Craig Crawford (American, b. 1965)

As one of the nation’s foremost painting conservators, Craig Crawford restores artworks for important public, private and institutional collections, including the U.S. Capitol.

An accomplished fine artist, he actively exhibits his work in galleries and museums where his “Southern noir” landscapes share a dreamlike resonance with Alexander John Drysdale, the Hudson River School, and Dutch Golden Age painters such as Adriaen van Ostade.

A deeply southern artist, Crawford’s work is rooted in the landscapes, legends and lore of the Carolinas and Louisiana. His paintings are exhibited in New Orleans, Louisiana; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Southern Pines, North Carolina; St. Simons Island, Georgia; and elsewhere. The Greenville County Museum of Art acquired a piece for their permanent collection after his second solo exhibition there in 2018.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in painting, Crawford is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Upon graduation, he was chosen to apprentice at Olin Conservation, Inc. with his mentor, Charles Olin, the former head of painting conservation at the Smithsonian and at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. Upon the conclusion of his apprenticeship, Craig was hired by Olin Conservation, and later worked at Cunningham-Adams Fine Art Conservation in Washington, D.C. where he was involved in the treatment of important historic easel and wall paintings including the ceiling paintings in the Brumidi Corridors in the United States Capitol.

Watch Craig’s slideshow presentation on his conservation of important Louisiana painting Bélizaire and the Frey Children for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (June 2024 at Jillian Mac Fine Art).