The self-portraits of most artists seem to congregate either around their youth or their old age, or in Shakespeare’s words, their entrances and their exits. The contemplation of death becomes increasingly pressing as we get older, as we prepare for our own exits…
Ephraim Rubenstein was born in Brooklyn New York in 1956. He received his B.A. in Art History from Columbia University and his M.F.A. in Painting from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. In addition, he attended classes at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, the National Academy School and the Art Students League.
Rubenstein has had eleven one-person exhibition in New York; seven at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery, one at Tatistcheff & Co., and three at George Billis Gallery in Chelsea. He has exhibited, as well, at the National Academy of Design, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Maier Museum of Art and the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. His work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Exxon Corporation and Deloitte & Touche.
Rubenstein was Associate Professor of Art at the University of Richmond from 1987-1998, where he received the Distinguished Educator Award and the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and the National Academy of Design School. He is currently on the faculty of the Art Students League of New York and Columbia University, where he teaches the Literature of Art Seminar and Life Drawing in the Department of Narrative Medicine.