Matt Kaplinsky was born in Dallas, Texas in 1968. From a very early age he was focused on things in and around the gardens of his youth and using them as subject matter for artwork. His drawing and painting continued as he self-taught the use of many different mediums and now primarily uses oil paint, creating original works largely inspired by still life items, gardening, and natural history.

In 1991 Kaplinsky was introduced to a locally known art critic who suggested he audit a class the critic taught in Art History at Southern Methodist University. After that class, Kaplinsky then slipped quietly into the front rows of the lecture hall every class for the rest of the semester. This opportunity turned out to be a “pivotal moment” for him by opening a world of what was possible with art and painting. From then on, he made a point to closely study many of the nineteenth and twentieth century painters as up close as possible travelling to exhibits across the country.

Over the next three decades Kaplinsky explored the importance of mark-making and leaving evidence of the artists hand everywhere on the canvas. Working both from memory and photographs, he draws on his experiences of places as different as the high mesa of New Mexico, the dramatic sea and sky of coastal Maine, and the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Influences through time include David Bates, John Alexander, Robert Daughters, Marsden Hartley, Bonnard, Matisse, Van Gogh, Monet and many others. Travels across the United States and abroad provide inspiration for his artwork. “For me, the important thing about art is what you take from it – both upon its viewing and afterwards.”

Kaplinsky’s work is included in corporate and private collections around the world, and is available for commissions via gallery representatives.