Gene Costanza
Gene Costanza is a contemporary realist oil painter who prefers the “painterly” application of oils. “At our point in history, there have been so many schools and movements in the visual arts, one can pick and choose techniques etc, and eclectically build a painting that borrows from that rich and varied history.
He focuses his efforts primarily on landscape and humanity’s interaction with nature. Equally at home painting “en plein air’ as well as in the studio, Costanza orchestrates paintings that he hopes will engage the viewer to enter, tarry and experience those common human responses evoked by a sensitive and intuitive painting. One observer said, “I love to watch your paintings.”
Gene all but abandoned art in his early 20s. Lack of clear direction caused him to literally throw out his paintings and drawings and walk away. Through a series of life events, he found his career calling and spent over twenty-five years in law enforcement.
He began dabbling in art again mid-career after wandering into a gallery in Scottsdale. There front and center was a huge Grand Canyon painting. Bam! He had to start painting again. Police work, he believes, provided him with the discipline to overcome his personal tendencies and employ the hard work needed to create a good painting. Gene thinks one of the hallmarks of a “good painting’ is that it endures over time.
Costanza has learned much from a dedicated and independent study of the masters past and present. And from contemporary teachers, including a personal relationship with his good friend Scott L. Christensen. It is Christensen he credits with the majority of his professional growth. Early workshops with Tom Browning, Scott L. Christensen, Kevin McPhearson, Matt Smith and Rusty Stecher were instrumental in directing his attention to what kind of work he wanted to do. “I count them among my influences along with Schmid, Aspevig, Sargent, Sorolla, Trevor Chamberlain, Edgar Payne and John F. Carlson. How many influences is a guy allowed to declare? Every great painting I can remember – genre and/or style, not withstanding. Did I mention Jeffrey A. Watts? Bill Anton. Maulhapt and Ritschel, and Waugh.” He continues to attend select workshops with painters/instructors he admires at least once a year. “There is so much to learn and so little time.”
Gene’s work is in collections from coast to coast, and in South Africa. Gene is included in the permanent collection of the Academy Museum in Easton, Maryland.
His favorite accolades to date. are two Artist Choice awards. One from the American Impressionist Society 2011 National Show and the other from The Forgotten Coast Founders Award in 2007. “Our peers know exactly how hard one has to work to make a good painting.” If it gets their attention, it was a worthy try!
Gene is a Signature Member of both The American Impressionist Society and The Oil Painters of America. He is also a juried Out of State Member of the California Art Club. He has exhibited in numerous regional and national shows with these organizations, as well as the Salon at Legacy Gallery, The Mountain Oyster Club the California Art Club Gold Medal show and others. Gene has also been juried into numerous national plein air competitions such as Plein Air Easton, Sonoma Plein Air, Sedona Plein Air, The Forgotten Coast Invitational, and Telluride Plein Air.
