* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Michael Klein paints with an unusual sensitivity toward nature”something he attributes to growing up in the Midwest. After completing high school, Klein enrolled himself in numerous stringent atelier programs, dictated by the French tradition of painting. Later he left Minnesota and sought out the renowned painter Jacob Collin to help further hone his craft.
Klein places the greatest importance on staying truthful to life and his own experiences, so despite his rigorous classical training and the influence of his accomplished peers, he sees his work developing in a direction that is both unique and representative of his own era.
"When I was a student at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice I started to appreciate so much the art of Lucian Freud: I liked his focus on the body and the colors he used. Maybe something in the art of Michael Klein reminds me of Lucian Freud but anyway I like so much the atmosphere in the paintings and the way in which he render the human figure: so lively even if in quite shadowy ambient. And I adore the skin tones!"