Mark Steven Greenfield is a native Angelino and son of a Tuskegee Airman, which led to spending the first part of his life abroad, living on military bases from Taiwan to Germany, until returning to Los Angeles at the age of ten.
In high school Greenfield studied with revered Los Angeles artist John T. Riddle. Riddle quickly noted Greenfield’s talent, but saw that he was vulnerable to the influences and dangers confronting black youth at the time. Riddle remarked, "You could be a pretty good artist....if you live that long.” This got Greenfield’s attention and set him on the path that would define the course of his life.
Greenfield went on to study with Charles White, at Otis Art Institute, and received his bachelor’s degree in art education in 1973 from California State University, Long Beach, and a master’s of fine arts degree in painting and drawing from California State University Los Angeles in 1987. In 2022 Greenfield’s work was the subject of a 20-Year retrospective at the Museum of Art & History in Lancaster, CA, from which the Crocker Art Museum acquired a piece for their permanent collection.
Greenfield’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States — most notably with a comprehensive survey exhibition at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles in 2014, and in 2002 at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. Internationally, he has exhibited at the Chiang Mai Art Museum in Thailand; at Art 1307 in Naples, Italy; the Blue Roof Museum in Chengdu, China; 1333 Arts, Tokyo, Japan; and the Gang Dong Art Center in Seoul, South Korea.
Greenfield is a recipient of the L.A. Artcore Crystal Award (2006) Los Angeles Artist Laboratory Fellowship Grant (2011), the City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Fellowship
(COLA 2012), the California Community Foundation Artist Fellowship (2012), the Instituto Sacatar Artist Residency Fellowship in Salvador, Brazil (2013) , the McColl Center for Art + Innovation Residency in Charlotte, North Carolina (2016) and Loghaven Artist Residency in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2021. He was a visiting professor at the California Institute of the Arts in 2013 and California State University Los Angeles in 2016.
From 1993–2011, Greenfield worked for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs as director of the Watts Towers Arts Center, and later as director of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park. He has served on the boards of the Downtown Artists Development Association, the Armory Center for the Arts, the Black Creative Professionals Association, the Watts Village Theatre Company and was past president of the Los Angeles Art Association/Gallery 825. He currently teaches drawing and design at Los Angeles City College, and serves on the board of Side Street Projects, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibition (LACE) and the Harpo Foundation.
Find original Mark Greenfield paintings and other art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by William Turner Gallery)
Saartjie Baartman
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compo...
Gold Leaf
Ain't yo' Mama, Make yo' own Goddamn Pancakes
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Burnin' Down the House
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compositions, or tondos. These tondos float amongst abstract discs, set within fields of lustrous, gold leaf. The Madonnas predominate before a variety of backgrounds, which were traditionally innocuous. Greenfield, however, presents these backdrops as various revenge fantasies, where white supremacists are cast in the role of victims, suffering the fates...
Gold Leaf
Letitia Munson
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Califia
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Califia (c. 1510) is the mythical Black warrior Queen and inspiring character in Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s 16th century epic poem, Las Sergas de Esplandián (The Adventures of Esplandian). In Montalvo’s tale, Queen Califia rules on the fabled island of California, a utopia brimming with pearls and gold and inhabited solely by her menacing army of black Amazon women...
Gold Leaf
Balthazar
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
One of the three biblical ‘magi’ or ‘wise men,’ King Balthazar gave the highly prized gift of liquid myrrh to Jesus upon his birth. Balthazar was an African King...
Gold Leaf
Escrava Anastacia
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compositions, or tondos. These tondos float amongst abstract discs, set within fields of lustrous, gold leaf. The Madonnas predominate before a variety of backgrounds, which were traditionally innocuous. Greenfield, however, presents these backdrops as various revenge fantasies, where white supremacists are cast in the role of victims, suffering the fates...
Gold Leaf
St. Moses the Black, aka Abba Moses the Robber
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compositions, or tondos. These tondos float amongst abstract discs, set within fields of lustrous, gold leaf. The Madonnas predominate before a variety of backgrounds, which were traditionally innocuous. Greenfield, however, presents these backdrops as various revenge fantasies, where white supremacists are cast in the role of victims, suffering the fates...
Gold Leaf
The Tragedy of Margaret Garner
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Kid Dyno-mite
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compo...
Gold Leaf
Toppling
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compositions, or tondos. These tondos float amongst abstract discs, set within fields of lustrous, gold leaf. The Madonnas predominate before a variety of backgrounds, which were traditionally innocuous. Greenfield, however, presents these backdrops as various revenge fantasies, where white supremacists are cast in the role of victims, suffering the fates...
Gold Leaf
Wheel About
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compo...
Gold Leaf
Bad Apples
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compositions, or tondos. These tondos float amongst abstract discs, set within fields of lustrous, gold leaf. The Madonnas predominate before a variety of backgrounds, which were traditionally innocuous. Greenfield, however, presents these backdrops as various revenge fantasies, where white supremacists are cast in the role of victims, suffering the fates...
Gold Leaf
Gort's Directive
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compo...
Gold Leaf
Cathay Williams
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Lope Martin
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
The French Solution
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compo...
Gold Leaf
Zumbi dos Palmares
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of history as seen through a white lens. With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view. Many of the figures are from the 1400-1800s, a timeframe that corresponds with Europeans beginning to use racial distinction as a tool to justify slavery. Greenfield honors their simultaneously disturbing and astounding lives by bestowing them with halos, traditionally seen as reverential symbols of adoration and respect. “I am reimagining what a saint is,” Greenfield says. “Maybe in studying their stories, they can inform us on better ways to live.” Thought to have been a descendent of central African royalty...
Gold Leaf
Queen Nzingha Mbande
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Celia
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Balthazar
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Zumbi dos Palmares
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
What's That Funky Smell?
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compositions, or tondos. These tondos float amongst abstract discs, set within fields of lustrous, gold leaf. The Madonnas predominate before a variety of backgrounds, which were traditionally innocuous. Greenfield, however, presents these backdrops as various revenge fantasies, where white supremacists are cast in the role of victims, suffering the fates...
Gold Leaf
Consequences
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compositions, or tondos. These tondos float amongst abstract discs, set within fields of lustrous, gold leaf. The Madonnas predominate before a variety of backgrounds, which were traditionally innocuous. Greenfield, however, presents these backdrops as various revenge fantasies, where white supremacists are cast in the role of victims, suffering the fates...
Gold Leaf
Solitude of Guadeloupe
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Richard Potter
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Redoshi
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Solitude of Guadalupe
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Chamber Made
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compo...
Gold Leaf
$2,731Sale Price|20% Off
H 16.54 in W 13.39 in D 0.79 in
Icon of Our Lady of Jerusalem with oklad by Oliver Samsinger
Located in Segovia, ES
Icon of Our Lady of Jerusalem. Egg tempera on gesso and over a wooden board. Dimensions in centimeters: 42 x 34 x 2 cm / In inches: 16.54 x 13-39 x 0-79 " Author: Oliver Samsinger...
Brass
$2,607
H 15.36 in W 10.63 in D 0.99 in
Virgin of Kataphyge and St. John, after a Byzantine Bulgarian Icon 14th Century
Located in Segovia, ES
The Virgin of Kataphyge with Saint John the Evangelist, after a Bulgarian Byzantine icon of the 14th Century. Egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso and wood. Author: Oliver Samsinger...
Gold Leaf
$887Sale Price|20% Off
H 14.97 in W 11.62 in D 1.19 in
Christ Pantocrator after an Russian icon of the 15th Century
Located in Segovia, ES
Christ Pantocrator after a Russian icon of the 15th Century. Tempera and gold leaf on gesso over a wooden board. Measurements in centimeters: 38 x 29.5 x 3 cm. / In inches: 14.96 x 11.8 x 1.18 " This is how the artist sums up the technique used by him to create the icon: “The aim of these steps is to create a durable painting. The icon is eternal. The first step is to choose a support, traditionally made of wood, from the center of the trunk to avoid warping it. For this purpose, two hardwood bolts were often used on the back to give the picture panel additional stability. Often a frame is milled out. Then the image carrier is sanded smooth and now 12 or 14 thin layers of gesso are applied and sanded smooth as well. Then the preliminary drawing is applied and the drawing board is prepared with a special preparation called bolus. This bolus can be polished to a high gloss. Afterwards, the gold leaf is "shot" with special brushes. It dries up within a few hours and can now be polished with agate. Gold leaf is real 24-carat gold. Now does the actual process of painting begins. Egg tempera is made fresh from egg yolk, water, and a little vinegar. This is used to prepare the color pigments. Tempera painting is done in numerous layers from dark to light. When the icon is finished, it is left to dry for a few months and varnished with a special varnish called Olifa made from boiled linseed oil and other ingredients”. ABOUT THE ARTIST Oliver Samsinger (Vienna, 1968) began to take an interest in icons in 1990. He undertakes several trips to Bulgaria, Greece, and Cyprus to see in situ the original works treasured in these three countries. This experience will be crucial in his life since the studies carried out in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, and his stay on Mount Athos...
Gold Leaf
$10,261
H 24.02 in W 15.36 in D 2.37 in
Italian painting of Alphonsus Liguori in French Neo-Gothic Frame
Located in London, GB
Italian painting of Alphonsus Liguori in French Neo-Gothic Frame Italian and French, Late 18th and 19th Century Frame: Height 61cm, width 39cm, depth 6cm Panel: Height 28cm, width 22...
Oil, Panel
$1,424
H 13.04 in W 8.59 in
Promenade – Geometric Cubist Acrylic Painting on Wood, Earth Tones, 33 x 21cm
Located in PÉRIGUEUX, FR
Promenade Acrylic on wood 33.1 x 21.8 cm A compact yet striking cubist composition by French artist Grégoire Mathias, “Promenade” explores human figures through layered geometries and rich earth tones. “Promenade” is a refined, vertically oriented work in acrylic on wood panel by French artist Greg Mathias, a pioneer of Diachronic Cubism—an evolution of Cubism that doesn’t just fragment space, but also folds multiple moments in time into a single frame. In this composition, a solitary figure appears mid-step, portrayed through overlapping forms that subtly shift in posture and position, evoking successive instants of the same walk. Using a palette of earthy ochres, rose-beige tones, slate blues, and deep browns, Mathias blends geometric abstraction with temporal movement. The fractured background enhances the impression of both forward motion and layered time, suggesting the silent passage of moments within a single contemplative scene. Unlike traditional Analytical Cubism, which reduces forms to a still, spatial analysis, this piece embodies motion and transformation—hallmarks of the artist’s unique visual language. Compact in size but conceptually expansive, “Promenade” invites the viewer to witness the echo of steps already taken and those just about to occur. Perfect For: Interior designers sourcing vertical wall art...
Acrylic, Wood Panel
$2,018
H 6.3 in W 6.3 in D 1.97 in
Imke- 21st Century Contemporary Portrait of a young Ginger Girl
By Jantina Peperkamp
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Imke 16 x 16 cm ( it will be delivered framed/ frame is included: size with frame 18 x 18 cm ) Acrylic paint on wood The Dutch artist Jantina Peperkamp likes to paint portraits of ...
Acrylic, Wood Panel
$2,015
H 14.57 in W 12.21 in D 0.99 in
Panagia Paramythia Byzantine Style Icon, Egg Tempera on Wood, 24K Gold Leaf
Located in Segovia, ES
Panagia Paramythia (Mother of Consolation) Artist: Oliver Samsinger. Technique: Egg tempera on gesso and wood, with 24‑karat gold leaf. Dimensions: 37 × 31 × 2.5 cm. Description of...
Gold Leaf
$3,799
H 9.45 in W 11.82 in D 1.97 in
Evy- 21st Century Contemporary Portrait of a young Girl with Beautiful Eyes
By Jantina Peperkamp
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Evy 24 x 30 cm ( it will be delivered framed/ frame is included: size with frame 28 x 34 cm ) Acrylic paint on wood The Dutch artist Jantina Peperkamp likes to paint portraits of y...
Acrylic, Wood Panel
$850
H 35.04 in W 28.75 in D 0.4 in
The Luminous Moment #1 Blue and Orange, Oil on Canvas, New, 89x73 cm
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
“The Luminous Moment #1 Blue and Orange” is an original oil on canvas from a new series that explores the connection between human and animal forms through the interplay of two compl...
Gold Leaf
$2,015
H 17.05 in W 12.8 in D 1.38 in
Christ Pantocrator (Closed Book) – Byzantine Icon, Egg Tempera & 24K Gold
Located in Segovia, ES
Christ Pantocrator (Closed Book) – Byzantine Icon, Egg Tempera & 24K Gold Artist: Oliver Samsinger. Technique: Egg tempera on gesso and wood, with 24‑karat gold leaf. Dimensions: 43...
Gold Leaf
$3,134Sale Price|20% Off
H 21.26 in W 15.36 in D 0.79 in
Christ, the Great High Priest. Greek-Italian style Icon with silver oklad
Located in Segovia, ES
Christ, the Great High Priest. Greek-Italian style Icon with silver filigreed oklad. Egg tempera, over gesso on wood with a silver cover, "oklad", with pol...
Silver
$1,232Sale Price|33% Off
H 11.82 in W 10.04 in D 0.79 in
Saint Nicolas in the style of Russian icons of the 18th century. With Oklad
Located in Segovia, ES
Icono of Saint Nicolas in the style of Russian icons of the 18th century. Egg tempera and gesso on wood, covered by a metal oklad made by the artist himself. The oklad, in principle, were made to cover damaged parts of highly revered ancient icons...
Gesso, Wood, Egg Tempera
Rebecca Cox Jackson
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Marie-Joseph Angelique
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Estevanico
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Henry "Box" Brown
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Xica da Silva
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view. Francisca da Silva de...
Gold Leaf
Black Herman
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Black Caesar
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Rewards Program
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
With Halo, Greenfield brings the stories of Black folk-saints, martyrs, freedom-fighters, survivors, magicians, and visionaries back into view.
Gold Leaf
Rebecca Cox Jackson
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Moses Williams
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Halo presents an amazing cast of historical black figures, most of whom were legendary and mythic characters in their time, but have been nearly lost to the vagaries and biases of hi...
Gold Leaf
Toussaint
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compo...
Gold Leaf
Mistaken Identity
By Mark Steven Greenfield
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Greenfield's versions are rendered in the Byzantine style of their art historical predecessors, with the black Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus as the central focus within circular compo...
Gold Leaf