Craig Hanna is an American painter born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1967.
Craig Hanna at a glance
- Born: 1967, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Nationality: American
- Style or Movement: Figurative painting in the classical tradition
- Medium: Oil on wood, canvas and paper
- Education: BFA, Syracuse University (1994); MFA, School of Visual Arts (1996)
- Based in: Paris, France
- Recognition: Selected for the BP Portrait Award in 2001 and 2006
- Website: hcraighanna.org
“Craig Hanna draws and paints as if the photograph’s overburdening dominance of our visual data field didn’t matter, or didn’t exist.”
Craig Hanna studied at Syracuse University, the School of Visual Arts, and the New York Academy of Figurative Art, where he specialized in figurative painting.
Craig Hanna exhibited for the first time in 1998 at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, where an entire floor was reserved for his work, and he later exhibited in London, Hong Kong, and Malta.
Craig Hanna was selected in 2001 and 2006 for the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and he was commended in 2001 for his painting “Carlos Sitting on a Clear Plastic Chair.”
Craig Hanna now lives in Paris, where he is permanently represented by the Laurence Esnol Gallery, and his work has been compared to masters such as Courbet, Sargent, and Schiele while remaining distinctly contemporary.
- Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1967.
- Studied at Syracuse and the School of Visual Arts.
- Exhibited at Bergdorf Goodman in 1998.
- Commended at the BP Portrait Award in 2001.
- Now lives and works in Paris, France.
Craig Hanna’s work pushes past familiar antecedents to create vital paintings that are brashly contemporary and unmistakably his own, blending classical techniques with a modern sensibility.
Craig Hanna’s distinctive style avoids the flattened conventions of photo-based painters, and his work is characterized by bold, expressive brushwork and a deep understanding of figurative representation, making him a unique voice in contemporary painting.
You can see more of Craig Hanna’s paintings on his official website, hcraighanna.org.