James Caplan

James Asher Caplan is an American sculptor and painter. Childhood surgeries would inspire his lifelong interest in the human form, which features heavily in his art. He began sculpting at age fourteen at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in his native Philadelphia, where he was a student of noted sculptor and woodcarver Joe Greenberg. Caplan also sculpted with Drs. Abe Zusserman and Abraham Rakoff, who aided in his study of human anatomy.

Caplan was mentored by Italian-born American artist Harry Bertoia. He was a frequent visitor to the nearby Auguste Rodin Museum, where he would sculpt in clay from the French sculptor’s figures. Caplan was most impressed by Rodin's intentional and slight distortion of form to suggest movement. Greenberg’s teachings and Rodin’s enduring influence are driving forces behind Caplan’s work.

Caplan enjoys harvesting scrap wood from barns and buildings, and scrap metal from recycling yards for his sculptures, giving new life to materials that would otherwise be forgotten. He also enjoys pairing music with visual mediums, as seen in his sculpture Life’s Folly, made from the frame of a violin.

Caplan earned a National Science Foundation Scholarship to the London School of Economics and Yale University following his undergraduate years at Penn State.

2018: Rosemont College, One-man exhibition
2013: Leonard Nelson Gallery, Bryn Mawr, PA
2011 – present: Divina Gallery, Freiburg, Germany
2011 – present: Hammersby Furniture Store, Bryn Mawr, PA
2011 – present: Ringpfeil Dermatology, Philadelphia, PA
2004 – present: Maria Collette Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA
2003 to present: Ward-Nasse Galleries, New York, NY
2011: Sand Castle Winery, Phoenixville, PA; Erwinna, PA
2010 – 2017: A. Cavallo Violins, Bryn Mawr, PA; Omaha, NE
2007 – 2011: Maria Collette Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA
1998: Dahlem/Richter Gallery, Jaffa, Israel
1998: Washington Square, New York, NY
1998: Subculture Gallery, New York, NY
1997: GMHC-AIDS Marathon, Pier 90, New York, NY
1997: Subculture Gallery, New York, NY
1997: National Institute for Scientific Research, Havana, Cuba
1995: Charles Searles Gallery, New York, NY
1995: Armory Show, Philadelphia, PA
1976: Opacher, GmbH, (Tom Hansen, Curator), Munich, Germany
1974: Bavarian Fantasie, The Country Studio, Hadley, PA

*Awarded for Distinguished Work at the National Small Painting Exhibition