Kenton Nelson
Current Exhibition: Water & Color
Montecito | May 2 - June 1
Kenton Nelson paints heroic figures, objects, and architecture contoured with dramatic light and shadow, and characterized by a distinct narrative idealism. His work is rooted in American Scene Painting, Regionalism, and inspired by the hallmark hope and optimism of film and advertising in post-war America.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Nelson attended Long Beach State University and Otis Parsons Art Institute, and was on the faculty of Otis Parsons Art Institute and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. For over 40 years he had his art studio in Pasadena, California, but now lives and works in a southern coastal town in California. His work is enjoyed in hundreds of private collections, as well as museum collections around the world.
Nelson’s paintings have been featured eight times on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.
Biography
Kenton Nelson was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. He attended Long Beach State University and Otis Parsons Art Institute, and for the last 40 years has had his art studio in a southern coastal town in California. He has been on the faculty of the Otis Parsons Art Institute in Los Angeles and the Academy of Art in San Francisco.
Nelson traces his interest in painting back to his great uncle, Roberto Montenegro, renowned Mexican muralist and Modernist. The style of Nelson’s paintings have their origins in American Scene painting, Regionalism, and the work of the WPA artists of the 1930’s.
Nelson paints a distinctly California regionalism to idealize the ordinary with the intention of engagement, using the iconic symbols and styles of his lifetime in a theatrical style to make leading suggestions, not unlike the advertisements of his youth.
Nelson’s paintings have been featured seven times on the cover of The New Yorker magazine. Recent exhibitions of Nelson’s work have been enjoyed from Los Angeles to Stuttgart, Zurich, and Salzburg. His oil paintings of figures, objects, and architecture have, as one critic said, “single handedly resurrected the sun drenched optimism of New Deal American Painting.”
Born
1954 Los Angeles, CA
Education
1977-1979 California State University Long Beach
1979 Otis Parsons, Los Angeles, California
Selected Public & Private Collections
Albertina, Vienna, Austria • Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California • Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach • California Palm Springs Art Museum, California • Schauwerk Sindelfingen, Germany • UCI Institute and Museum for California Art, Irvine, California • Thomas Olbricht, me Collectors Room, Berlin Herbert & Rita Batliner, Liechtenstein • Steve Martin, Beverly Hills, CA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2026 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, CA
2025 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA
Noun, Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Light, Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2024 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, CA
Recent Paintings, Casa Romantica, San Clemente, CA
2023 30 YEARS, Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Seaside, California Heritage Museum, Santa Monica, CA
Independents, Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2022 Thirty Swimming Pools, Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA
2021 A Day at the Beach, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, CA
2019 Water Paintings, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA
2018 Kenton Nelson: Water, Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, CA
New Work, Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2017 Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, New York
Recent Paintings, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena
2016 Splash: Art by Kenton Nelson
California Heritage Museum, Santa Monica, CA
2015 Californian Idealism, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2014 Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Bohemian Club, San Francisco, CA
2013 Obstacles and Competition SpardaWelt Sparda-Bank
Baden-Wurttemberg, Stuttgart, Germany
2012 Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Peter Mendenhall Gallery, New York, NY (pop-up)
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2010 Galerie Haas AG, Zurich, Switzerland
Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
SCAPE, Corona Del Mar, CA
2009 Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2008 Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany
Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles,CA
Art Brussels 26th Contemporary Art Fair, Brussels
2007 Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2006 Plus One Gallery, London, England
2005 Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
Reynolds Gallery, Westmont College, Montecito,CA
Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA
Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Press
PRESS
Selected Artworks
Born
1954 Los Angeles, CA
Education
1977-1979 California State University Long Beach
1979 Otis Parsons, Los Angeles, California
Selected Public & Private Collections
Albertina, Vienna, Austria • Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California • Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach • California Palm Springs Art Museum, California • Schauwerk Sindelfingen, Germany • UCI Institute and Museum for California Art, Irvine, California • Thomas Olbricht, me Collectors Room, Berlin Herbert & Rita Batliner, Liechtenstein • Steve Martin, Beverly Hills, CA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2026 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, CA
2025 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA
Noun, Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Light, Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2024 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, CA
Recent Paintings, Casa Romantica, San Clemente, CA
2023 30 YEARS, Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Seaside, California Heritage Museum, Santa Monica, CA
Independents, Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2022 Thirty Swimming Pools, Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA
2021 A Day at the Beach, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, CA
2019 Water Paintings, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA
2018 Kenton Nelson: Water, Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, CA
New Work, Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2017 Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, New York
Recent Paintings, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena
2016 Splash: Art by Kenton Nelson
California Heritage Museum, Santa Monica, CA
2015 Californian Idealism, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2014 Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Bohemian Club, San Francisco, CA
2013 Obstacles and Competition SpardaWelt Sparda-Bank
Baden-Wurttemberg, Stuttgart, Germany
2012 Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Peter Mendenhall Gallery, New York, NY (pop-up)
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2010 Galerie Haas AG, Zurich, Switzerland
Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
SCAPE, Corona Del Mar, CA
2009 Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2008 Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany
Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles,CA
Art Brussels 26th Contemporary Art Fair, Brussels
2007 Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2006 Plus One Gallery, London, England
2005 Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
Reynolds Gallery, Westmont College, Montecito,CA
Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA
Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Kenton Nelson was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. He attended Long Beach State University and Otis Parsons Art Institute, and for the last 40 years has had his art studio in a southern coastal town in California. He has been on the faculty of the Otis Parsons Art Institute in Los Angeles and the Academy of Art in San Francisco.
Nelson traces his interest in painting back to his great uncle, Roberto Montenegro, renowned Mexican muralist and Modernist. The style of Nelson’s paintings have their origins in American Scene painting, Regionalism, and the work of the WPA artists of the 1930’s.
Nelson paints a distinctly California regionalism to idealize the ordinary with the intention of engagement, using the iconic symbols and styles of his lifetime in a theatrical style to make leading suggestions, not unlike the advertisements of his youth.
Nelson’s paintings have been featured seven times on the cover of The New Yorker magazine. Recent exhibitions of Nelson’s work have been enjoyed from Los Angeles to Stuttgart, Zurich, and Salzburg. His oil paintings of figures, objects, and architecture have, as one critic said, “single handedly resurrected the sun drenched optimism of New Deal American Painting.”
Biography
Press
Current Exhibition: Water & Color
Montecito | May 2 - June 1
Kenton Nelson paints heroic figures, objects, and architecture contoured with dramatic light and shadow, and characterized by a distinct narrative idealism. His work is rooted in American Scene Painting, Regionalism, and inspired by the hallmark hope and optimism of film and advertising in post-war America.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Nelson attended Long Beach State University and Otis Parsons Art Institute, and was on the faculty of Otis Parsons Art Institute and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. For over 40 years he had his art studio in Pasadena, California, but now lives and works in a southern coastal town in California. His work is enjoyed in hundreds of private collections, as well as museum collections around the world.
Nelson’s paintings have been featured eight times on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.
Kenton Nelson
“For the most part, this is a show about leisure— although the paintings may require some work on the viewer’s behalf. As usual, I am balancing obstacles and attractions, putting background and foreground in a competition in another series of experiments.”
- Kenton Nelson
Current Exhibition: Water & Color
Montecito | May 2 - June 1
Kenton Nelson paints heroic figures, objects, and architecture contoured with dramatic light and shadow, and characterized by a distinct narrative idealism. His work is rooted in American Scene Painting, Regionalism, and inspired by the hallmark hope and optimism of film and advertising in post-war America.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Nelson attended Long Beach State University and Otis Parsons Art Institute, and was on the faculty of Otis Parsons Art Institute and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. For over 40 years he had his art studio in Pasadena, California, but now lives and works in a southern coastal town in California. His work is enjoyed in hundreds of private collections, as well as museum collections around the world.
Nelson’s paintings have been featured eight times on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.