American painter Michael Carson studied design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design before becoming a fine artist. He didn’t start painting until several years after graduating in 1996, now creating paintings with an atmospheric realism inspired by Norman Rockwell, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and John Singer Sargent.
For Carson, who was born and raised in Minneapolis and is now based in Arizona, every work is a chance to explore the interplay of color and light. Carson is also fascinated by texture, with how the movement of the brush guides the eye and can drastically alter the mood of a painting. “I like the fact that the face can be such a subtle subject, and one brushstroke can be the difference in the feel of the entire piece,” he has stated.
As a figurative painter and visual storyteller in the mold of Joseph Lorusso, Carson often focuses on solitary women, particularly concentrating on fashion and settings like nightclubs and cafés, embodying the mood of a moment. Never objectified, his subjects and especially the depth of their facial expressions reflect Carson’s desire to follow in French painter Toulouse-Lautrec’s footsteps and “just exist and observe and create,” as he told Resident magazine. Music is a major influence, with Carson borrowing song lyrics for titles and painting the cover of American singer-songwriter Matt Berninger’s 2020 album Serpentine Prison.
Allowing globs of paint to trail down the canvas, Carson wipes away colors to create a translucent glaze, layering patterns and figures to ghostly effect. These techniques are aimed at shifting viewer perspective and encouraging a closer look at the detailed brushwork and what’s happening just under the surface of his muted palettes.
Find Michael Carson’s art on 1stDibs.
"Italian Chair" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Italian Chair" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting and is framed in a black float frame. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painte...
Wood Panel, Oil
$12,000
"Portrait of Britt Daniel, " Original Oil Painting with Resin by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Portrait of Britt Daniel" is an original, handmade oil painting. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis...
Wood Panel, Oil
"Stolen" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Stolen" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis College of...
Wood Panel, Oil
"Land" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Land" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis College of A...
Oil, Wood Panel
"All Roads Lead Home" Original Oil Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "All Roads Lead Home" is an original, handmade oil painting that is framed in a black float frame. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painte...
Wood Panel, Oil
"Watcher" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Watcher" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting. This beautiful, handcrafted oil painting rests at 30 x 22", a...
Wood Panel, Oil
"Red Tights" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Red Tights" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting and is framed in a black float frame and is ready to hang. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a M...
Wood Panel, Oil
"Just Think of It"
By Michael Carson
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
"Just Think of It" is a moody, figurative oil painting that layers soft pale blues against deep grays and black, creating a quiet tension. A stylish man sits at the edge of a couch, ...
Canvas, Oil
"Resigned" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Resigned" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting that is framed in a black float frame. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, a...
Wood Panel, Oil
$3,896
H 29.14 in W 29.14 in D 1.19 in
Winter Café, Sloane Square- original impressionism oil painting-contemporary Art
By Michael Alford
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Oil, Panel
$4,853
H 29.14 in W 38.98 in D 1.19 in
Trafalgar Square, North -original impressionism oil painting-contemporary Art
By Michael Alford
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Oil, Panel
Melancholy in White
By Suchitra Bhosle
Located in Denver, CO
Reclining figure with flowers
Oil, Panel
"Mood in Orange, " Oil Painting
By Suchitra Bhosle
Located in Denver, CO
Suchitra Bhosle's "Mood in Orange" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a dark haired woman, in vivid orange clothing, tilting her head a...
Oil, Panel
$4,853
H 29.14 in W 38.98 in D 1.19 in
Bloomsbury - original impressionism oil painting-contemporary Art
By Michael Alford
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Oil, Panel
"Edge of Desire, " Oil Painting
By Suchitra Bhosle
Located in Denver, CO
Suchitra Bhosle's "Edge of Desire" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a woman closing her eyes as her long dark hair curtains her face ...
Oil, Panel
$3,335
H 15.75 in W 13.39 in D 2.37 in
Oil painting on panel portrait of a lady by Harry Humphrey MOORE
Located in Gavere, BE
Oil painting on panel portrait of a lady by Harry Humphrey MOORE Harry Humphrey Moore ( 1844, New York City - 1926, Paris) was an American painter; best known for his works depicti...
Oil, Wood Panel
$4,511
H 25.2 in W 35.04 in D 1.19 in
Last Night, Shaftesbury Av -original impressionism oil painting-contemporary Art
By Michael Alford
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Oil, Panel
"A Moment in Time, " Oil Painting
By Suchitra Bhosle
Located in Denver, CO
Suchitra Bhosle's "A Moment in Time" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a woman, in all white, crouching with her knees pulled to her c...
Oil, Panel
$4,853
H 29.14 in W 38.98 in D 1.19 in
Oxford Street - original impressionism oil painting-contemporary Art
By Michael Alford
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Oil, Panel
$480Sale Price|20% Off
H 8 in W 8 in D 1.25 in
You Should Have Seen the Other One Oil Boxing @everywomanart Women in Art
By Jeanie Tomanek
Located in Houston, TX
You Should Have seen the Other Gal By Jeanie Tomanek is an 8" x 8" oil painting on panel. It has on a custom frame. You Should Have seen the Other Gal was part of a boxing exhibiti...
Oil, Panel
$4,511
H 25.2 in W 35.04 in D 1.19 in
Somerset House- original impressionism cityscape oil painting - contemporary Art
By Michael Alford
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Oil, Panel
"Verðandi" (2025) Oil Portrait Painting on Panel
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Verandi (the "" is pronounced like a "th") is one of the Norse fates. She is the allotter of time, the winder, and the one that determines how long ones thread will be in the tapestr...
Oil, Panel
Sold
H 26 in W 20 in
"Holding" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Holding" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis College o...
Oil, Wood Panel
Sold
H 26 in W 20 in
"Proposition" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Proposition" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis Colle...
Oil, Wood Panel
Sold
H 50 in W 38 in
"Purgatory Heaven" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Purgatory Heaven" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis ...
Oil, Wood Panel
Sold
H 22 in W 32 in
"The Cicadas" (2024) Original Oil Animal Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "The Cicadas" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis Colle...
Oil, Wood Panel
Sold
H 50 in W 38 in
"Dimensional" (2024) Original Oil Portrait Painting by Michael Carson
By Michael Carson
Located in Denver, CO
Michael Carson's (US based) "Dimensional" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting. About the Artist: Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis Colle...
Oil, Wood Panel
"Sticks & Blue Dress"
By Michael Carson
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, whose artwork can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the Unite...
Oil
"Listen"
By Michael Carson
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, whose artwork can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the Unite...
Oil
"One Man Guy"
By Michael Carson
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Michael Carson’s glamorous scenes, set in bars, clubs, cafés, and dance studios, are marked by a hazy realism reminiscent of French impressionist and post-impressionist works by arti...
Oil, Panel
"Smalls"
By Michael Carson
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Michael Carson’s glamorous scenes, set in bars, clubs, cafés, and dance studios, are marked by a hazy realism reminiscent of French impressionist and post-impressionist works by arti...
Oil, Panel
"Lotus Flower"
By Michael Carson
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Michael Carson’s glamorous scenes, set in bars, clubs, cafés, and dance studios, are marked by a hazy realism reminiscent of French impressionist and post-impressionist works by arti...
Oil, Panel
"Fleur du Mal V"
By Michael Carson
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Michael Carson’s glamorous scenes, set in bars, clubs, cafés, and dance studios, are marked by a hazy realism reminiscent of French impressionist and post-impressionist works by arti...
Oil, Panel