Beth Rundquist

Simple Terms

The paintings in Simple Terms are a result of Beth Rundquist’s interest in simplifying forms and exploring the exterior shape of things. Given that Rundquist’s portrait commissions have taken her throughout the US and abroad, it is only fitting that some of Rundquist’s strongest artistic influences are drawn from an international range of painters: Ilya Repin (Russia), Joaquin Sorolla (Spain) and Anders Zorn (Sweden).  The architectural quality in these recent (2015-2017) paintings is accentuated by the pale white or blue backgrounds, and the working of the paint on the canvas. Rundquist elaborates, “It’s not necessarily what is going on inside the subject, it’s more about the simplicity of form, the exterior shape of things, not the heavy detail.”

After receiving her BA in art from Smith College, Rundquist studied at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, Connecticut, L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, The Sculpture Center and Sculpture Studio, NYC and the Repin Institute of Russia. Beth Rundquist teaches painting at The New York Academy of Art in New York City and her paintings are in international public and private collections. Beth Rundquist lives and works in New York City.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Leonardo da Vinci

"There is no greatness where there is no simplicity." Leo Tolstoy