| Artist | Brian Bailey | Resides | United States |
| Website | brianbaileyartist.com | Medium | Pastel Charcoal Oil Acrylic |
| bebailey33@gmail.com | Themes | Beauty Nature Environment Human condition Phsycological | |
| Follow the Artist | Instagram | Facebook |
About the artist
Brian E. Bailey was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Formerly a professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, he now paints and teaches privately at his atelier in New Jersey. Following a successful career that spanned several decades as a noteworthy illustrator, which includes covers for TIME Magazine, as well as other noteworthy publications. His portraits for TIME are in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. After this time he began to focus his energies on more personal artistic pursuits. He has won numerous awards for his work in pastel and has been featured in select exhibitions both nationally and abroad.
His work has been exhibited for several years at the International Pastel Biennial in Suzhou, China. In 2018 the 3rd year of the exhibition his work “Contemplation”, won the First Award (Grand Prize). He also taught workshops during the exhibition week.
This same painting has been awarded the Best Nude Runner Up as a Finalist at the 14th Arc Salon 2019 Exhibition, which was held at the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, Spain. The exhibition later traveled to Sotheby’s in New York , NY.
His work “Listen” was awarded the Prix de Pastel at the 5th IAPS Master Circle Exhibition held in Albuquerque, NM. He also gave two demonstrations of his technique on both veiled figures and still life.
This work was part of his solo exhibition as 2020 honoree at the Pastel D’ Opale Biennale in France.
Listen also was a finalist in the 15th Arc Salon which 14th Arc Salon 2020 Exhibition, which was held at the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, Spain. The exhibition later traveled to Sotheby’s in New York , NY.
Listen has won various other awards in New York and was ultimately sold to a European buyer.
For several years consecutively his work had been (prior to the war) part of the ARTLIFE Fest an art fair in Moscow were annually ten or more works were exhibited. His work was also featured in Russia’s oldest museum in Penza, Russia where his work was exhibited aside of their collection of Russian pastel works.
Both works sent to the annual Pastel Society of Russia’s Annual Exhibition where they garnered awards.
In 2024 my works “Veil” and “Forms” were included in the Polaris Archive as part of the Lunar Codex a group of culturally curated artifacts including art, writing, music and film. This cultural heritage project will travel through space as an everlasting archive of the arts through seven launched missions through SpaceX.
Brian E. Bailey’s work has been shown at several selected group exhibitions at the Butler Museum of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, the Salmagundi Club and the National Arts Club in NYC. His work has garnered the top awards at the Pastel Society of America Annual Exhibition in NYC as well as The International Association of Pastel Societies. He have attained Master Pastelist status at the PSA and Eminent Pastelist status at IAPS. Brian’s work is in several public and private collections, most notably the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. where he has two portraits in their permanent collection.
Brian Bailey is the 1st Prize Winner Victoria Olt Gallery Drawing Award, Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2025
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
As an artist working in a realist tradition, Brian E. Bailey try to create singular contemporary images that speak to the fragility of both the human condition and the natural world. The stillness of his painting offers the viewer a moment of both contemplation and reflection.
In his figurative work, he have tried to speak quietly to the audience and seek contemplation of thought provoking imagery. Whether it is in a veiled historical context or towards a more modern suppression of the human spirit, “I strive to capture a gestural moment in time. The stillness of my paintings is to reflect the often-overlooked demands imposed upon both mind and body by external societal influences”.
Equally versatile in acrylic and oil, it is the tactile nature of pastel that has drawn me back to this medium. As my hands are my only tools, the pushing and blending of these sticks of pure pigment allows for an intimate relationship with pastel. This unique level of sensitivity gives no closer connection between artist and medium.
“In my painting there is nothing I take away, nor give artifice to enhance the quiet permanence of a subject’s beauty.”
CV
Education
1981
Graduated with a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art, University of the Arts
Selected Solo Exhibitions
4th Biennale Internationale Pastel d’ Opale, Boulogne sur Mer, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Art on Paper, New York, NY. United States
2021 – 2025
Salmagundi Club, Various exhibitions, New York, NY. United States
2020 – 2024
Artlife Fest, Moscow Russia
2019 – 2025
International Association of Pastel Societies, Albuquerque, NM. United States
2015 – 2025
Enduring Brilliance PSA, Butler Institute of American Art, OH. United States
Arc Salon, Art Renewal Center, European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) Barcelona, Spain
2009 – 2025
Pastel Society of America Annual Exhibition, National Arts Club,k New York, NY. United States
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, International Pastel Biennale, Suzhou, China
