Biography

EphAtWork

Ephraim Rubenstein was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1956. He received his B.A. in Art History from Columbia University and his M.F.A. in Painting from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. In addition, he attended the Brooklyn Museum Art School, where he studied with Francis Cunningham, the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts, with Harvey Dinnerstein, and the Art Students League, with Robert Beverly Hale.

Mr. Rubenstein has had eight one-person exhibitions in New York, seven at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery and one at Tatistcheff & Co. He has exhibited at the Butler Institute of American Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Maier Museum of Art, and the National Academy of Design, where he won the Emil and Dines Carlsen Prize in painting. His work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Exxon Corporation, and Deloitte & Touche. His work has been featured in American Artist Magazine, American Heritage Magazine and Architectural Digest, among others. Two of his paintings are currently on loan to the United States State Department as part of its Art in Embassies Program.

Mr. Rubenstein is an active teacher, as well. He was Associate Professor of Art at the University of Richmond from 1987-1998, where he received the Distinguished Educator Award and The Commonwealth’s Outstanding Faculty Award. He taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Maryland Institute College of Art. He is currently on the faculty of The National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts and The Art Students League of New York. He also teaches at Columbia University’s Department of Narrative Medicine.

Selected Honors & Grants

  • Elected Member, Century Association, 2007
  • Invited Artist, Forbes Trinchera Ranch Residency, Ft. Garland, Colorado, 2006
  • Emil and Dines Carlsen Award, National Academy of Design, 179th Annual Exhibition, 2004
  • U.S. State Department, Art in Embassies Program, with paintings in Ankara, Turkey and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2004
  • Outstanding Faculty Award, State of Virginia, State Council of Higher Education, 1995
  • Distinguished Educator Award, University of Richmond, 1993
  • Christian Johnson Endeavor Fund, grant for the development of interdisciplinary studies course, “Artists’ Writings,” 1997
  • University of Richmond, PETE grant for the development of interdisciplinary studies course, “Music and the Visual Arts.”, 1995
  • Henry Evans Traveling Fellowship (Columbia University) to study painting in England, 1978
  • National Academy of Design, Merit Scholarship, 1979
  • Brooklyn Museum Art School, Max Beckmann Scholarship, 1978-79

Selected Commissions

  • Deloitte & Touche (large-scale painting of the Jefferson Memorial for International Headquarters, Washington D.C.,) 1998
  • Jepson Alumni Center (major painting for landmark Bottomley house), University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, 1997
  • Holocaust Memorial, Emek Sholom Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, 1995

Magazine Articles

  • American Arts Quarterly, Spring 2009. “Ephraim Rubenstein”.
  • American Artist Magazine, July/August 2007, Sharpe, William. “Still-Life Portraits: The Book-Filled Art of Ephraim Rubenstein”.
  • American Artist Magazine, March 2007, Doherty, Steve. “Into the Heart of the Southwest: 20 Painters Interpret the Forbes Trinchera Ranch”.
  • American Artist Magazine, March 2002, Baxter, Kathleen. “Taming the Beast (The Agamemnon Series of Ephraim Rubenstein)”
  • American Heritage Magazine, November, 2000, Ephraim Rubenstein, “My Grandfather’s War”
  • Arte, April 1995, Planca, Elisabetta.  “Paesaggisti Americani: un Paradiso Neoromantico.”
  • Architectural Digest, May 1993, Rosenblum, Robert, “Art: Contemporary Romantic Landscapes.”
  • American Arts Quarterly, Spring 1993, Johnson, Charles W., Jr.  “Renewal and Natural Order:  The Art of Ephraim Rubenstein”
  • The Gettysburg Review, Winter 1989, Stitt, Peter, ed.  “Paintings by Ephraim Rubenstein.”.

Artist’s Bibliography

  • Artner, Alan. “An Art that Dryly Memorializes”, Chicago Tribune  (Feb. 8, 2002)
  • Brandt, Frederick R.  Harmony and Discord:  American Landscape Painting Today (exhibition catalogue).  Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1990.
  • Brenson, Michael.  “Ephraim Rubenstein.”  The New York Times  (April 6, 1990).
  • de Nagy, Tibor. Rilke and Rubenstein (introductory catalogue essay). Ephraim Rubenstein: The Rilke Series. Marsh Gallery, University of Richmond,VA, 1994.
  • Capozzi, James D.  Beside Quiet Waters, “Two Trees, James River”.  Cover. Continuum, 1999.
  • Henry, Gerritt.  Neo-Romantics (exhibition catalogue).  Lafayette College Art Gallery, Williams Center for the Arts, Easton, Pennsylvania, 1989.
  • Holladay, Deborah, ed. Tributary:  3000 Years in the Course of Art (exhibition catalogue).    Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News,Virginia, 1989.
  • Johnson, Stephen A.  Plein Air:  An Exhibition of Landscape Paintings and Drawings  (exhibition catalogue).  Bank of Boston, Boston, 1986.
  • Johnson, Charles W., Jr.  Renewal and Natural Order:  The Art of Ephraim Rubenstein.  American  Arts Quarterly, Spring 1993, pp. 32-35.
  • Johnson, Charles W., Jr. Mark Rhodes and Ephraim Rubenstein: Sculpture, Painting, and Drawing (exhibition catalogue). Marsh Gallery, University of Richmond, 1988.
  • Jones, Suzanne, ed.  Growing Up in the South.  Reproduction of “Abandoned House, Edwardsville, Virginia” (1987).  Cover.  Mentor Books, 1991.
  • Kazin, Alfred.  Fear of the City; 1783-1983. Reproduction of “Vacant Lot, Columbus Avenue”   (1977), American Heritage Magazine, Feb/March 1983, pp. 14-15.
  • Kelly, James C. and William M. S. Rasmussen.  The Virginia Landscape; A Cultural History  (exhibition catalogue)  Howell Press 2000, pp. 181-2.
  • Lee, John Post.  Still Life:  Painting, Sculpture, Drawing  (exhibition catalogue).  Rahr-West Art Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, 1987.
  • Moldenhauer, Susan. Drawing in Virginia: An Invitational Exhibition by Artists Who Teach (exhibition catalogue).  Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA, 1989.
  • Planca, Elisabetta.  “Paesaggisti Americani: un Paradiso Neoromantico.” Arte , April 1995.
  • Rosenblum, Robert.  “Art:  Contemporary Romantic Landscapes.” Architectural Digest, May, 1993,  Vol. 50, No. 50, pp. 193-230.
  • Stitt, Peter, ed.  “Paintings by Ephraim Rubenstein.”  The Gettysburg Review.  (Winter 1989).
  • Zona, Louis A. 53rd National Midyear Exhibition:  A Tribute to Tibor de Nagy  (exhibition catalogue). The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1989.
  • “Currents: Works by Cohen, Blank, Feigin, Davidovsky.” “Cello I,” used for cover illustration, compact disc.  Centaur records CRC 2248.

Teaching & Instruction

  • Columbia University, Department of Narrative Medicine, 2011- present
  • The Art Students League of New York
  • The National Academy of Design School of Fine Art
  • The Maryland Institute College of Art
  • The Rhode Island School of Design
  • The University of Richmond, Associate Professor of Art, 1987-1998