John Morfis

English Riding Spurs

2016

John Morfis was born in Glen Cove, Long Island, in 1976. His humble beginnings made pursuing a career in art difficult and paradoxically necessary. Fixated on making things aesthetically pleasing, Morfis made an extreme departure from his family life when he chose to base his life on art. Surrounded by mechanics, welders and otherwise trade workers, Morfis had a tough time expressing his interest in a world much more utilitarian and much less expressive and impractical. With an extraordinary desire to be an artist and a grant awarded, Morfis was able to earn a bachelor of fine arts with a concentration in painting from the University of Hartford in 1998. While there John studied oil painting under American realist Stephen Brown. His first solo show took place in 2007 at the Ellen Traut Collection in Hartford, Connecticut and was a near-sellout. Since then John has had success up and down the northeastern coast of the United States working with various galleries and collectors. His work has also appeared in various group shows at the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut.