Robert Armetta
Robert Armetta is a painter who studied extensively in the U.S., at such institutions as Columbus College of Art and Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and Water Street Atelier, and in Italy at the Florence Academy of Art and the Angel Academy of Art. He earned his M.F.A. from the New York Academy of Art, where he graduated with honors in 1998.
He has exhibited widely, in both solo and group exhibitions, across the United States, at venues including the National Academy of Design, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Susquehanna Museum of Art, Sotheby’s, the State University of New York at Farmingdale, St. John’s University, Messiah College, Arcadia Fine Art, John Pence Gallery, Century Gallery, and Seraphin Gallery.
Robert graduated in 2020 from the Global Awakening School of Ministry. With his wife, Flora Armetta, he co-founded Rhema Culture, a Christian arts ministry, and recently launched a school of classical realist drawing and painting in the Harrisburg area, Academy Rhema.
Teaching & Awards
Robert has received many awards, including two International Portrait Awards from the Portrait Society of America. His paintings have appeared in numerous art magazines and journals and in several books on contemporary figurative painting, including The Figure: Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture (Rizzoli), Lessons in Classical Drawing, and Portrait Painting Atelier, which also features a painting of his on its cover. His work can be found in the notable collections of Padma Lakshmi, Jimmy Buffett, and Nobel Laureate Dr. James Watson, among many others. Robert is the Founder and former Director of the Long Island Academy of Fine Art and has won numerous prizes for his teaching, including the Distinguished Service Award for Excellence in Arts Education from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. He teaches drawing, painting, composition and design, and artistic anatomy at the New York Academy of Art and divides his time between New York City and New Cumberland, PA.
Artistic Approach
Click here to download The Artist’s Magazine article featuring Robert Armetta.
The studio of classical realist painter Robert Armetta gives the feeling of stepping back in time to a European atelier of the 1800s. Lining the walls are more than 20 still life setups, positioned at various heights, each with its own light source… classical music playing softly in the background, the atmosphere is creatively charged.
– Louis B. Hafesh, The Artist’s Magazine, Brush with Tradition