Cesar Santander - The Artist

INTRODUCTION

Cesar Santander is a "Photorealist" painter. He uses photographs as sources for his paintings and the paintings themselves look like photographs.

Two Toy Banks - 1982

Two Toy Banks, 1982, 29" x 32", acrylic on masonite

Cesar received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Pratt Institute in New York. He was a full-time teacher for ten years in New York City and Miami, Florida. He has been painting full-time since 1980. Since 1978, he has been using the airbrush in his work. The still-life is his area of interest. Cesar first painted fruit, utensils and cups. Later he painted antique tin boxes and this led to painting tin toys. He has been painting and exploring toy subject matter since 1982. His paintings are considered among the finest that have ever been done in the genre.

Photo by Joris Van Daele

INTERESTED IN PRINTS?

WHERE TO SEE MY WORK IN PERSON

SELECTED CHRONOLOGY

Born June 26, 1947, near Cadiz, Spain
Education
1975-77    Florida International University, Florida
1972          Pratt Institute, New York, M.F.A.
1969          New York University, New York
1969          Pratt Institute, New York, B.F.A.
One-Person Exhibitions
2005         Plus One Gallery, London, England
2003         Peterson Fine Art, Toronto, Ontario
2001         Modernism Inc., San Francisco, California
1999         Modernism, San Francisco, Recent Paintings
1998         Gallery Henoch, New York, Recent Paintings
1996         Bruce Lewin Gallery, New York, Movie Goddesses
1991         Gallery Henoch, New York, Recent Paintings
1988         Sarnia Public Library and Art Gallery, Sarnia, Ontario, Toys and Carousels
1988         Nancy Poole's Studio, Toronto, New Paintings
1986         Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan, Carousel Paintings
1985         Nancy Poole's Studio, Toronto, New Paintings
1985         Kitchener/Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario, Paintings; 1979-85
1983         Nancy Poole's Studio, Toronto, Paintings of Toys
1982         Nancy Poole's Studio, Toronto, Recent Paintings
1981         Harris Gallery, London, Ontario, Still Life Paintings
1974         Miami Art Center, Miami, Sepia Prints
1972         Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, Drawings and Prints
Group Shows
2004        "American Realism", Plus One Gallery, London, England
Selected Public Collections
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario
Art Gallery of St. Thomas/Elgin, St. Thomas, Ontario
Burdines Department Stores, Miami
CFPL T.V., London, Ontario
Chase Manhattan Bank, New York
Clarkson-Gordon Collection, Toronto
Connor, Clark, Toronto
F.H. Deacon Hodgson, Toronto
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina
Kitchener/Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
London Free Press, London, Ontario
London Life Insurance Company, London, Ontario
Mariposa Communications, Toronto, Ontario
Northern Life Insurance Corporation, London, Ontario
Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, British Columbia
Sifton Properties Limited, London, Ontario
University Hospital, London, Ontario
Victoria Hospital, London, Ontatio
Walt Disney Company, Pasadena
Woodstock Art Gallery, Woodstock, Ontario
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Jersey

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

" I conceive an idea for a painting. I then arrange the objects and use the camera to produce the strongest photographic example of my original idea. Then I paint the photographic image. Superficially, I appear to copy the photograph, but I make many adjustments to the photographic image as I complete the painting. I try to impose my own vision by subtle adjustment of colours, edges and details so that the finished painting is the strongest representation of the original idea."