Byron Dobell

“Look here upon this picture and on this…”

Among Dobell’s most recent paintings are studies of Greek and Roman statuary. He is fascinated by the originality of these masterful works — “original” by definition because they embody the origins and roots of Western art.

Dobell is one of the few contemporary artists of his generation whose first lessons (at age twelve) were charcoal studies of casts of classical sculpture. He went on to major in art at New York’s  legendary High school of Music and Art and later studied for several years with the artists David Levine and Aaron Shikler. He is a graduate of Columbia College (AB 1947) and lives in Manhattan.

As one of his modernist artist acquaintances once said, “While I believe all important art begins with Degas, Dobell believes all important art ends with Degas.  But it’s a friendly dispute.”