showings, sales and include an artist statement.

Then when it comes to qualifications, highlight that you have been an artist for X amount of years, highlight your experience over any qualifications.

Experience can be better than education

Now I’ll get on my high horse.. Not being formally trained is not a hindrance. In fact, an art degree or tertiary qualification is actually only a recent thing for artists. Most artists until the 20th century were trained as artist apprentices or self taught. None had a piece of paper proclaiming that they were now part of the creative elite!

As we no longer have artists guilds to confirm our skills as an artist, then some use a degree or diploma as a proxy. Though this does not guarantee that you are as good an artist as any other.

Artist Biography for Qualified Artists

Many contemporary artists have some form of qualification they will include in their artist biography. If you have a certification in a specific field, or use of a specific tool then note that down.

Otherwise your artist biography and artist statement should read like any other.

Artist Biography for Beginner artist biography

When you are a beginner artist your experience will be little, you may not have even had a showing yet and you may not have any qualifications.

When I was 17 I entered the Doug Moran National Portrait prize (in Australia) which is a $100,000 Acquisitive portrait prize.

I had about 5 years of artist experience under my belt, 1 showing in my high school where I won first prize for a portrait of Marilyn Monroe and 2 sales of my paintings.

The prizes required I submit an artist bio and artist statement. I did not know what to do so I left it all blank.

Today I would give the same advice as I give to self taught artists, highlight your achievements to date and not add anything negative.

Remember my resume example. When we start working we have nothing to add as experience but we document all the transferable skills we have all that we can offer.

As a beginner artist, add what you have done to date and be proud of that. If you have not done anything of note yet, then note what your influences are and where you want to go with your art career.

What should an artist biography include?

What to include in an artist biography.

Images – Should I include an image of myself?

Just like in a resume, unless you are one extremely good looking person or you have a very original look that can help with your persona or help people remember you (think of Dali’s moustache) then do not include an image or photo of yourself.

Ensure you provide any links to where you have exhibited.

Ensure you provide any links to where you have sold your works. If you are unable to link to article showing a sale, then note down the item sold, when it was sold and the details of the artwork.

You do not need to note the price it sold for or who purchased the artwork.

Where possible, link to any articles about you or your works that are of note.

How to write an artist biography about yourself

The best way to write an artist biography is to start looking at the artist biography examples found on the internet.

The hardest thing I found was collating all the information I wanted to include in my bio. What I found was when I just did a brain dump without putting my thought into dates etc it was easier.

The first things you should do, using sticky notes:

• Collect and organise any courses you have completed. Don’t worry about the years commenced or completed.
• Write down keywords that you would use to describe your influences and put these aside. These can be art styles, people or places.
• Write down why you do what you do as an artist, was it something you have known since you can remember? Was it a specific experience?
• Write down any key achievements you have had so far in your art career.
• Your name and where you live and where you typically work from
• What styles or mediums do you work in?

Once you have these noted down, you actually have the key points required for an artist biography. All we need to do now is start writing the artist bio.

How do you start a biography?

Grab those sticky notes we just wrote. Put them in this order:

• Why you do what you do as an artist, that something you have known since you can remember or that specific experience.
• Those keywords that you used to describe your influences. The art styles, people or places.
• The styles or mediums do you work in
• The courses you have completed.
• The key achievements you have had so far in your art career.

Now that you have put all the raw data into some meaningful order, you just need to pad these out into properly worded paragraphs and ensure that they have a natural flow to them.

If you find that hard to do then take a look at some real artist biography examples to draw inspiration from. Find a few you like and experiment.

Artist Biography Examples

How to write an artist biography sample.

Here are some real examples of artist biographies to draw inspiration from. Note : One take away from all the examples I researched (apart from Rita Ackermann) is that they were all badly formatted and hard to read.

So please take some time to ensure that your artist biography is formatted so that it is easy to read on a computer and also on a smartphone.

EVELYN SOSA

Cuban, born 1989.

An Award winning photographer, Evelyn Sosa Rojas was born in 1989 in Havana, Cuba, where she still lives and work. In her practice, since 2008, Sosa specializes in amazingly soulful portraits. Sosa shows the power of femininity through photos of women in different familiar or intimate settings. In 2016, Sosa was the winner of the Herman Puig Prize, awarded yearly to the best artist of the Body Photography Salon in Havana. In her powerful series “Women’s portraits”, Sosa captures the very essence of each subject in a simple, sensual and compelling way. Sosa has an ability to capture the depth of the eyes and gaze, showing the subject soul and deep thoughts. In 2019, Uncommon Beauty published a photo-book , HAVANA INTIMATE, through the lens of Evelyn Sosa. In a scholarly essay written for the book, Grethel Morell Otero, the recipient of the 2019 Cuban National Curator Award, and a published authority in Cuban photography wrote: “her (Sosa) work represents something of a vanguard movement in contemporary artistic photography’. Website

Joseph Rolella

Born in Sydney in 1972, Rolella completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) in 1994 and went on to obtain a Masters in Visual Arts at the University of Western Sydney in 1998. Joseph Rolella has exhibited consistently for the past twelve years both nationally and internationally. Rolella has won several major art prizes including the Australian Cricket Art Prize in 2011 for the painting “Cricket at Kandahar”. The Oakhill Grammer School Art Prize in 2013 as well as being selected as a semi-finalist for the prestigious Doug Moran Portrait Prize. Complex and contradictory, Rolella’s recent abstract paintings seek to expose a delicate equilibrium between a sense of balance and visual calm and the tumult of painterly texture and surface tension. The play of light at the waters edge…

SOFIA AREAL  (Lisbon, 1960)

Begins her studies 1979 at the Hertfordshire College of Art and Design in St Albans, UK. In Portugal she studied etching and painting at Ar.Co. (Art and Visual Communication Center).

Her first group exhibition was in 1982 at the 1ª Mostra de Artes in Lagos, Portugal and her first solo show was in 1990 at Galeria Alda Cortez, Lisbon. Since then, Sofia has exhibited in various countries individually and collectively. She had a retrospective exhibition covering the last 10 years of her career in 2011 at the Galeria da Cordoaria Nacional the exhibition was accompanied by a book published by Babel, with texts of among others: Jorge Silva Melo and Professor Luís Campos e Cunha. In 2012 Areal illustrates the literary magazine published by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Colóquio Letras. In 2013 launches a book together with Harvard Professor, Allan Hobson – “ Creativity”. Since 2013, Areal has started an international exhibition program, in Macau – Orient Foundation 2014, Oslo – Embassy Art Space 2015 and Dublin in 2016. In the same year a film by Jorge Silva Melo, “Sofia Areal: Um Gabinete Anti-Dor” premiers. In 2017 Areal continues a series of exhibitions, started in 2016 in quARTel das Artes in Abrantes, about her own private collection in Lagos Cultural Centre, followed by MUDAS. Contemporary Art Museum of Madeira and Centro Cultural Raiano – a series, which will continue in 2019. In the same year Areal will have an exhibition in the Portuguese Cultural Centre in Luxembourg. In 2017-2018 creates a tiles panel is together with a group of artists and 3 individual ones, all with Ratton Gallery in Lisbon.

Great example of a short artist biography

A short bio is a good idea for any artist whether you want to present your skills for a solo exhibition for fine art or just for a social media platform such as for an Instagram profile.

Rita Ackermann Biography

Born : Budapest, Hungary, 1968

Education :

The New York Studio School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture (Hanes Foundation), New York NY, 1992 – 1993 Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary, 1989 – 1992

Resides: Lives and works in New York NY

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019 Hauser & Wirth, ‘Rita Ackermann. Brother and Sister’, Zürich, Switzerland

2018 La Triennale di Milano, ‘Rita Ackermann. Movements as Monuments’, Milan, Italy VIEWING ROOM, Marlborough Contemporary, ‘Rita Ackermann and Carol Rama: Body Matters’, New York NY

How to write an artist biography using a template

You can follow this simple template if you want to skip the sticky note exercise from the previous steps.

As I do not like referring to myself in the third person I will move away from your typical artist biography examples and make it a little more personable.

“ My name is [Insert your name], I was born in [insert town/city/country] in [year]. My first experiences as an artist was when [insert time period in life or formative experience].

My influences were [insert influences].

It was here that I realized that I wanted to pursue my career in this field.

I went on to study [insert course and institution] where I earned my qualifications in [insert field of study].

It was here that I furthered expanded on my knowledge in [insert fields of interest], where I [insert key achievements].

I work primarily in [insert mediums] and I currently work from [insert location] and [any other locations of interest]. “

Self taught artist bio sample

For self taught artists, your artist bio will be the same as all the examples but without listing any formal qualifications. Using the template above, I have modified it to make it suitable for self taught artists.

The focus for a self taught artist is to focus on your practical experience and what you did in lieu of formal training.

I believe that being an artist is something that one is born to do an not learned at school, I went on to study through practical experience, learning through trial and error and self learning studying the works of [insert influences] as my teachers .

50 word artist bio example

Describe yourself in 50 words or less. This is much harder to do than you may think.

If you must provide an artist biography in 50 words or less then focus on the key information and remove the filler words that we tend to use when describing ourselves and our achievements.

When creating a 50 words or less artist bio, use simple headings and bullet points and stick to the point.

“ My name is [Insert your name]. Born in [insert town/city/country] in [year].

I work primarily in [insert main medium]

My influences are [insert influences].

I obtained a [insert qualification] from [institution].

(I am represented by [insert gallery]) or (I have exhibited in [insert shows]) or (I have won [insert main prizes])

I currently work from [insert location] and [any other locations of interest]. “

Still struggling to write an Artist Bio?

I found this cool site, it generates artist statements and biographies. All you need to do is click “Generate Some Bollocks” .

First Draft of an artist biography

Have someone write the outline for you.

If you find it hard to write about yourself, find someone you trust and hand over your sticky notes and ask them to write the artist biography for you using the templates as a guide.

You will find that someone who knows you well will remember to add other information about you that you may have forgotten to include or too embarrassed to include.

Once they have a draft, read through it out loud with them and see if it makes sense and look at areas for improvement.

My English is not good, what do I do?

If your english is not as good as you like, that is totally fine. If anything it is an advantage as you can now have a bilingual artist bio.

You can have your artist bio written in your native language for your native audience and then ask someone you trust to translate it to English or pay a small fee on Upwork or Freelancer to translate your artist biography for you.

If you do not want to pay someone, you can give Google Translate a try and see how that comes up. Speaking from experience when I tried to translate text from English to Italian, be careful as this does not always give the best results.

Review and review again

Again, with anything your write you should review it yourself and then ask someone you trust to review it again for you.

Check for grammar and spelling.

Common mistakes in artist biographies

Contrary to my advice about writing in the first person, some say that your artist biography should be written in the third person to give the impression that it was written by someone else and that it sounds more authoritative.

Unless your artist biography was actually written by a third person I disagree with this advice. We know you wrote this so why pretend it wasn’t.

Secondly, if you are an unknown and not professionally represented, most people in the industry will know you bring little authority with you. That’s the sad truth.

The next mistake is to fail to tell an interesting story about your journey as an artist. Note down any gaps in your career and explain why, sometimes the gaps are as interesting as the art journey itself.

Taking care of children, sick family, going to war, being in accident can all be used as part of your narrative and drawn on for inspiration.

Think of all the books you read that you could not put down, they told an interesting story you could relate to and the characters were usually likeable and not pretentious.

Which leads to the next mistake, do not big note yourself or embellish your achievements. Do not lie about your achievements. With the internet available to most people on their phones, most facts can be easily verified.

The next mistake is to write an artist statement when an artist biography was requested.

Other mistakes when writing an artist bio are spelling mistakes grammar mistakes, not proofreading your draft, and the final mistake artists make when writing their artist biography is forgetting to tell the why they became an artist.

How to write an Artist Bio – Wrap up!

As I mentioned earlier, writing an artist bio is a bit like a resume but it’s all part of the art business. It can feel cold, impersonal and detached. This is the reason why I prefer an Artist Profile instead.

I would format the artist profile to include the initial hook paragraphs to get your readers interested in knowing more.

I would then follow the lead from the examples provided and include information that you would usually see in an artist biography.

Keep it up to date

Remember, as artists we are always changing and progressing. This means whether you are using an Artist Biography, Artists Statement or Artist Profile, these should be updated to reflect where you are in life and as an artist at that point in time.

It should change as you change. Keep some of the older information in there so your reader can follow your career and influences progressions.

These tell a story about you and remember there is no such thing as a perfect artist bio or artists cv. You just want to convey enough about yourself for potential clients and for a fellow artist.

Rewrite and Review

Each time you make an update, review what you wrote and do not be afraid to re-write it all if it no longer applies to who you are today.

Get someone to proofread your artist bio and take on any constructive criticism.

Good luck! If you have any of your own artist biographies that you would like linked to this article, please send through a message on the contact-me page.

If it is suitable, I will include it in the list of Artist Biography Examples.

Joseph Colella (Joe Colella) is an Editor and Writer at WastedTalentInc. As a frustrated artist with over 40 years experience making art (who moonlights as a certified Business Analyst with over 20 years of experience in tech).

While Joseph holds a Diploma in Information Technology, in true wasted talent fashion he spent years applying for various Art degrees; from the Accademia di Belle Arti (Napoli), to failing to get into the Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) at the University of Western Sydney.

While he jokes about his failures at gaining formal art qualifications, as a self-taught artist he has had a fruitful career in business, technology and the arts making Art his full time source of income from the age of 18 until 25.

His goal is to attend the Julian Ashton School of Art at The Rocks Sydney when he retires from full time work. Joseph’s art has been sold to private collectors all over the world from the USA, Europe and Australasia.

He is a trusted source for reliable art advice and tutorials to copyright/fair use advice and is committed to helping his readers make informed decisions about making them a better artist.

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Biography Online

Artist Biographies

A list of artist biographies.

Citation:  Pettinger, Tejvan . “Famous Artist Biographies”, Oxford, www.biographyonline.net, 23/05/2014. Updated 26 June 2019.

Greatest works of Art by Thomas Hoving

Greatest Works of Art of Western Civilization at Amazon

Related pages

• Top 10 Artists of all time
• Favourite works of Art

40 Famous Artists Everyone Should Know, From Michelangelo to Frida Kahlo

Museums and textbooks are full of names of artists who've left their mark on history. Certain names, however, still stand out from the rest. Whether it is through their distinctive style, their participance in a pivotal art movement, or their eccentric life, these artists have achieved astounding fame. And while these creatives are well-known in popular culture now, many of them were not recognized for their talents until decades after their death.

So, who are the most famous artists? While you can probably guess the names of a few, some of the others may be new to you. Renaissance masters Michelangelo and Leonardo, for instance, are two creative titans whose names are synonymous with art and genius. Likewise, Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo are some of the most significant female artists of the 20th century.

Here we will take a look at the names and lives of 40 of the most famous artists in the world .

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list that in any way indicates the most talented or most worthy of recognition. Art has had an unfortunate history of excluding women and people of color, but we look forward to that changing within our generation. This list is a reflection of the names and faces that have achieved fame, thus far.

40 All-Time Most Famous Artists in the World

Italian & northern renaissance, sandro botticelli (1445–1510).

Self-portrait of Sandro Botticelli from his painting “Adoration of the Magi,” c. 1476 (Photo: Uffizi via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli was one of the most prolific painters of the 15th century. While the artist's oeuvre features secular portraits and Biblical depictions, he is most well-known for his larger-than-life, mythological scenes. In fact, he was one of the first artists of this time period to revive Classical subject matter and adopt its iconography.

Famous works of art: Birth of Venus (c. 1486), Primavera (c. 1477–82)

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)

Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, attributed to Francesco Melzi, c. 1515-17 (Photo: Royal Collection via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Leonardo da Vinci was the quintessential Renaissance man . Not only did he leave behind a collection of notebooks filled with scientific observations and illustrations, but he also left an important legacy of artwork spanning different mediums. His mastery of oil painting techniques such as sfumato and chiaroscuro can be seen in his portraits, Mona Lisa and Lady with an Ermine . The former remains as one of the most visited works of art in the world.

Famous works of art: Lady With an Ermine (1489–91), Vitruvian Man (c. 1492), The Last Supper (1498), Mona Lisa (1503–1516)

Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)

Self-portrait at 28, oil painting on lime, 1500 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication)

Northern Renaissance  artist  Albrecht Durer  was the first artist to elevate printmaking to a form of fine art. He produced engravings, woodcuts, and etchings based on his meticulously detailed drawings. It was the first time someone attempted to duplicate such realistic illustrations, and its overwhelming success subsequently inspired other artists to make and distribute prints.

Famous works of art: Melancolia I (1514)

Michelangelo (1475–1564)

Portrait of Michelangelo, attributed to Daniele da Volterra, c. 1545 (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

A master of painting, sculpture, and architecture, Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of the most exemplary figures of the Italian Renaissance . His nickname Il Divino (‘The Divine One”) is evidence of how beloved he was. Additionally, his incredible success is significant in a time when most artists did not enjoy wealth or fame while they were alive. In fact, Michelangelo is the first Western artist to have a biography published during his lifetime.

Famous works of art: Pietà (1498–99) David ( 1501–4), Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508–12), The Last Judgment (1536–1541)

Raphael (1482–1520)

Raphael, “Self Portrait,” 1504–1506 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, best known simply as  Raphael  (1482–1520), is held today as a master of form and composition. Although he died at just 37 years old, the Italian architect and painter left behind a vast body of work. He is primarily known for his  Madonna paintings , including his vivid  Madonna in the Grass, as well as his large-scale mural, The School of Athens , which celebrates philosophy.

Famous works of art:    Wedding of the Virgin  (1504),  School of Athens  (1511),  The Transfiguration  (1520)

Baroque Period

Caravaggio (1571–1610).

Portrait of Carvaggio by Ottavio Leoni, c. 1621 (Photo: Biblioteca Marucelliana via Wikimedia Commons )

Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi—better known as Caravaggio —led a passionate and turbulent life. His artistic legacy is just as evocative in style and technique. Never before had an artist used “normal” people as the models for paintings of biblical characters. Furthermore, his masterful use of extreme light and dark, or tenebrism , added an unparalleled psychological drama to his paintings.

Famous works of art: The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599–1600), David with the Head of Goliath (1610)

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)

Peter Paul Rubens, “Portrait of the Artist,” 1623 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public Domain)

Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a prominent Flemish Baroque painter who lived during the Dutch Golden Age. His distinct style emphasized color, movement, and drama—all key characteristics of the Baroque period. Known for his voluptuous women, opulent colors, and dynamic compositions, Rubens established himself as a prominent court painter for the Spanish Hapsburgs, developing an international reputation as an artist and diplomat.

Famous works of art: Marie de' Medici cycle (1620s)

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–c. 1656)

Artemisia Gentileschi, “Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting,” 1638–1639 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

As the daughter of an accomplished painter,  Artemisia Gentileschi  was afforded access to the art world at a young age. Early on she was in her father's workshop mixing paints and he supported her career when he noted that she was exceptionally gifted. As a noted painter of the Italian Baroque period, Gentileschi did not let her gender hold her back from her subject matter. She painted large-scale Biblical and mythological paintings, just like her male counterparts, and was the first woman accepted to the prestigious Fine Art Academy in Florence.

Famous works of art: Judith Slaying Holofernes (1614–1620)

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680)

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, “Self Portrait,” c. 1635 (Photo: Uffizi via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Perhaps no other artist defines the  Baroque era  more than  Gian Lorenzo Bernini , whose impressive career spanned nearly 70 years. As a child prodigy, Bernini was creating large-scale marble sculptures as a teen. Later, he would become the architect of St. Peter's Basilica—following in Michelangelo's footsteps—where he created the Basilica's iconic plaza and colonnade, as well as its central bronze canopy. A master of materials, Bernini is known for his astonishing ability to create movement and bring forth emotion with his work. In his hands, marble transforms into soft flesh that looks so real, that you’d want to reach out and squeeze it.

Famous works of art: The Rape of Proserpina (1621–1622) , The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa (1647–1652)

Diego Velázquez (1599–1660)

Diego Velázquez, “Self-Portrait,” c. 1640 (Photo:  Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Of the many influential artists that emerged during the Baroque period, one is best known for his honest and exquisite portraits of royalty: the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez . His position as a court painter granted the artist opportunities to travel Europe and see the art of the old masters, and capture some of the most prestigious people of the time. Velázquez's portraits are considered to be among the finest ever made and had a lasting impact on future artists like Manet and Picasso.

Famous works of art:  Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1650),  Las Meninas (1656),

Rembrandt (1606–1669)

Self-Portrait with Two Circles, c. 1665 -1669 (Photo: Kenwood House via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is regarded as one the most important and influential figures in the history of art. A master painter, printmaker, and draughtsman, his extensive body of work continues to fascinate art-lovers around the world. It is why he is also known as an “Old Master”—a label reserved for Europe's most prolific pre-19th century painters.

Famous works of art: Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp (1632) , The Night Watch (1642)

Jan Vermeer (1632–1675)

Assumed self-portrait of Jan Vermeer from his painting “The Procuress,” 1656. (Photo: Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Johannes Vermeer was devoted to exploring the everyday moments of the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age, often painting scenes of domestic life. He was dubbed the “Master of Light” due to the way he perfectly painted how natural light danced on the skin, fabrics, and other objects. Although he was a relatively successful painter during his lifetime, there are only 34 paintings attributed to him today. Still, this precious portfolio reveals the artist's exceptional understanding of color, composition, and realism.

Famous works of art: Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665)

Edo Period (Japan)

Katsushika hokusai (c. 1760–1840).

Keisai Eisen, “Portrait of Hokusai,” before 1848 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Best known for his iconic print The Great Wave Off Kanagawa , Katsushika Hokusai was a pioneer of the Ukiyo-e movement or Japanese woodblock prints. He was incredibly prolific during his lifetime, creating over 20,000 paintings, sketches, and prints. His series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji were a major part of the Japonisme influence that helped shape Impressionism, several decades later.

Famous works of art: The Great Wave Off Kanagawa (c. 1826–1833)

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)

Utagawa Kunisada, Memorial Portrait of Utagawa Hiroshige, 1858 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Japanese artist  Utagawa Hiroshige  is often regarded as the last great artist of the   Ukiyo-e   movement.  Ukiyo-e translates to “images of the floating world,” and artists of the movement made woodblock prints and paintings that depicted scenes of history, nature, and the famous faces of Edo. However, rather than create prints depicting typical Ukiyo-e motifs, Hiroshige developed his own style. Later, his works would influence prominent Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists like Monet and Van Gogh.

Famous works of art: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856–1859)

Romanticism

Eugène delacroix (1798–1863).

Eugène Delacroix, “Self-Portrait,” 1837 (Photo: Louvre Museum via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

A master of color, movement, and drama, Eugène Delacroix was a leader of the Romanticism art movement and an influential figure in the work of the Impressionists. Delacroix's oeuvre spanned contemporary events, mythological scenes, Orientalism, and portraiture.

Famous works of art: The Death of Sardanapalus (1827), Liberty Leading the People (1830)

Realism—Impressionism

édouard manet (1832–1883).

Photograph of artist Édouard Manet, enlargement by Paul Nadar of his father's original, before 1870 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Édouard Manet (1832-1883) was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life and a pioneering figure who led the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Controversial at the time, his paintings depicted nude women—one of which was the French female painter, Victorine Meurent— who posed for several of Manet's most famous paintings, including Olympia .

Famous works of art: Olympia (1863), The Luncheon on the Grass (1863),  A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882)

Impressionism

Edgar degas (1834–1917).

Edgar Degas, “Self-Portrait,” c. 1863 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Unlike other Impressionists,  Edgar Degas  was not preoccupied with light and nature. Instead, he preferred to capture intimate indoor depictions (seen “as if you looked through a key-hole”). This interest is evident in his collection of ballet paintings —set both in studios and on stage—as well as his voyeuristic pastel series of women at  la toilette . Though less prevalent than ballerinas and bathers, horseback riders often appear in Degas' oeuvre.

Famous works of art:   The Dance Class  (1875),  L'Absinthe  (1875–1876)

Claude Monet (1840–1926)

Portrait of Claude Monet by Nadar, 1899 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

With a one-of-a-kind style and a pioneering approach to painting, Claude Monet is renowned as an influential Impressionist figure. Using distinctively dappled brushstrokes, a characteristically colorful range of tones, and a focus on light, the French artist created compositions that captured the essence of the movement.

Famous works of art: Impression, sunrise ( 1872), Water Lilies series (1883–1926)

Mary Cassatt (1844–1936)

Mary Cassatt, “Self-Portrait,” c. 1878 (Photo: The Met via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Initially introduced to Paris' premier artists by Edgar Degas,  Mary Cassatt   (1844–1936)—an  American artist —would become a key figure in the French, male-dominated movement. Cassatt is known for her interest in representing women and girls in her art, which mostly manifested as quiet, mother-daughter depictions. However, some of her pieces, like her celebrated  Little Girl in a Blue Armchair , depict women and girls in a state of solitary reflection.

Famous works of art:  Little Girl in Blue Armchair  (1878),  Child's Bath  (1893)

Post-Impressionism

Paul cézanne (1839–1906).

Paul Cézanne, “Self-Portrait with Palette,” c. 1890 (Photo: The Yorck Project via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

French artist Paul Cézanne was one of the pioneers of the Post-Impressionist art movement, whose work is   characterized by painterly brushstrokes, an avant-garde approach to perspective, and a vivid color palette. Additionally, he is celebrated as the forefather of Fauvism  and a precursor to Cubism. Given his prominence in these groundbreaking genres, Cézanne is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of  modern art .

Famous works of art: The Card Players series (early 1890s), The Bathers series (1898–1905)

Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)

Paul Gauguin, “Self-Portrait with the Yellow Christ,” 1891 (Photo: Musée d'Orsay via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

As one of the most significant French painters of the Post-Impressionist movement,  Paul Gauguin  (1848–1903) experimented with new color theories and new stylistic approaches to painting. He famously worked alongside Vincent  Van Gogh  during a summer in the south of France, before abandoning his life in Western society altogether. In the early 1890s, he began traveling regularly to the south Pacific where he developed a new style that married his day-to-day observations with mythical symbolism. This style was strongly influenced by the so-called “primitive” arts of Africa, Asia, and French Polynesia.

Famous works of art:   The Yellow Christ  (1889),  Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?  (1897)

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)

Vincent van Gogh, “Self-Portrait,” 1887 (Photo: Art Institute of Chicago via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

While Vincent van Gogh has found a significant amount of fame posthumously, his life was not as untroubled as his characteristically colorful canvases would suggest. From financial struggles to his failing mental health, Van Gogh faced many personal challenges during his career. In spite of this, he left behind a dazzling body of work—including landscapes, portraiture , and urban scenes—in an iconic style that is uniquely his own.

Famous works of art: The Starry Night (1889), Sunflowers (1887)

Henri Matisse (1869–1954)

Photograph of Henri Matisse by Carl Van Vechten, 1933 (Photo: Van Vechten Collection via Wikimedia Commons )

Considered the greatest colorist of the 20th century and a revolutionary artist who helped define modern art, French artist Henri Matisse first emerged as a Post-Impressionist . Then, in 1904, he led the Fauvism movement , which is French for “wild beasts.” The Les Fauves were a group of modern artists who favored pure, bright colors and expressive brushstrokes over realism.

Famous works of art: Woman with a Hat (1905), The Dance (1909–10)

Vienna Secessionism & Art Nouveau

Gustav klimt (1862–1918).

Photograph of Gustav Klimt by Josef Anton Trčka, 1914 (Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons )

A leader of the Vienna Secessionist artistic movement (which was associated with Art Nouveau ), Austrian artist Gustav Klimt left behind thousands of drawings and a vast portfolio of painted works. He is most well-known for the collection of glistening, gilded works he produced during his Golden Phase .

Famous works of art: The Kiss (1907–8)

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

Photograph of Pablo Picasso, 1962 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

With a career that spanned 79 years and included success in painting, sculpting, ceramics, poetry, stage design, and writing, Pablo Picasso is one of the most important artists of the 20th century. While most artists are known for one iconic style, Picasso's changed several times during his lifetime. Some of his most distinct periods include the Blue Period, Cubism , and Surrealism.

Famous works of art: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), Guernica (1937)

Amadeo Modigliani (1884–1920)

Photo of Amadeo Modigliani, c. 1919 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Italian painter and sculptor  Amedeo Modigliani was an integral member of the École de Paris (School of Paris). Not associated with any one particular art genre, Modigliani’s signature style merges European movements (such as Cubism) with non-Western art forms. He’s best known for his distinctive nudes and portraits that are characterized by elongated proportions and African mask-like faces. While his nudes scandalized audiences at the time, his melancholic portraits revealed his subjects’ personal inner lives.

Famous works of art: Portrait of the Artist's Wife (1918)

Diego Rivera (1886–1957)

Photo of “Diego Rivera with a xoloitzcuintle dog in the Blue House, Coyoacan” (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Equally famous for his revolutionary paintings and tumultuous personal life, Diego Rivera remains one of modern art‘s most well-known figures. He was one of the leading figures of Mexican Muralism, creating distinct paintings characterized by a bold color palette and simplified forms inspired by both Mayan and Aztec art. With his large-scale public works, Rivera communicated important political messages that challenged, mobilized, and inspired the public.

Famous works of art: Man at the Crossroads (1934)

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)

Photograph of Georgia O’Keeffe by Alfred Stieglitz, 1918 (Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons )

American artist Georgia O'Keeffe helped to usher in the American Modernism movement with a style that favors the interpretation of subjects rather than representing them through strict realism. Likewise, she is best known for her abstract depictions of colorful blooms and landscapes of the Southwestern United States.

Famous works of art: Jimson Weed (1936) , Sky Above Clouds IV (1965)

René Magritte (1898–1967)

As a pioneer of the Surrealist art movement , René Magritte created work that celebrated the subconscious mind and the world of dreams. Throughout his long career, he produced paintings that blurred the line between reality and fantasy and invited the viewer to question what they thought they knew.

Famous works of art: The Treachery of Images (1929), The Son of Man (1964)

Salvador Dalí (1904–1989)

Salvador Dalí, photographed by Studio Harcourt, 1936 (Photo: RMN via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain)

Few artists are as visually iconic as Salvador Dalí . Although he explored a variety of mediums during his lifetime, including sculpture, printmaking, fashion, writing, and even filmmaking, Dalí’s paintings stand out as particularly epochal. In particular, the artist developed his own visual language for depicting his own inner world, dreams, and hallucinations.

Famous works of art: The Persistence of Memory (1931), The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1946)

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954)

Photograph of Frida Kahlo by her father, Guillermo Kahlo, 1932 (Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons )

As one of the most famous female painters of all time , Mexican artist Frida Kahlo ‘s legacy continues to make an impact today. Her passionate yet tumultuous life greatly impacted the subject matter of her paintings. She is particularly known for her compelling self-portraits, which deal with themes of identity, suffering, and the human body.

Famous works of art: The Two Fridas (1932), Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940)

Abstract Expressionism

Mark rothko (1903–1970).

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Mark Rothko (@markrothkoart)

American painter Mark Rothko revolutionized abstract art by becoming one of the pioneers of color field painting . He expressed profound emotion through his signature compositions of hazy, colored squares on large canvases that occupy a viewer's entire field of vision, evoking what he referred to as “the sublime.”

Famous works of art: Untitled, Black on Gray (1969)

Jackson Pollock (1912–1956)

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Jackson Pollock (@jackson_pollock)

American artist Jackson Pollock is considered one of the greatest painters of the Abstract Expressionist movement. His signature drip paintings—which he began producing in the late 1940s—captivated the art world. Pollock redefined line, color, and pictorial space by finding an entirely new way to fill a canvas.

Famous works of art : No. 5 (1948), Autumn Rhythm: Number 30 (1950)

Andy Warhol (1928–1987)

Photograph of Andy Warhol with Archie, his pet Daschund by Jack Mitchell, 1973 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , CC BY 4.0 )

American artist Andy Warhol was a pivotal figure in the 1950s Pop Art movement . While Warhol worked in a myriad of mediums, he is most famous for his polychromatic silkscreen prints and paintings. His works defined many of the movement's most distinctive characteristics: bold, contemporary imagery; a bright color palette; and a repetitive aesthetic inspired by mass production.

Famous works of art: Campbell's Soup Cans (1962), Marilyn Diptych (1962)

Contemporary Art

Jean-michel basquiat (1960–1988).

From left to right: Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Bruno Bischofberger, and Fransesco Clemente, 1984 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 4.0 )

In the late 20th century, Jean-Michel Basquiat turned the contemporary art world on its head. Living and working in New York City in the 1970s and 80s, the young artist helped pioneer and popularize street art by bringing graffiti into the gallery—a monumental move that made the glitz and glamor of the art world accessible to people from all walks of life.

Famous works of art: Untitled (1982), Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump (1982)

Yayoi Kusama (1929–present)

Photograph of Yayoi Kusama, 2016 (Photo:  Wikimedia Commons , CC BY 4.0 )

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is considered to be the most famous living female artist. Throughout her illustrious career, she has developed a signature approach to her craft. Characterized by polka dots, bold color palettes, and organic forms, her aesthetic is perhaps best typified by her pumpkin art , a collection of works celebrating the subject's “generous unpretentiousness.”

Famous works of art: Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field (1965), Narcissus Garden (1966), Pumpkin series

Ai Weiwei (1957–present)

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Skirball Cultural Center (@skirball_la)

Artist  Ai Weiwei  is undoubtedly the most well-known living Chinese creative today, but his country’s government doesn’t exactly give him the recognition he deserves. In communist China—where freedom of speech is tightly regulated—Ai’s varied portfolio of work doesn’t fetch the highest prices at auctions, and critics don’t sing his praises. Instead, the activist is viewed as a threat to the “harmonious society.” Through sculpture, film, installation, photography, and architecture—and across an array of materials including ceramics, marble, paint, and tea—Ai explores Chinese identity in the modern world as well as the culture’s social history.

Famous works of art: Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995), Sunflower Seeds (2011)

Keith Haring (1958–1990)

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by The Haring Foundation Account (@keith_haring)

In the 1980s, Keith Haring shot to international fame. Using his trademark line drawings, Haring became instantly recognizable for his pop style art. This would catapult him from the underground art scene in New York City to a career that would see him mingling with the likes of Andy Warhol, Grace Jones, Yoko Ono, and Madonna.

Famous works of art: Keith Haring Mural (1984), Tuttomondo (1989)

Takashi Murakami (1962–present)

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by HYPEBEAST (@hypebeast)

Often referred to as “the Warhol of Japan,”  Takashi Murakami  is known for blurring the line between art and consumerism. His brightly colored, cheerful work draws inspiration from the Japanese subculture of  otaku , a term used to describe people devoted to all things pop culture. Through his art, Murakami explores Japan's contemporary culture as well as the West's ever-growing influence on it.

Famous works of art: Mr. Dob series, The Lonesome Cowboy (1998), Flowers (2002)

Banksy (1974–present)

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Banksy (@banksy)

Known only by his pseudonym, Banksy is arguably the most famous street artist today. Since the 1990s, the elusive, England-based creative has been making politically and socially charged art, oftentimes with a sense of dark humor. While his face and true identity remain unknown, his portfolio of attention-grabbing art continues to shock and entice the world.

Famous works of art: Balloon Girl (2002),  Love is in the Bin (2018)

This article has been edited and updated.

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How to Write an Appealing Artist Biography

Paige Simianer | October 16, 2015 (Updated September 1, 2022)

Your artist biography is a paragraph of many talents.

It weaves the story of your art career - instilling trust as it goes - allowing you to share your credentials and achievements without speaking a word. The importance and utility of this emissary cannot be stressed enough.

Armed with this knowledge, all that’s left is to write and perfect your artist biography. Easy, right? Unfortunately, staring at a blank page trying to condense your art career into a paragraph or two is anything but. That’s why we’ve put together the five steps to writing an appealing artist biography, from start to strong finish, to get your creative juices flowing.

“The Artist’s Biography serves to provide the reader with a story about you as an artist and learn about your career credentials.” - Renee Phillips

Step 1: Understand Your Audience

Before you dive into the nitty-gritty of writing your artist biography, make sure you have a firm understanding of your audience. Will they be more interested in your past exhibitions and awards or excited about an upcoming residency or project? Sometimes it can be beneficial to adjust your biography for different readers and objectives.

For instance, if a biography is going to a gallery that frequently holds exhibitions, you’ll want to focus more heavily on your exhibition history and less on a residency.

Step 2: Choose the Right Information

Your artist biography should be a summary of significant facts about your art career written in third person. Begin by introducing yourself with your name, medium, and some background information. This can include where you were born, where you work, and when you first became interested in art. Next, discuss any art training or schooling you had and degrees earned. If none, state you’re self-taught.

Then move on to discuss your exhibitions, awards, and any other professional achievements. You can also mention if you’re featured in any important collections or prominent art publications. But, be sure not to overwhelm the reader with too much self-promotion - choose the best nuggets.

Then segue into any recent shows or important projects you’re working on such as a public art installation. End strong with any upcoming exhibitions, residencies, or projects.

Step 3: Write Multiple Drafts

Lucky are the writers who can craft masterpieces without ever moving past the first draft. If you’re not one of these gifted few (if you are, spread your wisdom), we recommend writing two to three drafts. You can try different tones and play around with language in each one. And don’t be afraid to inject a bit of personality into your biography.

While some of the components seem a bit dry, the tone and voice behind them can be anything but. You can weave in a few of your art-related interests and passions among the facts. Just remember to make sure it resonates with your audience. And save the full discussion of your purpose and the inspiration behind your art for your artist statement .

Step 4: Edit and Edit Some More

Make sure you keep your artist biography short and concise with a focused structure. It’s very easy to wax lyrical about your career and lose your readers in the process. Simple and readable will always trump jargon and flowery language when it comes to your biography. Each short paragraph - two to three max - should be succinct and flow easily into the next.

We suggest taking your drafts to a friend with an excellent grasp of grammar and blessed with writing brilliance. Your friend can help you pull the best parts together into one outstanding piece of writing. And check for spelling, grammar, word choice, and sentence structure errors.

Step 5: Show It to Another Artist

Have an artist you trust and admire read your final draft. A fresh set of practiced eyes can do wonders for your biography and help you polish it to perfection. Another reader with a trained eye will be able to tell you if your biography correctly reflects you and your art.

Bonus Step: Continue to Enhance Your Biography as You Evolve

When you write your artist biography you want it to be the best expression of your career, but don’t forget that your career is continually developing. Make sure your artist biography progresses with you. Add in and switch out professional achievements as your success and knowledge grows. You might even need to rewrite it one or more times. This means you are evolving and maturing as an artist.

Need Inspiration and a Sample? Renee Phillips has graciously included a sample artist biography on her blog. You can find it here .

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Chris Wilson

10 Examples of artist bios: How to write a super artist bio

Examples of artist bios often include key elements like the artist's name, area of expertise, career milestones, personal interests, and contact info. They're tailored to engage the audience while reflecting the artist's unique voice and journey.

Ever find yourself staring at a blank screen, wondering how to condense your artistic journey into a few paragraphs?

Trust me, you're not alone.

An artist bio isn't just a list of facts; it's a narrative that invites people into your creative world.

So, why is it so crucial?

Well, it's your handshake with the audience, a way to say, “Hey, this is me, and this is my art.”

Stick around as we go into the how-tos and examples of artist bios that make a lasting impression.

• Define your artistic identity clearly : Your bio is your opportunity to introduce not just your art, but who you are as an artist. It should include your medium, inspiration, and artistic goals. This clarity helps in aligning your business plan with your art, ensuring your marketing strategies and portfolio resonate with your artistic vision.
• Use your unique voice : Inject your personality into your bio to make it stand out. Whether your tone is serious, whimsical, or quirky, ensure it reflects the uniqueness of your art. This authenticity makes your bio more engaging and memorable, inviting your audience into your creative world.
• Update regularly : As your artistic journey evolves, so should your bio. Regular updates reflecting new milestones, exhibitions, or shifts in your artistic focus keep your audience informed and engaged. This dynamic approach ensures your bio remains relevant and an accurate reflection of your current artistic identity.

Defining Yourself as an Artist in Your Bio Informs Your Business Plan

There is an interesting interplay between your artist bio and your business plan.

You see, your artist bio isn't just a narrative; it's a declaration of your artistic identity . It's where you lay out your style, your inspirations, your goals—essentially, it's where you define who you are as an artist.

And guess what?

When you're clear about your artistic identity in your bio, it becomes easier to map out a business plan that truly aligns with your art and your aspirations.

Your bio can help you identify your target audience, decide on the right marketing strategies, and even guide you in creating a portfolio that resonates with your artistic vision.

The Artist Bio vs. The Artist Statement: What's the Difference?

The artist bio and the artist statement—two essential pieces of writing, yet each serves a distinct purpose in the world of art.

Your artist bio is like the opening scene of a film; it sets the stage and introduces the characters. It's a narrative that tells the story of you—the artist. It covers your journey, your influences, your achievements, and even a bit of your personality. It's a comprehensive look at who you are, aimed at engaging the audience and making them want to know more about you and, by extension, your art.

Now, the artist statement, that's a different beast altogether.

Think of it as a spotlight that shines exclusively on a specific body of work. It's your chance to delve deep into your artistic process, the themes you explore, and the techniques you employ.

While your bio might say, “I'm a painter inspired by nature,” your artist statement would elaborate on how the colors of autumn leaves influence your palette, or how the texture of tree bark finds its way into your brush strokes. It's more focused, more immediate, and speaks directly to the art that's right in front of the viewer.

So, while your bio draws people into your world, your artist statement guides them through a specific landscape within that world.

Writing the Perfect Artist Bio

Your artistic title: what's your medium.

First things first, let's get clear on what you do.

Are you a painter, a digital artist, or maybe a sculptor?

Your title sets the stage, so make it clear and precise.

Your Home Base: Where's Your Creative Den?

Your location can say a lot about you and your art.

Whether you're soaking up the urban vibes of a bustling city or drawing inspiration from a tranquil countryside, let people know where you're coming from—literally.

Your Milestones: What's Your Artistic Journey?

Here's where you can brag a little. Got any exhibitions, awards, or significant projects under your belt? This is the time to shine a spotlight on them.

A Dash of You: What Makes You Tick?

Throw in some personal tidbits to make your bio relatable. Are you a coffee addict, a night owl, or maybe a hiking enthusiast? These little details can make you more memorable.

Stay Connected: How Can We Reach You?

Don't forget to include ways people can connect with you. Your website, social media handles, and other contact information should be easily accessible.

Tips for Improving Your Artist Bio

Crafting an artist bio is like painting a self-portrait with words. It's a small canvas, but it can make a big impact.

Here are some tips that'll help you brush up your bio and make it a masterpiece.

Understand the Audience

First off, know who you're talking to.

Are you aiming for gallery curators, potential clients, or a broader audience on social media?

Tailoring your tone and content based on your audience can make your bio resonate more effectively.

For instance, if your primary audience is other artists, you might want to delve into the nitty-gritty of your techniques.

Use Your Unique Voice

Your art is unique, and so are you.

Let your personality shine through your writing. Whether you're quirky, serious, or whimsical, your voice should be consistent with the art you create.

This adds a layer of authenticity and makes your bio more engaging.

Consider Length Requirements

How long should it be?

Well, it depends on where your bio will be published.

If it's for a gallery submission, they might have specific word limits.

On your own website, you have more freedom.

But remember, a bio is like a good sketch—detailed enough to be interesting, but not so much that it becomes a full-blown painting.

Additional Artist Bio Tips

• Avoid Jargon : Unless your audience is well-versed in art terminology, keep it simple. You want to invite people into your world, not alienate them.
• Be Honest, Be You : Authenticity shines brighter than any embellishment. Your bio should be a true reflection of who you are as an artist.
• Proofreading is Your Friend : Before publishing, make sure to proofread your bio. A typo can be a small thing that takes away from the overall picture. Maybe even get a second pair of eyes to look it over.
• Update, Update, Update : Your art evolves, and so should your bio. Every time there's a significant change in your artistic journey, take a moment to update your bio.

Examples of Artist Bios

Example 1: the landscape painter.

Sarah Green – Your Friendly Neighborhood Landscape Painter

I'm Sarah Green, and I'm carving my path as a landscape painter right here in the heart of Maplewood. I'm honing my skills at Maplewood Community College's Fine Arts program and have had the joy of showcasing my work at local art fairs.

My art is a love letter to Mother Nature, capturing her in her most tranquil moments.

When I'm not with my easel and paints, you'll find me trekking through local trails or lending a hand at our community animal shelter. Nature and critters aren't just my muse; they're my world.

Curious to see my work or just want to chat? Swing by my website or give me a follow on Instagram. Let's connect!

Example 2: The Fine Art Photographer

Tim Lee – Capturing the Urban Jungle Through My Lens

I'm Tim Lee, a budding fine art photographer rooted in the vibrant city of Chicago. I've taken some killer online courses and even had my work grace the walls of a local café.

My lens is drawn to the raw energy of city life—graffiti, faces, and all the little things that make our urban world tick.

When I'm not behind the camera, you'll catch me sipping on some artisanal coffee or cruising the streets on my skateboard. The city isn't just my canvas; it's my playground.

Want to reach out? You can find me and my work on my website or get a daily dose of my urban adventures on Twitter.

Example 3: The Abstract Painter

Emily Patel – Diving Into the Emotional Depths of Abstract Art

Hello, beautiful people! I'm Emily Patel, an up-and-coming abstract painter soaking up the sun in San Diego. I'm a self-taught artist, and I'm just beginning to dip my toes into the colorful world of abstract painting.

My art is a journey through emotions, guided by a symphony of colors and textures.

When I'm not lost in my art, I find peace in yoga and inspiration in poetry—both of which seep into my work.

Want to connect or explore my art? Feel free to visit my brand-new website or follow my artistic journey on Facebook.

Example 4: The Sculptor Finding Beauty in the Mundane

Mark Thompson – Sculpting Everyday Objects into Art

I'm Mark Thompson, a sculptor based in the artsy town of Asheville. I've studied at the Asheville School of Art and have been featured in several local exhibitions.

My sculptures turn everyday objects into something extraordinary, challenging how we view the world around us.

When I'm not sculpting, I'm usually found at flea markets hunting for my next inspiration or playing the guitar.

Interested in my work? Visit my website or follow me on Pinterest for my latest creations.

Example 5: The Digital Artist with a Social Message

Lisa Kim – Digital Art for Social Change

I'm Lisa Kim, a digital artist operating out of New York City. I've completed a digital art course from NYU and my art often appears in online social campaigns.

My digital canvases are platforms for social justice, aiming to provoke thought and inspire change.

Outside of art, I'm an avid reader and a volunteer at a local food bank.

Feel free to check out my portfolio online or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Example 6: The Watercolor Artist Inspired by Travel

Carlos Rivera – Painting the World One Brushstroke at a Time

I'm Carlos Rivera, a watercolor artist who finds inspiration from my travels. I've studied art in Spain and have exhibited my work in various European cities.

My art is a passport to different cultures, capturing the essence of places I've visited.

When I'm not painting, I'm planning my next adventure or cooking up some international cuisine.

You can find my work and travel stories on my blog or follow me on Instagram.

Example 7: The Mixed Media Artist

Angela White – Mixing Media, Mixing Messages

I'm Angela White, a mixed media artist based in San Francisco. I've taken workshops from renowned artists and have participated in group shows.

My art blends materials and messages, creating a unique narrative in each piece.

In my free time, I enjoy hiking and have a soft spot for vintage fashion.

To see my latest projects or to get in touch, visit my website or find me on Etsy.

Example 8: The Portrait Artist with a Twist

Jake O'Brien – Portraits That Tell a Story

Hey folks! I'm Jake O'Brien, a portrait artist from Boston. I've studied at the Boston School of Fine Arts and my work has been featured in several local galleries.

My portraits aren't just faces; they're stories waiting to be told.

When I'm not painting, I'm usually found at jazz clubs or writing short stories.

Curious about my work? Check out my portfolio on my website or follow me on Tumblr.

Example 9: The Environmental Artist

Fiona Chen – Art for Earth's Sake

I'm Fiona Chen, an environmental artist based in Vancouver. I've collaborated with environmental organizations and have had my installations displayed at eco-festivals.

My art is a call to action, aiming to raise awareness about environmental issues.

Outside of my art, I'm an active member of local environmental groups and a weekend gardener.

To learn more or to collaborate, visit my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Example 10: The Ceramic Artist

Raj Kaur – Crafting Stories in Clay

I'm Raj Kaur, a ceramic artist from London. I've trained under master potters and have my own studio where I teach pottery classes.

My ceramics are more than objects; they're vessels of stories and traditions.

When I'm not at the wheel, I enjoy cooking and exploring local art scenes.

Interested? You can find my pieces and upcoming classes on my website or follow me on Pinterest.

FAQs and Additional Tips for Your Artist Bio

Crafting an artist bio isn't just about listing facts; it's about telling a story, your story .

Here are some frequently asked questions and additional tips that can help you make your bio not just informative but also engaging and reflective of your unique artistic voice.

How Can You Infuse Your Unique Artistic Voice Into Your Bio?

Your bio should be as unique as your art.

Use descriptive language that reflects your artistic style. If your art is whimsical and colorful, let that show in your choice of words. If it's dark and moody, your bio can reflect that tone.

Your bio should feel like an extension of your art, offering a textual snapshot of what you bring to the canvas, the sculpture, or the lens.

What Aspects of Your Artistic Journey Are Most Compelling and Should Be Highlighted?

Think about the milestones and experiences that have shaped you as an artist.

Did a particular event or person inspire you to take up art?

Have you won awards or participated in exhibitions?

Maybe you've traveled to unique places for your art?

These are the stories that make you interesting and relatable. Include them to give a fuller picture of who you are.

How Can Your Bio Serve as a Tool for Audience Engagement and Even Advocacy for Causes You Care About?

Your bio isn't just a CV; it's a platform.

If you're passionate about certain causes, like environmental conservation or social justice, your bio is a space to advocate for these issues. Mention projects or artworks that reflect these causes.

It not only shows that you stand for something but also attracts like-minded individuals who may become supporters of both your art and your cause.

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How Do Artists Do It? Parsing Their Life Stories

By Jackson Arn

Jackson Arn

We have the Catholic social scene to thank, or blame. It was the year of our Lord 1543, and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese was entertaining guests at his palazzo in Rome. One of them, a physician and historian named Paolo Giovio, told the cardinal he wanted to write a series of biographies of the great modern artists: Leonardo, Michelangelo, et al. The cardinal introduced Giovio to another guest, Giorgio Vasari , a struggling painter and architect who claimed to have studied with Michelangelo, and suggested that Vasari could be of some help. Vasari provided Giovio with heaps of helpful information about Michelangelo and his peers—so much that Giovio started to question his own qualifications and suggested that maybe Vasari should take the project instead. Vasari, who was badly in debt, accepted, and the modern artist biography was born.

Vasari got the job because of his superior grasp of the facts, but today nobody really thinks of his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550) as factual. He may have fibbed about studying with Michelangelo, and it shows: each life in the Lives gets a short stack of pages—75 for Michelangelo in the Oxford Classics edition, 15 for Leonardo, 17 for Ghiberti—but it’s a rare page that’s totally error-free. Surveying hundreds of Italian artists, Vasari gets almost as many dates wrong as right. He says engraving was invented in Florence (it wasn’t). He says Andrea del Castagno murdered a rival painter (he didn’t).

Other inaccuracies are more like myths than mistakes. Vasari’s artists are preternaturally good at what they do almost from the moment they emerge from the womb, much like the Christian saints whose hagiographies served as models for Vasari’s biographies. The adolescent Giotto’s talent is “miraculous,” a product of “God’s grace,” and a version of divine creation in its own right: God creates life, and little Giotto paints such a lifelike fly that his master tries to swat it away. There’s plenty of juicy artist gossip in the Lives too (Leonardo and Michelangelo hated each other, Piero di Cosimo ate nothing but hard-boiled eggs), which throws the miracle of the artists’ work into starker relief.

It’s odd to imagine a book on Renaissance art that devotes more space to Ghiberti than to Leonardo, but the broad strokes of the story haven’t aged at all. Nearly 500 years later, writers still talk their way into plum gigs by going to the right parties. Accuracy is still important but relative. Artist biographies still sell well because people think the art is interesting and assume the artist must be too.

The parts that make up the basic formula for an artist biography have stayed the same as well: human interest plus elements of creative genius that can be analyzed but never fully explained. The main difference is that today’s artist biographies tend to be hundreds of pages long, not dozens. The juicy gossip and creative genius have to be spread over a greater word count, until the juice is almost dry, and genius starts to look like nothing special.

Biographers of artists deserve our respect and our sympathy. Many of the people they write about, to give Oscar Wilde a nod, haven’t got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest instinct about when to die. Art is the reason we care about artists’ lives, but usually their lives are neither directly connected to their art’s cultural value nor strikingly, amusingly detached from it.

Some artists do great work in their twenties and spend the next fifty years at dinner parties and awards luncheons; others work anonymously for decades before they gain enough attention to prompt a too-little-too-late life history. Even Jesus had years of obscurity, but most artist biographers keep continuous watch over their subjects from cradle to grave, no matter how little happened in between. And God forbid the artist’s life is really interesting, in which case a suitably thorough biography will take decades to finish, assuming it doesn’t finish the biographer first.

One way to avoid both longueurs and overkill is to stick to the extra-interesting portions of the artist’s life and forget the rest. Alexander Nemerov’s Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York (2021), one of the most breezily entertaining artist biographies of recent years, devotes 217 pages to a single decade of the painter’s career and 10 pages to everything else. It’s not the definitive life of Frankenthaler, and it’s clearly not trying to be.

Other biographies start out aiming for definitiveness, fall short for unforeseeable reasons, and are the better for it. By beginning Magritte : A Life (2020) with the announcement that Magritte is “the single most significant purveyor of images to the modern world,” Alex Danchev promises to stick with his subject to the bitter end (anything less would be an affront to the modern world).

Danchev died of a heart attack in 2016, leaving the last twenty years of Magritte’s biography unwritten; a chapter covering this period was added by art historian Sarah Whitfield, who modestly admitted her contribution was a thinner version of the work Danchev, with his French fluency and his years of research, would have turned in. But when you’re dealing with a painter who ended up recycling a lot of his own ideas, thinner isn’t such a bad way to go.

Even setting aside money, masochism, and glory, there are plenty of excellent reasons to write a book-length artist biography. Some artists make great art and still find the time to live a fun life, after all. Even if they’re too busy for that, they can still serve as smart observers of their times, so that their biographies are more like biographies of an entire era—notice the subtitle of Nemerov’s Frankenthaler book. Writing a biography also allows the author to make a full-throated case for a neglected artist’s importance, though if this is the goal, the writer will probably need to shoot for whole-life definitiveness, with no Nemerovian shortcuts along the way.

One might object that there are better ways to make this case—a critical study of Magritte’s paintings, for example, instead of hundreds of pages on Magritte’s schooldays and sex life with descriptions of the paintings mixed in. This might be true. But an artist’s full-length biography is a badge of honor few critical studies can rival. It’s not just that biographies sell better; a critical study argues that an artist is important, but a biography makes the same case simply by existing. Biographers prove their devotion to their subjects by straining their eyes in archives, much as certain birds expend valuable energy building little structures out of twigs in order to signal devotion to potential mates. How much does Magritte matter? Enough for somebody to spend years researching hot air balloon crashes in his childhood town.

All artist biographies, definitive or not, implicitly ask, “How did they do it?” In the sixteenth century, Vasari had the luxury of answering “God,” but our disenchanted age won’t tolerate such simplicity: we know that artists get their inspiration (the word’s trivialization reflects the disenchantment) from college courses, beloved siblings, dead parents, lovers, pets, broken bones, opium, TV, ads, jokes, mentors, whiskey, disillusioning meetings with idols, and STDs.

The process by which these things become art is still basically unknowable, but where Vasari’s Renaissance heroes breathed in the spirit of the divine, more recent biographical subjects are obliged to snort up the air of the everyday and still somehow exhale masterpieces. In the absence of certainty about which stuff inspired which artworks, biographers tend to favor more over less, which explains some of their page counts. The big question—how the artist did it—is broken down into fifty thousand little questions: What movie did she watch? Which book did he read on vacation? Who was at the party? What was the cat’s name?

Maybe a hot air balloon crash does hold the secret to Magritte’s art or, as Danchev suggests, part of it. Who am I to disagree? I can name episodes of “The Simpsons” that had a bigger impact on me than certain members of my family; maybe Magritte had a similar thing with balloons, and if so, it’s only right for his biographer to discuss them.

This brings up one reason for the popularity of the twenty-first-century artist biography: in detailing the minutiae of everyday life, it makes the artist just like us (weren’t you into balloons as a kid?). This, in turn, is a major advantage of the biography over the critical study: it’s harder to get away with oversimplifications, since minutiae don’t readily change or go away.

Reading a good artist biography makes you realize how much of art history is oversimplification. Florine Stettheimer is presumed to have been an idle epicure; Barbara Bloemink’s biography amends the stereotype without banishing it completely. Alexander Calder is described as boyishly apolitical; Jed Perl devotes some of the most thoughtful pages of his excellent Calder biography to the artist’s philosophy of freedom and free speech. Picasso claimed he could draw like Raphael when he was eight; in his four-volume biography, John Richardson shows how very un-Raphael-esque Picasso’s juvenilia actually was.

These aren’t just corrections of the art historical record; they’re calls to look closer, to wipe away smudges like “apolitical” and “epicurean” and “Raphael-esque” and see art and artists for what they really are. But Rosalind Krauss considered the facile connection of artist and art to be the real problem, and the real oversimplification. Writing for October in 1980, more than a decade before the first volume of Richardson’s Picasso biography appeared, Krauss mocked Richardson f or a New York Review of Books article in which he suggested that Picasso’s style could be analyzed in terms of his love life, friends, etc.

Such autobiographical approaches to Picasso, Krauss contended, were ruining his paintings by reducing their rich ambiguities to pat, one-to-one reflections of life. The fact, for example, that Picasso’s Blue Period triumph La Vie (Life), 1903, contains a portrait of his friend Carles Casagemas, who’d killed himself two years before, encourages art historians, as Krauss writes, to “use ‘Casagemas’ to explain the picture—to provide the work’s ultimate meaning or sense. When we have named Casagemas, we have (or so we think) cracked the code of the painting and it has no more secrets to withhold.” Krauss, incidentally, would later write a book analyzing Picasso’s abandonment of Cubism in terms of Freudian reaction formation. Everyone, even renowned art critics, should be able to change their minds, but that’s like arguing that biochemistry doesn’t fully explain the miracle of life and then explaining it with alchemy.

Krauss overstated her case, of course—show me an art historian of any stripe who thinks there’s nothing about La Vie worth finding out once you know who Casagemas was. But there’s a serious point buried under the caricature. Contemporary artist biographies do oversimplify, even when they’re four volumes long and full of myth-busting complexities; they oversimplify by overemphasizing external facts at the expense of the artists’ inner lives. “Biography,” critic Craig Brown wrote this past September in the Times Literary Supplement , “is at the mercy of information, and information is seldom there when you want it.”

True, but there’s bound to be more information about external facts than inner life. It doesn’t matter what your opinions on psychology or human nature happen to be—you can’t know what was going on in the artist’s head with the same confidence that you know what day this war broke out or that cousin got married. You can guess, of course, but because the conventions of contemporary biography place such emphasis on the facts, your guesses, no matter how educated, will lack the facts’ explanatory power.

This, for Brown, is the problem with biography in general, and it’s even more the problem with artist biographies in particular, since inner life is probably even more of a driving force for artists than it is for everybody else. It’s not that artist biographies treat art in overly autobiographical terms, as Krauss complains; it’s that artist biographies are too coherently autobiographical in their understanding. With a limited window into inner life and an almost as limited tool kit for representing it (little to no first-person narration, free indirect discourse, or stream of consciousness), biographers must confine themselves mostly to the clearest-cut, most easily measurable sources of creativity—a college course will almost always be made to explain more than a nightmare, even though nightmares have probably inspired more great paintings than all the college courses in the world put together. When a biographer does manage a great description of how artists make art, it’s like watching someone swim one-armed against the current.

Eleven years after Krauss sniped at him in October , Richardson gave a suitably snarky rebuttal. The portrait of Casagemas in La Vie , he announces in Volume I of his Picasso biography, was originally a self-portrait, painted over. “So much for the idea that La Vie was conceived as an apotheosis of Casagemas, or an allegory of his impotence and suicide,” he inveighs. “Nor does the substitution of Casagemas’s head for Picasso’s automatically turn it into one. That is far too limited a reading.” For the rest of the chapter, Richardson unpacks the “ambivalent or antithetical meanings” in La Vie with all the subtle expertise Krauss thought Picasso biographical specialists lacked: he discusses Casagemas’s suicide, but also Picasso’s study of El Greco and Gauguin, his uneasy relationship with his father, and his interest in tarot.

The artistic process that emerges from these pages is a fascinating mixture of rigid and flexible, careful and careless. Picasso had all but memorized Gauguin’s D’où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous? (Where Do We Come From, What Are We? Where Are We Going?), 1897-98, before he began La Vie , but he also based details of his painting on cards randomly drawn from a tarot deck. He painted figures, painted over them, and painted over them again.

Richardson cheerfully admits some of his ideas about La Vie are hypotheses. Resisting the all too common temptation to overexplain, he allows that some elements of the painting that seem juicily symbolic are just “coincidental.” He says the painting reminds him of T.S. Eliot’s poetry. He flits from certain to fanciful to likely to possible with an agility few biographers permit themselves, and in doing so, gives one of the frankest a ccounts of art-making I can think of, frank because it makes La Vie ’s existence seem far from inevitable—the work of a loud-mouthed 22-year-old from Málaga instead of a legend. It’s not a depiction of Picasso’s inner life, but it’s the next best thing: a collection of external facts so close to the source that they feel internal, a charcoal rubbing of inner life.

Richardson spent decades gathering “every crumb of information” about Picasso he could. Many of the crumbs were probably just crumbs, but others came together in this chapter, and for that I’m grateful. I’m amazed too, because it proves how much work is required to write a biography that makes art-making seem at all vivid, and how few biographers manage to convey this vividness. It is strange to think that creativity, the fundamental reason why artist biographies exist, is probably the thing they’re worst at deciphering.

It is even stranger to realize that we don’t have any better idea now of where creativity comes from than we did in 1543. Neurology keeps promising an answer and then kicking the can down the road. Malcolm Gladwell insists it has something to do with 10,000 hours, a magical figure that he reveres the way our ancestors revered 12 or 8 or 777. Others insist that the creative greatness Vasari praised doesn’t exist and never did. For Linda Nochlin, “greatness” is the artistic residue of masculinity; for culture critic Louis Menand, writing about figures like James Baldwin and Robert Rauschenberg in The Free World , it’s self-promotion, plus twenty-five years.

But despite these nonbelievers, despite disenchantment, the artist biography remains a religious genre hundreds of years after Cardinal Farnese’s fateful party. Biographers pledge themselves to the patient study of an artist’s life and sometimes end up giving their own lives: Richardson died in 2019, at the age of 95, having spent more than half his adulthood researching and writing about Picasso (and he still had the artist’s last thirty years to cover). There are only so many reasons a person would do something so devotional. You’re supposed to call it by a different name, but the glimmer of divinity Vasari recognized in Giotto is still around, and the feeling you’re chasing when you read the biography of an artist you love is a glimmer of that glimmer.

I’m not sure which form of religion the artist biography feels closest to—maybe Catholicism, even after all this time. Maybe animism, in which divinity is spread across the world and the artist’s duty is to soak up as much of it as possible. My best guess is mysticism, specifically apophatic mysticism, the one that claims nothing positive can be said about divinity—the best you can do is name the countless things divinity is not . I think this is the ritual the contemporary artist biography performs: a four- or five- or six-hundred-page stab at putting creativity into words, which can succeed in lots of ways but always falls short of this highest aspiration and, by falling short, makes creativity glimmer all the brighter.

A version of this article appears under the title “From God to 10,000 Hours” in the June/July issue , pp. 42-47.

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What We Learned from Writing 7,000 Artist Bios

Communication is increasingly being reduced to 140 characters, emojis, and voice memos. Despite this, clear prose remains a powerful sales and branding tool within the art world, and beyond.

Artsy has created over 7,000 artist bios, and over the years we’ve learned a few things about what our audience of collectors and art lovers finds valuable when discovering new art. Since Artsy’s partners can now add their own artist bios, we decided to take this opportunity to invite Jessica Backus, Director of Artsy Marketplace, to share some insights into what makes for a compelling bio and how to eloquently summarize an artist’s practice in 120 words.

If you have—or are planning to include—artist biographies on your website, this article was written for you. Read on for our best practices, mistakes to avoid, and a few SEO tips for your gallery’s artist bios.

Detail from Brie Ruais’s studio by Alex John Beck for Artsy

Why write a bio.

An artist’s bio is often the first piece of information available to readers and collectors, and as such it offers you a chance to frame their practice and give collectors a reason to want to learn more. Bios also drive search engine optimization (SEO). When returning search results, Google and other search engines privilege written content that is “sticky” (i.e. readers spend time on the page and continue browsing), so providing an engaging, well-written bio is a great way to increase discoverability for your artists.

These are the three cornerstones—tried, tested, and used today by our writers at Artsy—of the perfect artist bio:

• The bio should summarize the artist’s practice—including medium(s), themes, techniques, and influences.
• The bio should open with a first line that encapsulates, as far as possible, what is most significant about the artist and his or her work, rather than opening with biographical tidbits, such as where the artist went to school, grew up, etc. For example: John Chamberlain is best known for his twisting sculptures made from scrap metal and banged up, discarded automobile parts and other industrial detritus.
• The profile should be between 80 and 140 words. The ideal bio is ~120 words, though a tightly written 80-word bio is preferable to a longer bio that includes repetition and filler sentences.

Why 120 Words?

Audience engagement researchers at museums have found that visitors lose interest in wall labels after 150 words. Our philosophy for artist bios is to leave your reader wanting more by limiting your word count to ~120 words. At most, a reader should take away one or two key points.

If you want to provide a more definitive overview of an artist’s practice, consider other channels, such as a press release or a blog post.

Portrait of Ryan Foerster by Alex John Beck for Artsy

Questions to consider when writing about an artist’s practice.

• What medium/media does the artist work in?
• What is his or her style like?
• What work or works can you talk about that will give a visual description of the above qualities?

Subject matter

• What are common or characteristic themes depicted in the artist’s work?
• What subjects drive the works or provide underlying themes?

Art-Historical

• Why is this artist important?
• What impact has this artist made on history, or what precedent has he or she set in art-making?
• What other artists have impacted the artist’s practice?
• How does this artist redefine a medium or media?
• Who are the artist’s peers or teachers?
• In what political or technological climate is the artist working in? I.e. what historical or political events might have influenced the work?

Popular Culture

• What areas of the arts or popular culture does this artist incorporate into his or her work?
• What other areas of the arts or popular culture does this artist engage with? E.g. creating theatrical sets, costumes, music videos, etc.
• Can any of the above questions be answered in a brief (1–2 sentences), engaging quotation from the artist?

Detail from Genieve Figgis’s County Wicklow studio by Doreen Kilfeather for Artsy.

6 most common mistakes in artist bios, hyperbolic praise.

It can be tempting to sing your artists’ praises. We’ve noticed, however, that readers do not respond positively to unsubstantiated claims about an artist’s import (e.g. “Artist X is considered one of the most important artists of the post-war period,” or, “Artist Y is widely regarded for her beautiful work”). Most readers will see right through trumped-up language and, even worse, may become skeptical of the rest of your program. The best way to maximize the power of a good bio is to try to educate, not “hard-sell,” your reader. Numerous studies have shown that the hard sell doesn’t work, especially for younger audiences (read: tech-savvy collectors), who respond most positively to simple and authentic messages.

The “laundry list of accomplishments”

We recommend keeping exhibition highlights and accolades to a minimum (readers who are interested can refer to the artist’s CV). Impressive as these may be, these laundry lists are tedious to read in prose format. They also take up precious real estate, which you could otherwise devote to a real discussion of your artist’s practice.

There are certainly instances where it makes sense to include one particularly outstanding prize or exhibition, for example, an artist’s inclusion in the Venice Biennale. In this case, try to find a way to naturally include mention of the distinction in the normal flow of the text.

Misplaced academic jargon and pseudo-theoretical writing are almost universally despised. Instead of trying to impress other curators, academics, and galleries, focus on your audience of new collectors who may be completely unfamiliar with your artists. Readers want to glean information from your writing, and the best way to do that is to use simple language. A good rule of thumb is to impart one idea per sentence.

Spelling and Punctuation

Nothing undermines the credibility of your content more quickly than spelling and grammar mistakes. When writing, some best practices are:

• Use a serif font (e.g. Times New Roman) to ensure proper formatting of “smart” or curly quotes
• Make sure you have the spell check function turned on, and that your language preferences are set to English
• Have at least one other person, if not two, read over your text
• Don’t forget to put exhibition titles in quotations (e.g. “Greater New York”), and artwork titles in italics (e.g. La Vie, 1903)

Duplicating (or omitting) artist’s nationality, birth year, and death year

It is a common convention in most art writing to include an artist’s nationality, birth year, and death year upon first mention (for example, Alexander Calder [American, 1898–1976]). However, many online databases (including Artsy) store these facts as metadata fields that accompany the artist’s name (see above). Understand how your bio will appear and omit (or include) this information accordingly so as to ensure consistent formatting and keep clutter to a minimum.

Letting bios get stale

For young artists with rapidly evolving careers, be sure to check back every year, or before new exhibitions, to re-assess what the most important aspects of your artist’s practice are.

Our Favorite Artist Bios

Historical artists.

Alexander Calder American artist Alexander Calder changed the course of modern art by developing an innovative method of sculpting, bending, and twisting wire to create three-dimensional “drawings in space.” Resonating with the Futurists and Constructivists, as well as the language of early nonobjective painting, Calder’s mobiles (a term coined by Marcel Duchamp in 1931 to describe his work) consist of abstract shapes made of industrial materials––often poetic and gracefully formed and at times boldly colored––that hang in an uncanny, perfect balance. His complex assemblage Cirque Calder (1926–31), which allowed for the artist’s manipulation of its various characters presented before an audience, predated Performance Art by some 40 years. Later in his career, Calder devoted himself to making outdoor monumental sculptures in bolted sheet steel that continue to grace public plazas in cities throughout the world.

John Chamberlain John Chamberlain is best known for his twisting sculptures made from scrap metal and banged up, discarded automobile parts and other industrial detritus. “My work has nothing to do with car wrecks,“ he has said. “I believe common materials are the best materials.” With its emphasis on paint finishes and the raw materials’ lines and seams, his work has been described as a kind of three-dimensional Abstract Expressionist painting. While his breakthrough work dates from the 1960s (namely in sculpture), he has also more recently worked with large-scale photography.

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How to Write an Artist Biography? (BONUS: Artist Biography Examples)

• Last Updated: March 7, 2024

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Are you going blank at the thought of writing an artist bio?

It’s okay! Artist bios are actually not all that complicated to write, there’s not much for you to learn about before you can start doing it.

As for what you do need to know, continue reading below to see some artist biography examples and find out:

What Is an Artist Bio?

1. point of view, 2. keep artist bios short and concise, 3. focus on answering the key questions, step 1. state your name and background, step 2. introduce your artist journey, step 3. talk about your art style, step 4. discuss your personal influences and inspiration, step 5. list your artistic achievements, 1. professional presentation, 2. gallery or exhibition submission, 3. personal or business website, final thoughts:.

Artist bios are short pieces of writing that include the details of an artist’s life and work. It’s written to serve as the connecting bridge between the artist and the rest of the world.

You can put it on your website, social media, art portfolio, resume, etc. so that your audience and other interested parties can get to know you and your art without having to do deep research themselves.

Things You Should Know Before Writing an Artist Bio

Before we move on to the tutorial, let’s talk about some general rules for drafting a good bio agreed upon by most artists:

The point of view most accepted by most people is third-person POV. Third-person POV is best because it looks more formal and is more easily acceptable for others to read.

To say it bluntly, most people think that writing distantly like this makes it sound like others are talking about you. Rather than you bragging or selling yourself directly.

Of course, not everyone writes their artist bios so distantly. There are some artists who still prefer the more intimate first-person POV for their artist bios. Primarily because it always sounds like you’re talking to your audience directly in this way. So it seems more personal.

Although there is no strict rule when it comes to exactly how long an artist bio should be, it’s always best to keep it short and concise — lest visitors lose interest as soon as they see it.

The general rule of thumb for creating the perfect artist bio is to keep it to a single paragraph — two at most! The paragraph can be a bit longer if need be but try not to make it so long that it takes up the whole page.

Note! It makes sense for artist bios to be long on some occasions. But if you take a look at the artist bio in the image below, you can see how easy it is to lose your focus when you see a page with such a large word count. Readers call long bios that take up a whole page like this ‘wall labels’ because there are so many words that it becomes visually distracting.

If you want to write a long artist bio like this, it’s best to preface it with a short and concise sentence or paragraph, like the one shown on Timothy Goodman’s website.

Put it in bold and make the font bigger so that it can stand out! That way, you can grab the reader’s attention at the first line and allow them to sink their teeth in first.

As a plus, this practice of keeping artist bios short is helpful for search engine optimization. At least, it makes it more likely for your art website to show up above other artists on search engines.

Finally, the most important thing about writing the perfect artist bio is to give the reader the information that they want. For exact details, you can take a look at the tutorial written in the next section.

The key thing is to remember that the purpose of creating an artist bio is to introduce yourself and your value as an artist. So, try not to get too side-tracked.

To give you some reference, have a look at Alexander Calder’s artist bio. Alexander Calder is an American sculptor best known for creating the first mobile art in history.

Most people who go to his website are looking for information about this detail. As such, his accomplishments in this area are the focus of his bio. Not only does it mention the fact that his father was also a sculptor, but also that he had created his first sculptures when he was a child.

It even talked about a specific sculpture that he had worked on and emphasized his talent in that area. And it does all of this without overstating anything, which only makes the audience reading the summary more interested in his professional work and style.

How to Write an Artist Bio?

Alright, now that we’ve finished getting to know some of the more important rules, let’s start drafting artist bios ASAP! For this, we’ve prepared an in-depth tutorial:

To start writing a bio, your first sentence should include your name and your background.

As can be seen in the artist bio example below, Sophie Kahn introduced her name in the first sentence and then talked about her modern art career and background — she was born in Melbourn, Australia and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

This part usually only takes up one sentence. The artist bio example above takes up two sentences, which is okay, but it’s still preferable to state this as briefly as possible — like in Samantha Keely Smith’s bio below.

After stating your name and background, you can spare a sentence or two to talk about your artist journey.

How did you get your start? Are you like Michelle Carlos, who slowly developed a love for art after doodling on the walls of her home? What about after? Did you also go to professional art school with your fellow artists to further your career?

These are things that are easy for your audience to relate to. Which makes it the perfect conversation starter. Much better than tossing out academic jargon right off the bat, at least.

What makes you unique as an artist? Or rather, what makes you as an artist important? The purpose of talking about your style in artist bios is to answer these questions.

It allows other artists and art enthusiasts to get to know the real you and maybe get in touch with your artist’s practice.

Next, you can talk about your influences and the source of your inspiration. Influences involve idols that act as spiritual support. Maybe you were influenced by other artist’s practices. Or maybe you’re particularly fond of a certain style used by an artist in history.

You can mention this briefly to let others know what influenced you to create your art.

As for inspiration, you can give some examples like Ashley in the artist bio example below. It’s worth noting things like this in your biography so that other artists can understand where the source of your creativity comes from as an artist.

Next up, it’s finally time to talk about your achievements. These don’t have to be particularly fancy or formal. Try to draft a description of your achievements in simple language. Whether it’s about awards won, exhibitions opened, illustrations sold, etc.

Note, even if you have many achievements to talk about, it’s best to focus on one or two in your bio. You can talk about the rest in a separate artist statement.

For example, for artists who focus on architecture , having their art exhibited at the Venice Biennale is one of their biggest achievements. Making it worth noting over other awards they may have received during their career.

If you really don’t want to limit the information shared, there are many examples of artists who create separate artist statements along with their shorter artist bio so that interested parties can get a more comprehensive view of their work experience and views. Just like the example artist statement shown below, which focuses on the artist’s practice and style:

3 Unique Artist Biography Examples for Different Purposes

Although we’ve taught you how to write a bio, these are just basic standard rules. You have to be open to making some changes based on the requirements of the bio that needs to be written. To illustrate this, have a look at the following list of examples:

The first type of bio that we’ll be talking about is the ‘professional’ type. This is used by artists who want to create an art portfolio where fellow artists and other interested parties can view their art. For this reason, the structure of the bio is often very formal and neat.

Just like the artist bio example above. It has all the key points but focuses more on her works and uses formal language.

If your purpose for writing an introduction is to submit your art to galleries and exhibitions, then the focus should be on successful exhibitions and the style of your work. That way, the reader can quickly verify whether you match the requirements of their show.

Most of the ‘bios’ we’ve shown thus far have been taken from the websites of artists. Different websites have different purposes. Just like Livia’s art business shop shown above.

The ‘About Me’ section is very clean and formal. Whereas Jon’s bio below, written for a personal site, is written in first-person POV — making it more engaging and personal.

Now that you’ve learned the basic rules for writing a good bio, it’s time to start working! Best if you could get it up on your site ASAP.

(BTW! If you haven’t started looking for website builders yet, you can check out the Wix website builder or read this article for other relevant recommendations.)

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Mark Rothko

(1903-1970)

Mark Rothko was born in Russia and immigrated to the United States with his family in his youth. In the mid-20th century, he belonged to a circle of New York-based artists (also including Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock) who became known as the Abstract Expressionists. His signature works, large-scale paintings of luminous colored rectangles, used simplified means to evoke emotional responses. Rothko committed suicide on February 25, 1970.

Early Life and Education

Mark Rothko was born Marcus Rothkowitz in Dvinsk, Russia (now Daugavpils, Latvia), on September 25, 1903. He was the fourth child of Jacob Rothkowitz, a pharmacist by trade, and Anna (née Goldin) Rothkowitz. The family immigrated to the United States when Rothko was 10 years old, resettling in Portland, Oregon.

Rothko excelled at academics and graduated from Portland's Lincoln High School in 1921. He attended Yale University, studying both the liberal arts and the sciences until he left without graduating in 1923. He then moved to New York City and studied briefly at the Art Students League. In 1929 Rothko started teaching at the Center Academy of the Brooklyn Jewish Center.

Artistic Development

In 1933, Rothko's art was shown in one-person exhibitions at the Museum of Art in Portland and the Contemporary Arts Gallery in New York. During the 1930s, Rothko also exhibited with a group of modern artists who called themselves "The Ten," and he worked on federally sponsored arts projects for the Works Progress Administration.

In the 1940s, Rothko's artistic subjects and style began to change. Earlier, he had been painting scenes of urban life with a sense of isolation and mystery; after World War II, he turned to timeless themes of death and survival, and to concepts drawn from ancient myths and religions. Rather than depicting the everyday world, he began to paint "biomorphic" forms that suggested otherworldly plants and creatures. He was also influenced by the art and ideas of Surrealists like Max Ernst and Joan Miró.

Abstract Expressionism and Colorfield Painting

In 1943, Rothko and fellow artist Adolph Gottlieb wrote a manifesto of their artistic beliefs, such as "Art is an adventure into an unknown world" and "We favor the simple expression of the complex thought." Rothko and Gottlieb, along with Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Barnett Newman and others, became known as the Abstract Expressionists. Their art was abstract, meaning that it had made no reference to the material world, yet it was highly expressive, conveying strong emotional content.

By the 1950s, Rothko's art was completely abstract. He even preferred to number his canvases, rather than giving them descriptive titles. He had arrived at his signature style: working on a large, vertical canvas, he painted several colored rectangles of color floating against a colored background. Within this formula he found endless variations of color and proportion, resulting in different moods and effects.

Rothko's use of broad, simplified areas of color (rather than gestural splashes and drips of paint) caused his style to be categorized as "Colorfield Painting." He painted in thin, layered washes of color that seemed to glow from within, and his large-scale canvases were intended to be seen at close range, to that the viewer would feel engulfed by them.

Later Work and Death

In the 1960s, Rothko began to paint in darker colors, especially maroon, brown and black. He received several commissions for large-scale public works during these years. One was a group of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York's Seagram Building, which Rothko never completed since he withdrew from the project; another was a series of paintings for a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas. Rothko consulted with the chapel's architects, and the final product was the ideal space for contemplation of his stark, yet immersive, canvases.

Rothko was diagnosed with heart trouble in 1968 and suffered from depression. He committed suicide in his studio on February 25, 1970. He was survived by his second wife, Mary Alice Beistle, and by his children, Kate and Christopher. His personal holdings of nearly 800 paintings possession became the center of an extended legal battle between his family and the executors of the will. The remaining work was eventually divided between the Rothko family and museums around the world.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Marcus Rothkowitz
• Birth Year: 1903
• Birth date: September 25, 1903
• Birth City: Dvinsk, Russia (now Daugavpils, Latvia)
• Birth Country: Latvia
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Mark Rothko is best known as one of the central figures of the Abstract Expressionist movement in American art in the 1950s and '60s.
• Astrological Sign: Libra
• Yale University
• Art Students League
• Lincoln High School
• Death Year: 1970
• Death date: February 25, 1970
• Death State: New York
• Death City: New York
• Death Country: United States

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Mark Rothko Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/artists/mark-rothko
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: May 14, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• A picture lives by companionship, expanding and quickening in the eyes of the sensitive viewer.
• Only tragic and timeless subject matter is worthy of painting.

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Writing An Artist Bio: The Ultimate Guide for Fine Artists

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As a visual artist, you may not consider yourself a writer, and that’s OK.

But your Artist Bio is an important piece of writing you do need to nail down.

You will need it for exhibition or gallery applications, artist websites, press releases, publicity materials, etc…

The good news is once you have it done and dusted, you won’t need to do it again!

At most, you will simply refine it over the years.

So read along, and let’s get your Bio done right…

Artist Statement and Artist Bio: What’s the difference?

The two powerful tools you can use to communicate the meaning and intentions behind your art to your audience are your artist statement and artist bio.

Your artist statement is a great way to share your creative process, inspiration, and philosophy with your audience. It’s like a manifesto for your art, where you can dive deep into what drives you to create and what you hope to achieve through your work.

On the other hand, your artist bio is like a snapshot of your artistic journey so far. It’s a potted history of your life as an artist, highlighting your achievements, experiences, and background. Your artist bio serves as an introduction to your work, and it helps your audience understand your perspective as an artist.

In other words, while your artist statement focuses on your art and medium, your artist bio is all about YOU as an artist.

When you introduce your art in your artist statement, it’s like saying, “Hey folks, check out my art!” But when it comes to your bio, you’re basically saying:

🙋‍♂️ “Hey folks, here’s a little bit about me!”

Important Considerations Before Crafting Your Artist Bio

We get it – talking about yourself can feel awkward, but the details about your passion, inspiration, and dreams are just as crucial as your artwork. People are naturally curious creatures, so it’s no surprise that viewers and readers want to know a bit about you. After all, your art is a reflection of who you are as a person and an artist.

There are a few things you might want to consider before you get started with your artist bio. Let’s go through them together!

✅  It’s OK to show a glimpse of your personality.

Starting off your artist bio with a hook is crucial to grabbing your readers’ attention.

A little bit of humor can go a long way in reeling them in and warming them up to both you and your art. So why not give it a shot and inject some personality into your bio?

✅  Your artist bio should not be too corporate—it’s not a CV or a resume.

When it comes to crafting your artist bio, it can be tempting to list out every single accomplishment and accolade you’ve received throughout your career.

But most of the time, less is often more.

Instead of overwhelming your readers with a laundry list of accomplishments, it’s important to be selective and choose only the most noteworthy and relevant highlights of your career. This will not only make your bio more concise and easier to read, but it will also give your readers a better sense of who you are as an artist.

Crafting Your Artist Bio: Tips and Tricks for Fine Artists

Okay, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get started on writing that artist bio.

To help you out, we’ve gathered some handy tips and tricks that will make the process easier and more effective.

✅  Write in the third person (e.g., he, she, his, hers, they)

Have you ever considered what someone else might write about you if given the task of crafting your bio?

It may seem like a strange exercise, but putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and imagining what they might say about you can be an incredibly helpful tool in crafting your own bio.

This exercise can help you identify the most important aspects of your career and artistry from an outsider’s perspective, as well as highlight any strengths or unique qualities that may not have been immediately apparent to you.

So, what might someone else write about you? Perhaps they would focus on your bold use of color or your ability to create intricate and detailed works of art.

Maybe they would highlight your commitment to environmentalism and the use of sustainable materials in your artwork. Or perhaps they would focus on your professional accomplishments and exhibitions.

Regardless of what they might say, the exercise of imagining someone else’s perspective can help you gain clarity and insight into your own career and artistic identity.

Use these insights to inform your own bio and make it truly stand out to potential clients and fans.

✅  Keep it concise and straight to the point.

As a fine artist, you want your artist bio to leave a lasting impression on your readers – but you don’t want to bore them with a lengthy essay. That’s why it’s important to use simple and direct sentences that will keep your readers engaged and interested in what you have to say.

By using concise language and avoiding complex sentence structures, you can make your bio easy to read and understand. This will not only help to hold your reader’s attention, but it will also give them a better understanding of who you are as an artist and what you have to offer.

So, the next time you sit down to write your artist bio, remember to keep it simple and direct. Your readers will thank you for it. 😉

✅  Be creative.

Your creativity is your greatest asset – and that should extend to your artist bio as well. While it can be tempting to stick to a standard format or template, your bio is an opportunity to showcase your unique personality and artistic style.

So, don’t be afraid to get creative with your bio!

Your bio can be a combination of

➡️ where you came from

➡️ where you went to school

➡️ your inspirations

➡️ your artistic process and philosophy

➡️ your interests

➡️ and your accomplishments as a human being.

All of these add more dimension to your narrative. You can tackle different angles, but make sure that the subject is always your artistic development.

But let’s be real, how can you make your bio stand out and tell a compelling story?

One way is to use timelines and narrative progression to organize your thoughts and show your artistic journey in a clear and coherent manner. Break down your career highlights into different time periods, so readers can see how your work has evolved over time and how you have grown as an artist.

To get started, make sure your timelines are easy to follow. Use bullet points or subheadings to separate different phases of your career and highlight your key achievements and milestones from each era.

And don’t forget about the importance of narrative progression – by framing your career journey as a progression from past to present , you can help readers understand how each phase of your career has influenced the next.

With these tips in mind, you can create a killer artist bio that showcases your artistic development and highlights the unique qualities that make you a standout in your field.

Should Previous Non-Art Related Degrees and Jobs Be Included in an Artist Bio?

The answer is simple – yes, you may include them! Your bio is the perfect place to share your unique journey as an artist.

The trick to including non-art-related experiences in your bio is to connect them with your current artistic career . How did those experiences shape your perspective and inspire your work? For instance, if you worked in the field of child welfare, how did that experience influence your artistic vision?

Including non-art-related experiences can make you a more interesting artist and give viewers a deeper understanding of who you are as a person. It’s not just about your art degree but about the experiences that make you who you are today.

When writing your bio, don’t keep your previous jobs and degrees separate from your artistic career. Integrate them into your story and tell your audience how they have impacted your artistic process.

What’s the Perfect Length for Your Artist Bio?

If you have been wondering how long your biography should be, we’ve got you covered!

Here are some pointers to help you decide on the length of your artist bio:

✅ Your biography can be as short as a few paragraphs or as long as two to three or four pages. It really depends on how much information you want to include.

✅ If you want to keep it short and sweet, a brief summary or biographical statement at the back of your portfolio or on your website is perfectly fine. This gives a quick overview of your background and accomplishments.

✅ If you want to provide more detail, an extensive biography can be very helpful and effective in making sales. This can be from three to seven pages long, written in the third person, and laid out in a magazine-style format. This type of bio is ideal for artists who want to give collectors a more in-depth look at their life and career.

✅ Your biography is a document that can evolve over time and can grow or shrink in length. Keep it up to date with your latest achievements.

✅ Sharing your background, life, and career development can help establish additional credibility for you as an artist. Potential buyers find it fascinating, and it creates a deeper connection with them.

✅ You can combine your short bio with elements of your artist statement to weave together your work and life. This can make your bio a little lengthier, but it gives readers a more holistic view of your artistic vision and process.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how long your artist bio should be. Consider your goals and the level of detail you want to share, and use that as a guide when crafting your biography.

Oops! Don’t Make These Mistakes When Writing Your Artist Bio

Did you make these mistakes when writing your artist bio? Don’t worry—it’s not too late to fix them! Let’s take a look at some of the most common pitfalls to avoid when crafting your artist bio.

✅  Poor Writing

When it comes to your artist bio, it’s crucial to make sure it’s well-written and polished. You don’t want any errors or awkward sentences to distract your audience from your amazing work.

So, take the time to proofread it multiple times and make sure it’s free of any mistakes. Even small writing errors can give off an unprofessional impression to your readers.

✅  Sharing too much information

While it can be tempting to include every detail of your life, it’s best to stick to information that is relevant to your artistic identity. Avoid sharing too much information about your personal life or unrelated accomplishments and instead focus on highlighting your artistic achievements and aspirations.

✅  Lack of personality

Let your artist bio be a reflection of your one-of-a-kind personality and style. Avoid using generic terms and concepts that make you sound like a robot. Instead, infuse your bio with your unique voice and perspective on life to make it stand out.

Ready to share your Artist Bio with the world? Here are a few things you should do first

So, you’ve written your artist bio, and you’re eager to share it with the world. But before you hit that publish button, there are a few crucial steps you should take to make sure your bio is polished and ready to impress.

✅  Read, reread, and proofread

Have you read your artist bio out loud yet? This is a crucial step in making sure that your bio sounds both natural and professional while still being approachable to your audience.

Now, chances are, your first draft is going to need a lot of trimming down. That’s why it’s important to reread it multiple times and make changes to any areas that need improvement.

And don’t forget to ask a friend to proofread it for you as well. They can give you valuable feedback on how to make it look and sound even better. Trust us, it’s always helpful to have a fresh set of eyes review your work!

✅  Have a fellow artist review your artist bio—hear that second opinion 😉

It’s always a good idea to have someone else take a look at your artist bio before sharing it with the world. And who better to turn to than a fellow artist? They can give you honest and objective feedback that can help you refine your message and make sure that your bio truly reflects your identity as an artist and your body of work.

So, if you have an artist friend who’s willing to take a look, don’t hesitate to send them a copy of your bio and ask for their thoughts. Ask them what they loved about it and what could be improved. Their insights could help clarify your message and make your bio even more effective.

How Often Should You Update Your Artist Bio?

Well, the answer is pretty straightforward – as often as you need to!

Your artist bio is an important tool for introducing yourself to potential buyers, galleries, and employers, so it should be kept up to date as your career progresses.

Revisiting your biography every year is a great way to ensure it still accurately represents your current work and achievements. As you continue to create new pieces and gain recognition, you’ll want to make sure your biography is showcasing your latest and greatest.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of using an outdated biography. You may have created a biography early on in your career, and it may not be relevant anymore. That’s okay! Take some time to review and update it, and make sure it reflects your current work and accomplishments.

Your artist bio is a BIG deal.

And the good news is that once you have it ready, you feel a BIG relief.

It’s what can set you apart from the rest and help you connect with your audience. So, when you sit down to write it, take your time and put in the effort to craft something that really reflects who you are as an artist.

Your bio can add that extra layer of interest and intrigue to your art, so make it count!

Want one on one help with your bio? If you would like to have word-by-word artist bio templates, your own bio revised and edited by a professional art writer, then consider applying to our flagship program – the  Professional Artist Accelerator .

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RENEE PHILLIPS - MENTOR FOR ARTISTS

Helping Artists Achieve Their Fullest Potential

How to Write Your Artist’s Biography

By Renee Phillips 14 Comments

In “How to Write Your Artist’s Biography” I explain what it is, why you need it, and what to include, plus links to samples and quick tips.

Your Artist’s Biography is essential for viewers of your art who want to know more about you. It helps them to understand what makes you unique and tells them about the journey you took to get to where you are now as an artist.

On the practical side, your Artist’s Biography provides prospective buyers, gallery owners, curators, grant givers and writers knowledge about you. They want to know about your career accomplishments before they decide to invest in your art and promote you.

What Is The Artist’s Biography?

The Artist’s Biography is text, written in the third person (she, he) .

It serves to provide the reader with a story about you as an artist and learn about your career credentials.

It contains much of the same information as a résumé, however, a résumé or CV is written in a listing format and a biography is written in an editorial style.

Your Artist’s Biography may contain a brief description of your art work however it is also not the same as an Artist’s Statement , which your write entirely to express creative inspiration, materials, style and artistic vision.

On your website limit your Artist’s Biography to approximately 250 words or less.

Create different versions of your Artist’s Biography to use for different purposes.

First, before you go further, if you don’t have many credits on your resume read this: “How to Expand Your Short Artist’s Biography – 12 Great Ideas”

Why You Need to write Your Artist’s Biography

You need a well-written artist’s biography to…

Promote your art on your website and blog on the “About the Artist” page.

Create your profile on your social media platforms.

Provide material in your cover letter to a gallery or other art official.

Give to a publicity outlet — art editor, feature story editor or radio or TV host.

Add to your exhibition press release.

Serve as an integral part of a brochure or catalogue.

Add to your proposal for a grant, lecture, workshop or panel discussion.

What To Include in Your Biography

What are the unique attributes of your art?

Where have you previously lived and where do you currently live?

When, where, and/or why did you begin to take interest in art?

Did you study art in school, or were you self-taught?

Did you go to college or art school? Where? What did you study?

Did you receive any press coverage?

What is the title of the magazine/newspaper or blog and the writer’s name?

Have you been interviewed on TV or radio?

What is the title of the show and person who interviewed you?

What exhibitions did you participate in?

What is the name of the exhibition location and title of exhibition?

Was it a juried or invitational exhibition? What is the name of the juror?

Is your art in any important public collections? Which ones?

What awards and honors have you earned?

Have you served in other art art related capacities,  such as: Serving on the Board of Directors or committee of an arts organization?

Have you curated any exhibitions?

Have you written articles about art that have been published?

Have any books about you and your art been published?

Do you create other art-related items in addition to original works of art?

Read some samples of the Artist’s Biography.

Avoid these mistakes i’ve seen on artists’ websites.

Avoid writing about intimate, personal experiences that are not related to your career or artistic vision.

Avoid the use of jargon, colloquialism, and esoteric language that will alienate most potential buyers.

Avoid writing long biographies about your trials and tribulations beginning with childhood, grade school art work…

Avoid grandiose over-inflated jargon about yourself.

Avoid writing excessive quotes and references to famous artists.

Remember, if someone is interested in buying your art or showing your art in their gallery they are more interested in your current career credentials, not what you did as a child.

Read “10 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your Artist’s Biography”

Also Read “How to Expand Your Short Artist’s Biography – 12 Great Ideas”

Do You Want Me to Write Your Artist’s Biography? Go to this page to find out how I can help you.

About Renee Phillips

Renée Phillips is a mentor and advocate for artists helping them achieve their fullest potential. She provides career advice, writing services, and promotion for artists from beginners to advanced. She organizes online exhibitions as Director/Curator of Manhattan Arts International www.ManhattanArts.com and Founder of The Healing Power of ART & ARTISTS www.healing-power-of-art.org. As an arts' advocate she has served on the advisory boards of several non-profit arts organizations. She lives in New York, NY.

12/23 at 11:09 am

Thank you for sharing your invaluable insight into writing biographies etc.

I am in the process of entering a competition in the UK and I will certainly use your advice to help create my biography.

Accuracy of written content is clearly important to us both and I thought I would like to mention a typo you have made in your ‘Why do you need to write Your Artist’s Biography?’ section, where you have stated, ‘Add to your your exhibition press release.’ (the word ‘your’ repeated ).

I hope you won’t find offence in bringing this to your attention but obviously you want to keep an accurate page without errors.

Kind regards. Bill

12/24 at 11:42 am

Thank you Bill for reading my article and calling my attention to the typo in it. I have fired my assistant editor/proofreader for failing to catch it. Only joking. I greatly appreciate it. 🙂

11/03 at 11:18 am

Thank you so much for your most informative article full of guidance. I am currently assisting a homeless Indigenous artist to get off the streets and launch his art career.

12/24 at 12:14 am

I am a Volunteer with 30 Students approximately 25 active art students. Thay range in age from 4 to 75 with a love for art. I need help with helping them .write their bio and artist statements..Need direction on how to help and how to get help to support my group..I find it hard to get people to share information that will help you grow and thrive in thie art world. I have learned that I have a lot to learn a long road ahead I’m a 62 year old retired .,.nurse.I’ve been an artist for 12 years .

12/24 at 9:34 am

Dear Shirley, Thank you for the work you do helping art students. It must be also very gratifying for you. I love offering advice to artists. Please share this article with your group and suggest that they subscribe to my blog email newsletter to see new articles when they are published. I also suggest you read and share How to Write Your Artist’s Statement. Don’t get discouraged. It can be overwhelming to navigate the business of being an artist. Here’s a good article to read: Take Small Steps to Achieve Large Art Career Goals.t a time . As far as funding for your group, I don’t know where you live, but there are nonprofit organizations that serve as an “umbrella” for groups like yours. Keep going and best wishes to you and your students!

11/13 at 9:35 am

This site is so super amazing and super helpful! I was so happy to have my artist statement! Best Regards, Patrick !

03/20 at 1:13 am

This article was helpful for me but I want to know how I can write organizational biography? Do you have any idea about that, if you have, please share it with me?

Regards, Sumera

03/20 at 9:13 am

Hi Sumera, I’m glad you found the article helpful to you. What do you mean by an “organizational biography”? My guess is you may be referring to a biography of an organization, which would include such information as its mission statement and objectives, often with such categories as “Who We Are”, “What We Do”, “Benefits to Sponsors”, “Benefits to Members”, etc. If so, there are articles about art organizations on The Artrepreneur Coach website. Use this link to find examples of art organizations with good examples of their missions and objectives on their websites https://renee-phillips.com/?s=art+organizations I hope this information helps you.

05/21 at 6:33 pm

Thank you for the guideline. I found this very helpful and concise.

05/16 at 5:31 am

Hello Renee Thanks for this information. It is helpful to me and many more who need such insights.

07/09 at 5:45 pm

I have an artist who I think would really connect with you and benefit from your services. How do I get him connected?

Best Stephanie

07/10 at 6:56 pm

Hi Stephanie, Thank you for your interest in my services. Please direct the artist you know to this page: https://renee-phillips.com/career-coaching-for-artists/ . Information about my consulting and writing services, fees, testimonials and how to contact are all there or a click away. All the best, Renee

09/05 at 6:28 am

Thank you very much for this service , I am having my first show of my life , and am grateful that this help and the awesome advice , i feel blessed to share my work in some capacity to the rest of the World , Aloha

09/03 at 3:29 pm

I did not realize how important a good biography of myself needs to be. I thank you for your helpful tips. Can hardly wait for a more profitable future.

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Writing Services for Artists

My specialty is writing Art Reviews and Art Statements / "Praise Quotes" for artists to use for promotion... on their websites, social media profiles, exhibition catalogues, grant submissions, blog posts, press releases, artists’ books and more. My writing for artists has led to increasing their art sales, attracting publicity, gaining … More...

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