One of my greatest joys as an artist is traveling and finding new subjects to paint. It rejuvenates my spirit and enlivens my senses. For me, painting is itself a journey—with discoveries, challenges and unexpected detours—that reveals a deeper understanding of the subject.
Painting a landscape on location, in ever-changing conditions, is an intense experience. My paintings are a record of my response to the spiritual and dramatic effects of light in nature. I am successful if the viewer sees and is moved, as I am.
Oil on linen, 36” x 46” Framed, 30” x 40” unframed
Speaker's Perch
SOLD
Spring's Path
Oil on linen, 67” x 55” framed, 64” x 52” unframed
Museum Series
Among Friends
Oil on linen, 30” x 40” unframed, 36” x 46” framed
Gestures
This painting is my homage to Degas, the master of capturing human movement. It was completed last year during the worst of the pandemic and lockdown, when it was often impossible to visit family and loved ones. Pictured is my mother in her hometown Cleveland Museum of Fine Arts, gesticulating her thoughts about the painting to my wife Patricia.
Oil on linen, 30" x 36", After Degas’ death, his heirs discovered in his studio dozens of small wax and clay figures, never before seen or exhibited. Many were restored and later cast in bronze. Today they are highly prized, three-dimensional studies of people in motion, often with the extreme or exaggerated gestures that Degas so loved.
Homebound
34” x 48”, oil on linen
Shelter from the Storm
Oil on linen, 38" x 48" framed
The Prodigal Son
Oil on linen, 44” x 56” framed
For years, I had in my files this great image of a father and son, walking hand-in-hand and wearing matching casquettes, through the National Gallery of Art. I always wanted to somehow incorporate them in a painting but I couldn’t find the appropriate painting as their complement. Then I stumbled across Puvis de Chavannes’ The Prodigal Son from 1879. This biblical story of redemption, forgiveness and familial bond resonated in a deeply personal way.
Waiting
Oil on linen, 38” x 48” framed
Watchful Eye
Oil on linen, 28” x 36” unframed, 34” x 42” framed
You're Not Alone
Oil on linen, 38” x 48” framed
While attending an event one evening at the grand Kogod courtyard of the National Portrait Gallery, my wife Patricia and I learned the upstairs galleries were open for guests. We took advantage of this rare opportunity to visit some of our favorite paintings.
Smithsonian American Art Museum - L-R:
Cecilia Beaux - Man with the Cat (Henry Sturgis Drinker), 1898
Abbott Handerson Thayer - Roses, 1890
John Singer Sargent - Elizabeth Winthrop Chanler (Mrs. John Jay Chapman), 1893
American Landscapes
Almost Spring
30” x 50” canvas, 33" x 53" framed, oil on linen
Along Back Roads
Oil on linen, 24” x 30” Framed, 18” x 24” Unframed
Appalacihan Sunset
Oil on linen
30” x 50”
April Road
Oil on Linen, 32” x 44” Framed, 24” x 36” Unframed
Autumn Aspens
24” x 36” canvas, 25" x 37" frame, oil on linen
Autumn Grazing
Oil on linen, 32” x 44” Framed, 24” x 36” Unframed
Battlefield Light
Oil on linen, 24” x 30” framed, 18” x 24” unframed
Ben Venue
Oil on Linen, 22” x 30” Framed, 16” x 24” Unframed
Blossom Path
Oil on Linen, 26 x 32” Framed
Cascades Chiaroscuro
SOLD
Crystalline Evening
24” x 36” canvas, 25" x 37" frame, oil on linen
Dusk in the High Sierras (California)
Oil on linen, 18" x 24"
Farm at Dusk
Oil on Linen, 23” x 27” Framed
(The sale of this piece benefits our non-profit, Zenith Community Arts Foundation)
From a Distance (Jackson Hole, WY)
Oil on linen, 24" x 36" canvas, 25" x 37" framed
Great Falls Afternoon
Oil on linen, 36” x 46” Framed, 30” x 40” unframed
Kahakuloa Mist
Oil on Linen, 32” x 42” Framed
Ladies Pool
SOLD
Late Afternoon in the Blue Ridge
Sold
Light Snow- Fauquier County, VA
Oil on linen
19” x 27” framed
Lone Tree at Rosario Head
Oil on Linen, 28” x 38” Framed
Manassas Shadows
Oil on linen, 20” x 28” Framed, 14” x 22” unframed
Night and Day
Oil on Linen, 30” x 36” Framed
North Beach Sunrise (Orcas Island, WA)
Oil on linen, 36" x 48"
Old Rag Morning
SOLD
Orcas Sweet Peas
Oil on Linen, 36” x 40” Framed
Potomac Rocks
Oil on linen, 30” x 36” framed, 24” x 30” unframed
Purple Mountain Majesty
sold
Riverside
Oil on linen, 18” x 24” (unframed size)
Snoqualmie Solitude
Oil on Linen, 30” x 40” Framed
Spring's Path
Oil on linen, 67” x 55” framed, 64” x 52” unframed
Spring Serenade
Oil on linen, 30" x 44"
Still Morning
SOLD
Summer Haze (Virginia)
Oil on linen, 16" x 20" canvas; 25" x 29" frame
Sunset Sonata (DC from the Kennedy Center terrace)
SOLD
The Day After
Oil on Linen, 21” x 25” Framed
The Gorge's Mood
24” x 40” canvas, 29" x 45" frame, oil on linen
Towards the Blue Ridge
Oil on linen, 18" x 24"
Tuolumne Meadows
30” x 40” canvas; 31" x 41" framed, oil on linen
Vineyard Morning
Oil on Linen, 25” x 31” Framed
Winter's Glow
Oil on linen, 30” x 36” framed
Winter Farm
Oil on linen, 24" x 36"
American West
Aftermath
Oil on linen, 30” x 50”
Canyon Spotlight
Oil on Linen, 30” x 36” Framed
In the Pink
Oil on linen, 16” x 24”
Kahakuloa Mist
Oil on Linen, 32” x 42” Framed
Lone Tree at Rosario Head
Oil on Linen, 28” x 38” Framed
Night and Day
Oil on Linen, 30” x 36” Framed
Orcas Grazing
Oil on linen, 18” x 24”
Orcas Sweet Peas
Oil on Linen, 36” x 40” Framed
Purple Mountain Majesty
sold
Snoqualmie Solitude
Oil on Linen, 30” x 40” Framed
Still Morning
SOLD
Valley Sentinels
Oil on linen, 30” x 40”
Vineyard Morning
Oil on Linen, 25” x 31” Framed 18” x 24” Unframed
Winter's Mist
Oil on linen, 16” x 24”
Europe
A L'Ombre du Clocher
Oil on Linen, 36” x 30” Framed
A Place in the Sun
Oil on Linen, 43” x 37” Framed
Approach to Siena
Oil on linen, 30” x 44”, 38” x 52” framed
Archway to the Sea
Oil on Linen, 27” x 23” Framed
Au Fond de la Ruelle
Oil on Linen, 34” x 30” Framed
Bonnieux
Oil on Linen, 37” x 51” Framed
Cavaillon
Oil on Linen, 38” x 31” Framed
Gordes
SOLD
La Civette
Oil on Linen, 32” x 40” Framed
Le Marché du Lundi
Oil on Linen, 22” x 30” Framed
Les Bouquinistes
Oil on Linen, 41” x 57” Framed
Les Couleurs de Provence
Oil on Linen, 26” x 32” Framed
L’Huere du Dejeuner
Oil on Linen, 31” x 37” Framed
Memories of Chianti
Oil on linen, 18” x 24”
Morning, Pont au Change
SOLD
Morning Cap Ferrat
Oil on Linen, 36” x 40” Framed
Morning on the Seine
Oil on Linen, 30” x 36” Framed
Night Walk
Oil on linen, 20” x 30”
Oltrarno
Oil on linen, 24” x 36”
Pont Louis-Philippe
Oil on Linen, 24” x 32” Framed
Roman Nocturne
Oil on Linen, 24” x 36” Framed
Sant'Angelo Light
Oil on Linen, 20” x 32” Framed
Taking Time
Oil on Linen, 34” x 26” Framed
Through the Ponte Vecchio
Oil on Linen, 30” x 42” Framed, 24” x 36” Unframed
Time to Play
Oil on Linen, 47” x 37” Framed
Towards the Palazzo Vecchio
Oil on linen, 30” x 24”
Tuscan Sunset
Oil on linen, 22” x 36”
Waiting for the 63
Oil on Linen, 32” x 38” Framed
OFFICIAL PORTRAITURE
Albert Small
42" x 34", oil on linen, collection of George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
C. Michael Armstrong
46" x 36", oil on linen, collection of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
Chief Judge Eric T. Washington
44" x 34", oil on linen, DC Court of Appeals, Washington, DC
Dan and Lou Jordan
50" x 40", oil on linen, collection of Monticello, Charlottesville, VA
Dean Jeffrey Akman, Health Sciences, Washington, DC, Medical
44" x 34", oil on linen, collection of George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
Governor Mark Warner
48" x 36", oil on linen, collection of the Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, VA
Heir Apparent, Chef Patrick O'Connell, founder and chef, The Inn at Little Washington
54" x 42", oil on linen
Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle
44" x 32", oil on linen, collection of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.
Judge Emmet Sullivan
44" x 34", oil on linen, collection of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.
Lt. Gen. Carroll Pollett
30" x 24", oil on linen, collection of Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Fort Meade, MD
Lt. Gen. Charles E. Croom, Jr.
30" x 24", oil on linen, collection of Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Ft. Meade, MD
Michel David-Weill
36" x 30", oil on linen, collection of Lazard Freres, New York, NY
Roger Jenkins
44" x 32", oil on linen, collection of Miami University, Oxford, OH
Secretary Sally Jewell
44" x 34", oil on linen, collection of U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
44" x 32", oil on linen, collection of Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Bradley Stevens grew up in Westport, CT and came to Washington, D.C. to attend George Washington University, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1976 and Masters of Fine Arts in 1979. In addition to his art studies, Stevens spent five years copying several hundred Old Master paintings at the National Gallery of Art. In 1982, he was invited to teach drawing and anatomy at his alma mater; and in 1988, he began teaching drawing and portrait painting at Georgetown University. He remained a faculty member of both institutions until 2000.
In his career of over 35 years, Stevens has forged a reputation as one of America’s leading realist painters. His style is contemporary realism––rooted in classical training, yet boldly depicting the modern world with his penetrating eye. Stevens is unique among his contemporaries for his exceptional achievements in three domains of representational art: portraiture, landscapes and figurative cityscapes. He skillfully combines these genres in his work, creating contemporary portraits of people and places. He frequently works on commission, and many of the commissioned paintings are on a large scale for public and private spaces.
Stevens has painted the portraits of luminaries and leaders in the fields of education, business, medicine, law, science, philanthropy and politics. His stellar list of patrons includes Governor Mark Warner of Virginia; Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.; the family of Senator John D. Rockefeller, IV.; Glenn L. Martin, co-founder of Martin Marietta; C. Michael Armstrong, chairman of Johns Hopkins University Hospital and Medical School; Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia; and Sarah Tomerlin Lee, internationally acclaimed interior designer. In January of 2007, the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, acquired the portrait of Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. for their permanent collection.
He has reproduced historical portraits for the White House, U.S. Department of State, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Embassy in Paris, National Portrait Gallery, and Monticello. In January 2002, the Smithsonian Institution commissioned him to reproduce Gilbert Stuart’s Lansdowne portrait of George Washington. The painting now hangs in Mount Vernon. In September 2006, Stevens completed an original historical mural commemorating the Connecticut Compromise of 1787 for the U.S. Senate. The mural is installed in the Senate Reception Room, adjacent to the Senate Chambers in the U.S. Capitol.
Stevens’ landscapes and figurative cityscapes are found in the collections of America’s preeminent corporations, associations and professional firms, including AARP; Carr America; CSX; Cushman & Wakefield; FannieMae; Gannett; Holland & Knight; McGuire Woods Battle & Boothe LLP; Verizon; Wheat First Butcher & Singer; Williams & Connolly LLP; and Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP.
Stevens was honored by the National Parks Service for three consecutive years as one of the Top 100 Artists in the Arts for the Parks Competition, and received the prestigious Steven L. Aschenbrenner Collector’s Award for his painting Approaching Rapids of the Grand Canyon.
By invitation of the U.S. Department of State, Stevens is a participant in the Art in Embassies program, which places the work of renowned American artists in their embassies around the world.
Stevens and his wife, artist Patricia Skinner, live and work in their home in the Virginia countryside, near Washington D.C. They enjoy traveling, and often paint on location. The couple shares a particular fondness for the Pacific Northwest, where they spend part of the year. Recent wanderings for inspiration include Tuscany, Hawaii, Yosemite and Vancouver Island.
Stevens is represented by galleries in Washington D.C., New York, Boston, Warm Springs, VA and Orcas Island, WA.
BRADLEY STEVENS
