Jacob Collins

From a young age, Collins knew that he wanted to be an artist, although his interest and skill lay in a classical style that was out of favor in the late 20th century.

[6] His teachers included painters Aaron Kurzen, Ted Seth Jacobs, and Michael Aviano and the sculptor Martine Vaugel.

[8] During this period, Collins painted portrait commissions and started showing professionally at the Salander-O'Reilly Galleries in New York City.

In the 1990s, he was teaching night classes at the National Academy of Art, as well as "taking in the most promising students for private study.

[citation needed] In 2014, he opened up his largest campus yet in a 12,500-square-foot (1,160 m2)-converted warehouse in Long Island City, near the Museum of Modern Art satellite PS1.

"[2] Jacob Collins's style is considered Classical Realism,[12] and his subject matter focuses on the figure, portraiture, still life and landscape as well as the occasional interior.

Collins' nude figurative works, especially, reveal a point of view that is distinctly contemporary, and his setups are simple, incorporating at most a bed sheet and a length of fabric.