Whether he’s depicting a rocky cliff amid a calm sea, a pop culture moment or a vase of daisies atop a kitchen table, artist James Strombotne creates subdued, stylized images that feature rich color pairings and brim with life.
Born in Watertown, South Dakota, Strombotne grew up in Southern California. In 1956, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College. He then went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts from the Claremont Graduate School in 1959. He also received a fellowship from Pomona College to study abroad in Italy. In 1962, the Guggenheim Foundation awarded him a fellowship to continue his international studies in Rome.
Strombotne had his first solo show in 1956 at the Studio 44 gallery in San Francisco. Over the course of his career, he had more than 75 solo exhibitions and a dozen retrospectives across the United States.
In the 1970s, Strombotne began teaching art at the University of California in Riverside. He continued to paint and exhibit throughout his teaching years. He taught at the same school for 40 years until his retirement in 2005.
Strombotne’s work is held in many public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He lives in Orange County, California, where he keeps a studio and continues to create art.
On 1stDibs, find original James Strombotne paintings and contemporary art.
Homage to Eduardo Kingman - Painting by Crespo Diaz, "Esperando El Final III"
By Crespo Diaz
Located in Camden, ME
Homage to Eduardo Kingman "Waiting for the Final Three" a dramatic central figure in gray and blue surrounded by three equally expressive faces in gree...
Acrylic
James Strombotne, painting "Horsewoman in Red"
By James Strombotne
Located in Camden, ME
James Strombotne is a contemporary artist who has had a successful career, since 1956. His artwork is held in many prestigious museums and private collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Hirschhorn Museum of the Smithsonian Institute. According to Strombotne, "Any subject is fair game...
Canvas, Paint
James Strombotne painting "Spring Bouquet" acrylic on canvas
By James Strombotne
Located in Camden, ME
James Strombotne is a contemporary artist who has had a successful career since 1956. His artwork is held in many prestigious museums and private collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Hirschhorn Museum of the Smithsonian Institute. According to Strombotne, "Any subject is fair game...
Canvas, Acrylic
Outsider Art, Figurative Painting 60s
Located in Camden, ME
A compelling painting by a midcentury outsider artist. This graphically bold painting utilizing bright colors and a potent figurative composition engages contemplation. Unsigned. ...
Paint
Large 1970s Italian Eggshell Lacquer Relief Panel After Picasso Sylvette (1954)
By (after) Pablo Picasso
Located in Camden, ME
This striking, large-scale Italian mixed-media architectural relief panel from the 1970s is an unusually sophisticated decorative interpretation of Pablo Picasso’s celebrated portrai...
Enamel, Gold Leaf, Silver Leaf
Tino Zago, Foghorn Time, 1984 Acrylic on Canvas 42 x 138" O K Harris
By Milo Baughman
Located in Camden, ME
Painted in 1984, Foghorn Time is a sweeping and immersive abstraction by Tino Zago (Italian-American, b. 1937)( MIlo Baughman). Executed in acrylic on canvas, the monumental format—m...
Canvas, Paint
"Margo and Maria" Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting
By Sam Millington
Located in Brecon, Powys
Samantha Millington’s unique style of figurative art pops and zings from the canvas while also nodding in the direction of cubism and goddess figures from pre-history. Both thoughtfu...
Oil, Acrylic
Marion Maas Modernist Painting of Two Women
By Marion Maas
Located in New York, NY
Marion Maas (American, b. 1930) Peggy - Brown + Gray, c. 1980s Oil on canvas Framed: 24 1/8 x 30 1/8 x 1 1/2 in. Signed lower right Titled verso on stretch...
Canvas, Oil
Les Soeurs (The Sisters), Oil Painting by Charles Levier
By Charles Levier
Located in Long Island City, NY
Les Soeurs (The Sisters) Charles Levier, French (1920–2003) Date: circa 1965 Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Frame Size: 29.5 x...
Oil
"Lily and Grace" Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting
By Sam Millington
Located in Brecon, Powys
Samantha Millington’s unique style of figurative art pops and zings from the canvas while also nodding in the direction of cubism and goddess figures from pre-history. Both thoughtfu...
Oil
"Two Women"
By James Lechay
Located in Lambertville, NJ
James Lechay was a painter of figures, landscapes, cityscapes and still lifes who played a notable role in the tradition of avant-garde painting in New York and in the Midwest. An ar...
Canvas, Oil
Portrait, Two Women, Oil on Canvas
By Anton Vorauer
Located in Surfside, FL
From the late 1920s to the eve of World War II, Anton Vorauer was an art professor at the Vienna Fine Art Academy. While painting at the Parthenon during the Nazi invasion of Greece,...
Canvas, Oil
