Gene Costanza

Gene Costanza is a contemporary realist oil painter known for his painterly approach and his focus on the landscape and humanity’s interaction with nature. Working both en plein air and in the studio, he seeks to create paintings that invite viewers to slow down, enter the scene, and connect with the emotional response evoked by light, atmosphere, and place.

Originally trained as a young artist, Costanza stepped away from painting in his early twenties and went on to spend more than twenty-five years in law enforcement. Midway through that career, a renewed encounter with fine art led him back to painting with serious intent. His artistic development has been shaped by extensive independent study of historic and contemporary masters, as well as workshops with influential painters including Scott L. Christensen, Tom Browning, Kevin McPherson, Matt Smith, and Rusty Stecher. Christensen, a close friend and mentor, has been a central influence on his professional growth.

Costanza is a Signature Member of both the American Impressionist Society and the Oil Painters of America, and a juried Out-of-State Member of the California Art Club. His work has been exhibited in numerous regional and national shows, including events with the American Impressionist Society, the Oil Painters of America, the California Art Club, Legacy Gallery, and major plein air competitions such as Plein Air Easton, Sonoma Plein Air, Sedona Plein Air, the Forgotten Coast Invitational, and Telluride Plein Air. His paintings are held in collections across the United States and abroad, and he is represented in the permanent collection of the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland.