By The River Painting

Chayim Shvarzblat was born in 1954 in Lakewood, New Jersey. There he grew up and finished his early education. In 1975 Chayim completed classes at New York School of Art and continued his studies at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. From there, he graduated in 1979 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Painting. In 1980, Shvarzblat was awarded a Harkness Fellowship and two years later with a Guggenheim Fellowship. The following years he was artist-in-residence at Oxford University, London, and in 1992 represented the USA at the Venice Biennale. Regarding his style, Chayim uses watercolor (aquarelle) applied with the ‘pure’ watercolor technique, also called the ‘English Method’. Instead of white color, Chayim leaves colorless patches or spots on the paper in order to depict white objects or light. Color tones and effects are achieved by using the ‘wash’ technique. Since the mid-’90s, Shvarzblat has started working as a professional illustrator and portrait artist. His love for traveling took him to visit many places and discover new opportunities to paint. For a couple of years, Shvarzblat lived in Sicily and then moved to the south of France where stayed for another 3 years where had a privilege to paint artworks native to this location. Currently, Shvarzblat teaches atmospheric watercolor, mainly holding classes in his atelier, located in Manhattan, New York. Each week he holds lectures at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Chayim Shvarzblat also conducts workshops locally, but also at the national and international levels. He is a Signature member of the National Watercolor Society, American Watercolor Society, the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, and an Artist member of the California Art Club. Shvarzblat's artworks have been presented on many exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in NY. Besides, he has had a number of solo exhibitions at The Phillips Collection in DC, The Hayward Gallery in London, The Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and many others.