Mark Acetelli On Sale

Mark Acetelli was born in Detroit into an artistic household. Acetelli’s mother herself was a painter and some of his earliest memories were the smell of turpentine and oil paints. Growing up surrounded by his mother’s work, she inspired and encouraged him to become an artist. Acetelli’s paintings are inspired by the intensely personal introspective journey of life, from the ever-changing complexities of love, loss, birth and death. His application of paint is an extension of that thought process. He works by continuously building up and tearing down, layer upon layer, adding and subtracting. A visceral dance between the conscious and the unconscious until the emotion is expressed. Acetelli’s paintings may go through multiple incarnations with the past lying just beneath the surface, adding to its overall dimension and depth. In his work, he seeks to evoke a feeling rather than depict a defined image. Acetelli’s works can be found in many private and corporate collections around the world, including Bill Withers, Lisa Colburn, Colburn School of Music, Raytheon Corp, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Michael Jordan, Stuart Beattie, Claire Forlani, Camryn Mainhiem and Francine Maisler.

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.