Dean Mitchell is an acclaimed American realist, and one of the most heralded living artists in the United States today.  His technical skill is unsurpassed, and the emotional impact of his work is unforgettable. With searing insights into the human experience, he gives us a clearer picture of ourselves: beautiful, flawed, and compelling, painted with the unflinching eye of a master.  

Mitchell’s four-decade-long career is distinguished by ground-breaking achievements and upended stereotypes. He has won hundreds of awards for his work, is featured in museums, corporate and private collections throughout the country, and New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman praised him as a “modern-day Vermeer.”

Mitchell’s unique voice reflects the American landscape, both geographic and personal, more keenly than any other painter. Often referred to as compared to other American masters as a “Black Andrew Wyeth” or a “Black Edward Hopper,” Dean Mitchell’s career stands on its own for its emotional power and truth-telling.   

Biography

Born in Pittsburgh and raised by his grandmother in Quincy, Florida, Dean’s natural talent asserted itself despite the adverse conditions of his early life. He won a scholarship to and graduated from the Columbus School of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio. His rigorous dedication to his craft earned him early recognition. At the age of twenty-three he became the youngest artist ever accepted into the National Watercolor Society; five years later he was admitted into the American Watercolor Society.  He holds numerous gold medals from these and other painting associations worldwide, and his awards and accolades now number in the hundreds. 

In 2016 he was shortlisted by the selection committee to paint the official Presidential portrait of Barrack Obama, an honor for which fellow American painter Kehinde Wiley was ultimately selected. 

Partial List of Museum and Corporate Collections

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Mississippi; Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, Kansas; The Autry National Center, Los Angeles; The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Arkansas; Gadsden Art Center Quincy, Florida; Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY; and the Library of Congress.