I’m really interested in capturing the human soul. – Serge Strosberg
Serge Strosberg is an American artist, born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1966. His father was a
biotechnologist, who did pioneering research in gene therapy and obesity. The family lived in
Boston, while his father completed a postdoc at Harvard. on a Fulbright Scholarship.
The family returned to Belgium, briefly, before moving to Paris. It was in Paris that Strosberg
studied graphic design at the Academie Julian and focused on painting in oil and egg tempera.
He also studied morphology at Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He began painting portraits of
friends and neighbors while in Paris.
Strosberg began his career by writing and illustrating several childrens books. His first book,
about Charles DarwIn, called In the Kingdom of Dragons, was very successful and translated to
five languages.
His career as a portrait artist began when he met an art agent from London who got him portrait
commissions. He began to travel from Paris to London. Strosberg says that he prefers working
from live models rather than from photographs. If the person he has been commissioned to paint
is not available, or is deceased, he often hires a live look-alike model to sit for the portrait.
Strosberg moved to New York in 2008 and began working form a studio in SoHo. He also has a
studio in West Palm Beach and has submersed himself in the city’s history.
Before the pandemic, Strosberg visited the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach. He saw an old
photograph of Henry Flagler and wondered what he would look like today. He painted a
‘modernized’ portrait of Flagler. One thing led to another, and Strosberg did a series of paintings,
created from vintage photos, of Palm Beach residents.
The result was a show called Reimagining Palm Beach, shown at the Cornell Art
Museum in Delray Beach in May 2024.
One of the portraits in the show is of Palm Beach architect Henry Mizner, painted
with Johnnie Brown, Mizner’s pet monkey, on his shoulder. Mizner referred to
Johnnie Brown as The Human Monkey, which is etched into Johnnie Brown’s
tombstone, located in a courtyard on Via Mizner in Palm Beach.
The story of Johnnie Brown intrigued Strosberg and inspired him to paint a
wonderful and witty series of works called Monkey Business in Palm Beach.
Serge Strosberg and his wife are the parents of twin boys. Strosberg lives and works
in both New York and Palm Beach.
His works are in the permanent collections of The Shanghai Himalayas Art Museum
in China, The Felix Nussbaum Museum in Germany and the Jewish Museum of
Belgium. His portraits have been exhibited worldwide and his client list is
prestigious.
Why Commission A Portrait?
Serge Strosberg, Palm Beach & New York Portraits
Give A Lasting Gift Of Legacy And Investment
A painted portrait is a treasured art object that will last for generations – long after photographs have faded or been misplaced. No one captures the essence of an individual in a painting like the critically acclaimed Belgian-American portrait artist, Serge Strosberg.
Acknowledging that the challenging part in portraiture is not the likeness but getting the personality of a person absolutely right, the artist strives to capture on canvas the very essence of an individual. The secret of Serge’s success lies in his innately human approach. Before any sketching is done, he enjoys spending time with his subject and watching for unintended revelations – moments when the pretense is dropped and the soil rises to the surface. These are the gestures, expressions, and attitudes that the artist instills in his memory to recreate on canvas not only a true likeness but also an honest reflection of the person. One that is known and portrayed in an entirely authentic way.
Commission A Portrait By Serge Strosberg
A comprehensive commissioning service is provided from start to finish at no additional expense that will guarantee complete satisfaction.
For twenty years, Serge Strosberg’s clientele has included the foremost names in the international worlds of arts & academia, among them:
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley of the Federal Court of Florida
Deborah Simon, Trustee of Mercersburg Academy
Michel Dahan, the Director of BNP Paribas Bank Investments
Bruno Cohen, the Chairman of Galien Foundation
Tereza Wagner, the Cultural Director of UNESCO
Jacqueline du Pré family
RXR Realty, Marvin Rosenberg, Lori and Greg Margolis
Herb Krauss, Vietnam Veteran, head of Chapter 25
Lady Collins, wife of Lord Justice Lawrence Collins
Baron Collins of Mapesbury
Jean-Alain Rault, Director of AXA
Serge Strosberg trained at two of Europe’s finest academies: Academie Julian and the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts. Following in the footsteps of the Renaissance masters, the artist mixes his own pigments by combining oils with egg tempera. Strosberg’s key influences include Rembrandt, Holbein, and Tiepolo, who are known for capturing the human spirit on canvas.
A portrait style steeped in the European tradition, he remains uniquely contemporary in style sharing a clarity of vision with European Modernists Otto Dix and Lucian Freud, who painted without fear or deference as well as American painters, Alice Neel and Andrew Wyeth, who painted portraits unconstrained by the concurrent forces of Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, and American Photorealism.
Testimonials
Strosberg catches at a glance whatever positive energy bears in his model and manages to restitute it in his gentle portraits. The result is a rewarding artistic experience.
— Tereza Wagner, representative of the UNESCO Director General and Senior Program Specialist at the UNESCO Culture Sector.
The big challenge that Serge accepted when doing my full body commissioned portrait was successfully capturing my smile which he said was the essence of my personality and character.
— Dr. Marvin Rosenberg, Palm Beach resident, dentist, owner of a dental clinic and former model
Biography
Serge Strosberg lives and works between New York and Palm Beach, Florida.
Strosberg studied graphic design and illustration and graduated with honors from prestigious Academie Julian in Paris. He was the recipient of the Jan Cockx Prize given
by Flor Bex, the Director of M HKA, Museum of Contemporary
Art of Antwerp.
He has works in the collections of The Shanghai
Himalayas Art Museum, China; The Felix Nussbaum Museum,
Germany; and the Jewish Museum of Belgium.
His work has been exhibited in more than sixty solo and group shows in Europe, China, and the United States. Recent exhibitions include:
The White Room Gallery, New York
Lichtundfire, New York
Alexandre Gertsman Contemporary, New York
Elaine Baker Gallery, Florida
Sponder Baker Gallery, Boca Raton
Paul Fisher Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida
The Lionheart Gallery, New York
The Jewish Museum Amsterdam
The Norton Sculpture Gardens, Palm Beach, Florida
The Lighthouse Center for the Arts, Jupiter, Florida
His work is also in more than one hundred and fifty collections such as: RXR Realty, the Southern District Court of Florida, Executive Chef Marcus Samuelson, Mercersburg Academy, cellist Jacqueline du Pré’s family, and etc. . .
Serge Strosberg has been commissioned to do portraits since 2000 in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Florida, and New York for prestigious institutions such as the Southern District Court of Florida, Mercersburg Academy, The Prix Galien Foundation, and many private collections including the honorary cultural director of UNESCO, the Jacqueline du Pré family, the director of investment banking of BNP Paribas, and etc |
