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Mark Arian Biography | Portfolio
expressing his understanding of life's magnificence in an attempt to convey that message through his artwork. Arian began his artistic career as a child growing up in Iowa, where he poured over books on animals and copied the pictures freehand into a portfolio of drawings and sketches that he kept by his side. He created charcoal portraits of his relatives and painted still lifes on an easel he had set up in the basement of his family's home. When Arian entered third grade, someone taught him to draw a rowboat in perspective. This first experience with Realism launched him towards what would become his artistic passion. For 18 years, after majoring in art in college, Arian painted seven days a week, 10 hours a day to perfect his craft, traveling throughout the United States and Europe to study classical composition, figurative realism and anatomy. He received his formal training in painting and sculpture at Fudakis Academy of Classic Realism in Philadelphia, PA; the Barnstone Studios in Allentown, PA; Northwest Missouri State College at Marysville, MO; and at a private art academy in Florence, Italy. In addition to the prolific collection of paintings he has created throughout his career, Arian created the exquisite murals in the Palace of Gold, the largest tourist attraction in West Virginia, which have since been the subject of numerous articles in such notable publications as Time and The Washington Post. Additionally, he was commissioned by the State of West Virginia to paint two historic 20-foot murals for the Wheeling Civic Center, now viewed by millions of visitors. Arian's work has been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Bombay, Paris and Viareggio, Italy. His collector list is similarly cosmopolitan in scope including the royal families of Iran and Saudi Arabia, prominent Indian industrialists and celebrated British musicians. |
