JOHN HOWARD SANDEN
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AWARDED THE SARGENT MEDAL FOR LIFETIME
ACHIEVEMENT BY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PORTRAIT ARTISTS IN 1994
The critical year in John Sanden's personal history was 1969 — the year he decided to
leave the Midwest and a long career in Christian art, and try his hand at New York City and the world
of portrait painting. Within months of arriving in New York, he was appointed to the teaching faculty
of the Art Students League, had become affiliated with the city's principal portrait brokerage,
Portraits, Incorporated, and had established a nationwide portrait clientele of the famous, wealthy and
influential.
Sanden thereupon launched into an ambitious teaching career. He founded The Portrait Institute in 1974
and began touring the nation, teaching his ideas and techniques to thousands, who came out to hear him
in classes as large as seven hundred at a time. Those who could not come in person studied through one of
the national correspondence instructional programs, which he created. In 1979, Sanden launched the
National Portrait Seminar, which grew to be the largest art seminar program in America. An annual lecture
series at the Art Students League was presented to standing-room-only audiences there for twenty-three
years.
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John Sanden is the author of four books on portraiture: Painting
the Head in Oil (Watson-Guptill
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John Howard Sanden meeting with
Attorney General John Ashcroft for the preparation for his
official portrait. |
Publications, New York, 1976); Successful Portrait Painting
(Watson-Guptill, 1981); Portraits From Life (North Light
Books, Cincinnati, 1999); and The Portraits of John Howard Sanden
(Madison Square Press, New York, 2001).
With all of these demands on his time, he has managed to complete
more than five hundred portraits of prominent figures in American
public, professional and business life. His client list reads
like a Who's Who of American education and industry.
Profile, the magazine of the American Portrait Society,
said, in a 1984 feature article written by the Society's president,
"John Howard Sanden may well be the best known name in contemporary
American portraiture." Popular columnist Pete Hamill, writing
in the New York Post, August 15, 1991, said "John
Howard Sanden is the closest we have in America to fit the old
role of court painter."
On May 29, 1994, the American Society of Portrait Artists presented their first John Singer Sargent
Medal for Lifetime Achievement to Sanden. On September 30 of that same year, Houghton College awarded
him the Doctor of Fine Arts degree.
Career Highlights>
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Founded Portrait Clubs of America, 2003. |
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Elected chairman of The American Society of Portrait Artists, 2001. |
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Founded The New York Society of Portrait Artists, 2001. |
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The Portraits of John Howard Sanden published by Madison Square Press, 2001. |
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Portraits From Life published by North Light Books, Cincinnati, 1999. |
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Honorary Degree: Doctor of Fine Arts,
Houghton College, 1994. |
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The First John Singer Sargent Medal for
Lifetime Achievement, presented by The American Society
of Portrait Painters, 1994. |
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Founded The Portrait Institute in New York, 1974. |
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Lecturer on Portraiture, Art Students League of New York, 1972 to present. |
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Instructor in Portraiture,
Art Students League of New York, 1972 - 1984 |
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Founded The National Portrait Seminar,
1979. |
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Painting the Head in Oil published by Watson-Guptill
Publications, New York, 1976. |
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Successful Portrait Painting published by Watson-Guptill
Publications. New York, 1981. |
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Founded The New York Portrait Artists
Forum, 1993. |
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Founded The Sargent Society in New York, 1995. |
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