CHARLES CUSHING, FINE ARTIST

Drawings executed while a
student at PAFA:

John Paul Jones

Cast Drawing: Houdin's Bust of John Paul Jones
(click to enlarge)

Dying Slave

Cast Drawing: Michelangelo's Dying Slave
charcoal and conte crayon
(click to enlarge)

Manets Fifer

Graphite on paper after Manet's "Fifer", drawn as a teenager
(click to enlarge)

Biography

Charles Cushing was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1959, but has lived and worked in center city Philadelphia for over 20 years. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, graduating in 1988. While at the academy, he studied under celebrated painters such as Arthur DeCosta, Seymour Remenick, and Sidney Goodman, among others. After graduating, his focus turned to landscape and cityscape paintings, and he has become well-known locally for his large Philadelphia scenes. Over 400 of his original oil paintings are in public and private collections, mostly in the Philadelphia area. In recent years, Cushing has taken several trips to Nova Scotia, Martha's Vineyard, and Newfoundland to paint . The basis of his work is "plein-air" painting directly from the motif; often these paintings are the basis for more ambitious canvases that are produced in the studio. He also occasionally paint portraits, still-lifes and nudes, as well as imaginary "capriccios" and historic views based on period photographs.

In 2004, Cushing served as "guest artist" of the Bellevue building in honor of its 100th anniversary. He executed 10 large canvasses depicting the history of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. He also maintains a revolving display of original oil paintings by himself as well as other artists, in the lobby of the 2 Penn Center building, at 15th and JFK Blvd. in Philadelphia.

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Resume

EDUCATION:

San Francisco Academy of Art, 1976
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1984-1988 (received certificate 1988)

EXHIBITIONS:

2006 Montgomery County Community College
2006 (and annually since 1990) Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Annual, Philadelphia, Pa.
2005 Kevin Butler Gallery, Edgartown, Mass.
2004 Two Penn Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
2004 Guest Artist, Bellevue Building, Phila., Pa.
2003 Daffy's Department Store, N.Y., N.Y.
2001 Union League of Philadelphia
2001 Carspecken-Scott Gallery, Wilmington, De.
1998 Cheltenham Art Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
1997 Cafe Gallery 1521, Philadelphia, Pa.
1996, 1992 PAFA Fellowship Exhibit, Phila., Pa.
1995 Art in City Hall, Philadelphia
1993 Gross McCleaf Gallery, Phila., Pa.
1990 Factotum Gallery, Phila., Pa.
1989 Studio Les Diaboliques Gallery, Phila., Pa.
1988, 87 Cresson Student Exhibition,PAFA

AWARDS:

2006 First prize, Scenes of the Schuylkill, Montgomery County Community College
2003 Best in Show, Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Annual, Phila., Pa.
1988 Honorable Mention, Henry Pearson Landscape Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

SELECT COLLECTIONS:

Aetna, Phila., Pa.
Parkway Corporation, Phila., Pa.
Lubert-Adler Real Estate, Phila., Pa.
Kevin Butler, Edgartown, Mass.
Silverberg and Associates, Phila., Pa.
Philadelphia Financial, San Francisco, Ca.
Carrow, Doyle, Berwyn, Pa.

PUBLICATIONS:

Philadelphia Magazine
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Weekly Press, Philadelphia