Claudia Seymour was President of the historic Salmagundi Club in New York from 2007 through 2013, six years of great growth and renewal for the organization. She is a widely collected practicing artist in oil and pastel. Seymour is a Master Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and has been awarded Master Circle status by the International Association of Pastel Societies. She is also an Associate Member of the Oil Painters of America.
Her classic still lifes in oil and pastel have been shown in over 175 juried national and international exhibitions, and she has won numerous prizes, including first-place and best-in-show awards. She works only from life, creating scenes that portray a timeless elegance and serenity through her concentration on radiant light and her choice and arrangement of antiques and ceramics, natural objects, fabrics, flowers and plants, and other materials. Claudia is also a juried member of the Allied Artists of America, American Artists Professional League, American Women Artists, Audubon Artists, National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, The International Guild of Realism, and Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club. She has been active in and on the boards of numerous art organizations, but now she devotes herself full-time to painting.
Seymour earned her BA (with Honors) in English Literature from Duke University and her MA from NYU. She studied at the Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT and The Art Students League of NY. Read more
Her work has appeared in publications such as The Pastel Journal, American Art Collector, International Artist, Southwest Art, and Best of Pastel Artists and Artisans, Vol. 1. Her work has also been showcased on the covers of American Artist’s Still Life Painting Highlights and American Artist. In addition, Seymour has twice been award prizes in The Pastel Journal’s Annual Pastel 100 Competition. Claudia Seymour says of her work “My paintings are a personal expression of a lifelong fascination with the visual effects of color as revealed by the play of light across a still life tableau. My goal as a realist painter is to portray the limitless beauty of color in every object, as well as in the interaction between objects, their shadows, and the surrounding space. Working only from life, I attempt to establish a tranquil mood and impression of serenity both by the lighting itself and by the choice and arrangement of chosen elements. I use a wide variety of antiques, ceramics, glass, fabrics, fruit, flowers, and other natural objects, many of which have a special meaning for me. Each still life is composed either to highlight a special object or to evoke a particular response. I use deep, often neutral backgrounds to develop a depth of scene and to foster a feeling of air within each work. Then, using light and color, I strive to create not only a pleasing arrangement of pretty things but also to produce a heightened sense of drama through which the composition literally begins to glow. ”
Honors
Named “Honored Member” by the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, 2013
Elected President, Salmagundi Club, New York City, 2007 – 2013
Elected to International Guild of Realism, 2012
Invited to become a Signature Member, American Women Artists, 2011
Named Master Pastellist, Pastel Society of America, 2011
Named a Fellow of the American Artists Professional League, 2009
Awarded Master Circle Medal, International Association of Pastel Societies, 2007
Signature Membership, Pastel Society of America, 2004
Signature Membership, Connecticut Pastel Society, 2000
Signature Membership, Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod, 2000
Selected Group and Juried Shows
Academic Artists Association, 1999, 2000,* 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008*
Allied Artists of America; Annual Exhibition, New York, 2002, 2003, 2004*, 2005*, 2007, 2009
American Artists Professional League; Annual Exhibition, New York, 2003, 2004, 2005*2007*, 2008*
American Women Artists; National Exhibition, Atlanta, 2011
Audubon Artists; Annual Exhibition, New York, 2005*, 2006, 2007, 2008*, 2009*, 2011, 2012*
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club; Annual Open Exhibition, New York,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013; Members Show 2005, 2006*, 2007*, 2008
Connecticut Pastel Society: Members, Signature Members, and National Juried
Shows, 1999, 2000, 2001*, 2002*, 2003*, 2004*, 2005*, 2006, 2007*, 2008*, 2009*, 2010
Hudson Valley Art Association (NY), 1998, 2003*, 2004*, 2005*, 2006*, 2007, 2008*, 2009
International Association of Pastel Societies; Open Exhibition, 2002, 2004*, 2005, 2006,
2008*, 2009, 2014; Demonstrators Exhibition, 2011
The Kent Art Association; Members, Juried, and President’s Shows, 1998,
1999,* 2000, 2001*, 2002*, 2003* & Best in Show, 2004, 2005, 2006*
Oil Painters of America Annual National Juried Exhibition, 2007*
Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod: Signature Members and National Juried
Shows, 1999,* 2000,* 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005*, 2006*, 2007*
Pastel Society of America, Annual Exhibition, New York, 2003, 2004, 2005, 200, 2007*, 2008*,
2009, 2010, 201l*, 2013; named Master Pastellist 2011
The Pen and Brush; New York, 2001*, 2002, 2003, 2004*, 2005, 2006*, 2007
Salmagundi Club: Members, Auction, Thumb-Box, Combined, Women Artists, Flower,
Holiday, and Award-Winners Shows, New York, 2001,* 2002*, 2003*,
2004*, 2005*, 2006*, 2007*, 2008*, 2009*, 2010*, 2011, 2012*, 2013*
Salon International 2010*, 2011*, Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art, New Braunfels, TX
Select Memberships
Academic Artists Association
Allied Artists of America
American Artists Professional League
American Women Artists
Audubon Artists
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club
Connecticut Pastel Society
Hudson Valley Art Association
Oil Painters of America
Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod
Pastel Society of America
Salmagundi Club, President Emerita
Who’s Who in American Art
