Marc Dalessio On Sale

Marc Dalessio was born in 1972 in Los Angeles, California. Even in his earliest years, it was evident that his passion was art. In 1989, he started at the University of California at Santa Cruz where he focused on both art and biology. During his time in Santa Cruz, Dalessio experimented with different schools of painting and spent much of his spare time studying the history and culture of the profession. He finished his outstanding academic career, graduating from the Phi Beta Kappa Society in 1992. After university, Dalessio moved to Florence, Italy, where he spent the next eight years developing his style and refining his technique. Initially, Marc studied under Svetlan Kracsyna at Il Bisonte International School of Graphic Arts, Florence, Italy, where he earned a master printmaker degree. From there, he went on to train as a portraitist at a small traditional painting atelier. Dalessio has emerged as a true master of his craft. Whether his work depicts an Indian landscape or an Italian businessman, the lines and color in his paintings attempt to reveal the nature of his subjects. In his portraits, he works to find the essence of the model, trying to use the true character of the individual to decide the mood of the painting. His plein air landscapes, which range in subject from exotic locations around the world to his backyard, attempt to capture both the present and the history of the environment, touching the soul with his unique view of the scenery. In all his works, his dedication to light and color, and the subtlety of his subjects, enraptured even the most casual observer.

Figurative art, as opposed to abstract art, retains features from the observable world in its representational depictions of subject matter. Most commonly, figurative paintings reference and explore the human body, but they can also include landscapes, architecture, plants and animals — all portrayed with realism.

While the oldest figurative art dates back tens of thousands of years to cave wall paintings, figurative works made from observation became especially prominent in the early Renaissance. Artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance masters created naturalistic representations of their subjects.

Pablo Picasso is lauded for laying the foundation for modern figurative art in the 1920s. Although abstracted, this work held a strong connection to representing people and other subjects. Other famous figurative artists include Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Figurative art in the 20th century would span such diverse genres as Expressionism, Pop art and Surrealism.

Today, a number of figural artists — such as Sedrick Huckaby, Daisy Patton and Eileen Cooper — are making art that uses the human body as its subject.

Because figurative art represents subjects from the real world, natural colors are common in these paintings. A piece of figurative art can be an exciting starting point for setting a tone and creating a color palette in a room.

Browse an extensive collection of figurative paintings on 1stDibs.