David Kassan

David Jon Kassan’s work has been described as "Raw, poignant and profoundly honest. He seeks to capture the essence of those he paints, imbuing them with their own voice. More than simply replicating his subjects Kassan seeks to understand them. We are moved by Kassan’s depictions, captivated by powerfully expressive hands, pensive faces, and flesh that appears warm to touch. Ultimately, there is a truth and timelessness to Kassan’s work because it is so deeply human. His subjects are distilled in an exact moment in time, patiently contemplating their present. We share in this present-moment appreciation, this slowing down of time, and see life for what it is." [1]

Kassan has studied human anatomy extensively, reflecting a scientific understanding of the muscular structures beneath the skin. Kassan has written extensively on the subject and its relation to conveying emotion, including publishing an “Artist’s Guide to Portrait Anatomicae” [2] and several articles on the topic for magazines such as Artist Daily.[3] and a quarterly column on anatomy for Drawing Magazine [4]

Kassan’s technical mastery of oil paint combined with adept draftsmanship enables him to fluently represent what he sees. This is evident in the stunning flesh tones Kassan achieves. Transparent layers of oil paint are built up, forming an intricate lattice of veins, blood and skin. Through this light enters and is reflected back.

In 2017, David Kassan partnered with the USC Shoah Foundation and the USC Fisher Museum of Art to develop the EDUT project into a Resilience Exhibition which will open at the Fisher Museum in the fall of 2019 in Los Angeles.

In 2014, Kassan turned his attention to painting and documenting Survivors of the Holocaust, with the development of the EDUT project )-"edut" being Hebrew for "living witnesses" as a way of connecting with his grandfather's traumatic history of escaping ethnic cleansing on the border of Romania and Ukraine to come to America in 1917. The EDUT project's mission is to meet with as many living Survivors to the Shoah as possible and to document them in filmed video portraits and in paintings and drawings.

He was one of three shortlisted for the 2014 BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, London, with his painting "Letter to my Mom".

Kassan is a much sought after drawing and painting instructor because of his steadfast commitment to the age old discipline of working from life and creating compelling expressions of the human condition. He has given painting/drawing seminars and lectures at various institutions, and universities around the world. In 2013, he founded the Kassan Foundation in hopes of giving grants directly to underprivileged talent in both the visual and musical arts.

In 2013, Kassan founded the Kassan Foundation in hopes of giving grants directly to underprivileged talent in both the visual and musical performance arts.

His Newington-Cropsey Foundation Travel Grant allowed him to study and sketch in Italy in the summer of 2003. There he conducted sketch studies of various masterworks, which are source of inspiration to his own work. These experiences were recorded in a self-published book "Lentemente Italia".

David Kassan received his B.F.A. in 1999 from the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. He continued his studies at The National Academy, and the Art Students League of New York, both in Manhattan

David Jon Kassan (born February 25, 1977 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an internationally recognized contemporary American painter best known for his life-size representational paintings, which combine figurative subjects with abstract backgrounds or “tromp l’oeil texture studies,” Of this dual representation strategy Kassan notes, “my effort to constantly learn to document reality with a naturalistic, representational painting technique allows for pieces to be inherent contradictions; paintings that are both real and abstract.” Kassan's work is best classified as Social Documentary Painting, due to the importance and relevance of the subjects he chooses to represent.

Over the past six years, David has taught, demonstrated and lectured at a wide variety of art schools and universities around the world as well as in the United States: Scottsdale Artists School Scottsdale Artists School; Art Students League New York; National Academy Design School of Fine Art, New York; Royal Hibernian Academy, Ireland; La Figurative Academy, LA; Korpus School, LA; JSS Italy Abroad program, Italy; Ta Hatahana, Tel Aviv; Whidbey Island, Seattle, WA; Gage Academy, Seattle, WA; Private Workshop, Byron Bay. Australia; Art Academy, Adelaide Australia; University of Alaska, AK; Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ; Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ; Finger Lakes Community College, Rochester, NY; Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY; Southern Atelier, Sarasota, FL; Savannah College of Art and Design. GA; Studio Argenta, Little Rock, AR; Myndlistaskólinn, The Reykjavík School of Visual Arts, Iceland; Bay Area Artists Atelier, SF, CA; 72nd Street Studio, Bayridge, Brooklyn; Salmagundi Club, NY; Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, NYC; The Teaching Studio, Brooklyn Oyster Bay.; Manifest Drawing Center, Cincinnati OH; Akron Artists Society, Akron, OH; Townsend Atelier, Chattanooga, TN; Faro Portugal; MNAC Romania; Centre College, Danville, KY; Syracuse University, NY