Matvey Levenstein Biography

Born and raised in Moscow, Levenstein currently lives and works in New York City. He received his MFA degree from Yale University, and holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Levenstein is one of a number of artists (John Currin, Lisa Yuskavage, Richard Phillips) who studied at the Yale School of Art and cultivated a deep common interest and understanding of Painting. Levenstein possesses, like his peers, exceptional technical talent; a master of underpainting, constantly drawing inspiration from the Italian painting tradition.The effective use of light and shadow to create mood is central to Levenstein’s methods. Twilight (an emblem of melancholia and solitude),and the soft lightly coloured shadows it casts, play symbolically powerful roles in Levenstein’s paintings, which visibly share Vermeer's sense of light. Levenstein has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions internationally including at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the DallasMuseum of Art, and the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art; at the Drawing Center and White Columns, New York and at Jack Tilton Gallery and Larissa Golston, New York.He has received numerous grants including the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Award (2022), the Rome Prize (2003),and the Penny McCall Foundation Award (2002).In September 2023 Galleria Lorcan O'Neill is opening a solo exhibition of new paintings by the artist.