BIO
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Eric Alexander Santoli (b. 1991) is a painter and teacher. He is a 2014 BFA graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a 2013 certificate graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He has also taken classes at the Grand Central Atelier. His education extends into time learning as an apprentice in Anne Harris's mural painting studio, a 2013 internship at Sotheby's auction house and many other experiences. He is currently a graduate student in the MA of Studio Arts Program at the Florence Academy of Art.
His current work and style was initially inspired by a 2018 trip to Spain and a visit to the Museo Sorolla in Madrid. He returned from Spain with a desire to paint en plein air, directly from nature and under full sunlight. In May of 2021, he was awarded the Versailles Foundation's prestigious Munn Fellowship Artist Residency Award which will allow him to live and work in Claude Monet's house and gardens in Giverny, France for 3 months in 2023. Santoli is proud to be a brand ambassador for Natural Pigments and an affiliate artist with Rosemary & Co Artists' Brushes. In addition to painting, he enjoys being outdoors, reading, writing, traveling, skateboarding and riding his Triumph Bonneville T100. |
Photo by Sarah Flannery Photography
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Artist's Statement
"As a painter, my goal is to give my viewers a feeling that they can’t get by any other means. I paint works in oil and watercolor directly from nature. I love painting en plein air (outdoors), but I also have an affinity for portraiture and figurative work. I enjoy sketching and painting whatever catches my eye; I especially enjoy rendering various textures, surfaces and reflections to create an illusion. Many of my works are painted with speed and spontaneity. I am well versed in art history and have a deep respect for artists of the past who have inspired me, many of whom combined academic and impressionistic methods. I am fascinated by the ideas and methods of impressionism, but I find it best applied with a solid foundation of atelier training. With oils, I like exploring paint quality from thin and fluid to thick (impasto) and textured. I want people to view my work in person and to see each brushstroke. I personally love going to museums and seeing artists’ brushstrokes in person because it makes me feel like I have a direct connection with the moment that they created the painting. I think of painting as an alchemical meditation and as a way of appreciating the moment; I want to capture that moment of light and color as best as I can with paint."