I studied drawing and painting at The Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy for 5 years and  also became an instructor  of drawing, painting and anatomy. My education was based on the Renaissance system of apprentice and master, with an unbroken lineage of  instructors/pupils going back centuries, including  notable 19th and 18th century painters Jean Leon Gerome, Paul Delaroche, and Antoine-Jean Gros.   The focus of my work  has been creating images in a style that is true to nature with an emphasis on the human figure. After Florence I also studied with contemporary Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum in Norway and Iceland, rounding out 7 years of professional training.

         Since returning from Europe I built a large studio in my home town of Gainesville, Florida (USA) where I continue to live and work, producing large figure paintings and some oddball still-life subjects. If you have any questions or would like to talk, please use the contact form on this site. You can also follow me on Instagram, at ANTHONY ACKRILL.

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”Anthony Ackrill is  one of those extremely rare artists who combines amazing technical skills

with a genius for inventive iconography. Considering the many thousands of nude figures  depicted by painters over the centuries, the unique iconography of Ackrill’s figure paintings have never been seen before! A male nude trying to lasso a tornado, a man   “racing” a snail to the sea, a reclining female  in a lush landscape embracing a giant egg. A surprising giant diptych depicting the soles of two huge feet, each one 7’ tall -  a painting worthy of a modern  day Caravaggio. 

Like Andy Warhol,  Ackrill revisits and breaks the rules for traditional art categories. 

In addition to nudes and diptychs, he reconsiders still life painting. In one painting, Anthony gives a still life of three pears a very modern twist by depicting a large bolt running through the fruit.

 His very realistic depiction of a gigantic bowling pin in a desert landscape updates the pop art tradition into a new and quite beautiful level.

In the history of seascape painting, never before has the ocean been depicted with a gigantic seashell levitating above the water. For what might be considered  portraiture, Ackrill created an iconic tondo of a woman’s face with a nest of tangled hair painted on a rusted oil drum lid.

"An American genius, Ackrill is destined to be recognized as a visionary akin

 to Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum.”

(Dr. Gregory Hedberg, Ph.D)

Curator of Paintings at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Chief Curator  of the Wadsworth Atheneum

Director of the New York Academy of Art

Director of European Art at Hirschl & Adler Galleries in New York City

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"Anthony Ackrill has splendid traits that support him as an artist: he is assiduous, ambitious, marvelously independent, imaginative and well trained: traits that back up fiercely independent and original conceptions. He has a command of the human figure and his technique is superb, enviable. His nudes contain their warm sexuality comfortably within their healthy bodies.

Ackrill's rich imagination which places accurately painted figures into enveloping surroundings resonate with his very personal mythology. He has not simply rejected the traditional subject matter of classical academic painting, he has added to it in a personal, modern way. By his example and as a teacher he is an important painter in the chain of master artists who are capable of passing on the old masters traditional painting methods to the next generation."

(Dr Gerald Ackerman)

Author/Art Historian

"The Life and Works of Jean Leon Gerome"

"As an avid art collector I am struck by Ackrill's immense natural talent. His work is at a level of mastery of many of the 19th century painters whose work I collect. His dedication to his craft and his unique vision for subject matter has resulted in a marvelous output of beautiful and interesting images. He continues to amaze me as an artist, teacher and a person."

(Devers  Estelle Branden)

Beverly Hills, California

"I will not say that Anthony Ackrill is a genius...but he is EXTREMELY talented!"

(Odd Nerdrum)

Norwegian Contemporary Painter