Robert Steinmetz, the artist in Maine
ROBERT C. STEINMETZ AWS NWS BIO
Robert Steinmetz was born on Long Island, NY in 1937. He graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 1961 with a B.Arch degree from the College of Art, Architecture and Planning. Mr. Steinmetz practiced architecture as a licensed professional for 27 years before retiring in 1990 as Vice President of SMS Architects, PC in New Canaan, CT. He was Responsible for the design of 140 corporate, institutional, commercial, educational and residential buildings and planning projects, primarily in the Northeast.
After his retirement Mr. Steinmetz moved to mid-coast Maine and began his career as a watercolor artist. Since he had no formal art education or training, his primary artistic background consisted of years spent making presentation drawings of his architectural designs. He has learned the intricacies and peculiarities of watermedia painting by a “trial and error” process over time.
Since 1992, his paintings have been selected by juries for inclusion in over 30 local, national and international watercolor exhibitions, including the Shenzhen Biennial in China in 2013. He has won awards in over 20 of those shows, including “Best in Show” awards. He has been elected to “Signature Member” status in America’s two most prestigious watercolor societies, the American Watercolor Society, in New York, and the National Watercolor Society in California. He also enjoys similar status in the North East Watercolor Society. Examples of his work have been published in both Watercolor and American Artist magazines and are included in Splash 15, the 2014 annual edition of a book highlighting the best in watercolor painting.
Mr. Steinmetz’ paintings have been included in juried biennial exhibitions at the Portland Museum of Art and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. His work is included in several corporate collections, many private collections in North America, Bermuda and Europe, as well as those of the Bermuda Society of Arts and the Masterworks Foundation Collection in Bermuda.
Mr. Steinmetz and his wife, Pat Ashton, divide their time between Spruce Head, Maine and Dataw Island, South Carolina.