Artist Statement
As a draftsman & painter rooted in the Old Master tradition, I am currently exploring imaginative and expressive realism.
Shaped by a belief in real presences, I labor from life-in-the-round.
Holding historic practices in conversation with contemporary advances,
I’m continually relearning how to look and listen.
Freighted with the weight of what’s seen, my pictures layer the real with the memoried and the dreamed.
Convinced that beauty is stubborn and meaning persists, I salvage those moments when wonder finds me—
and seek to follow them through.
Bio
Nathan Bertling (b.1974) studied visual arts and communications at Furman University, graduating cum laude in 1996. From 2002-2008, he joined the atelier of American master Benjamin F. Long, IV in Asheville, NC. There Bertling studied drawing and painting in the Old Master tradition, eventually teaching portrait drawing at the school over his final two years. He has been named a Living Artist by the Art Renewal Center, and in 2020 was selected as a Semi-Finalist in the ARC’s 15th Annual International Salon. As a private tutor, Bertling shares his knowledge and practice with students in his home studio in Greenville, SC. His works hang in numerous private collections.
In March of 2022, Bertling had his debut solo show in NYC at Dacia Gallery, where he is now represented. Later that April of 2022, he and his wife Hallie, a children’s book author-illustrator, attended an artist’s residency in Roskilde, Denmark. March of 2023, Bertling completed Studio Escalier’s three-week drawing intensive, Spring Portrait at the Louvre, in Paris. Having recently studied at the Scottsdale Artists School in Arizona, he is currently preparing for his next solo show at Dacia Gallery, slated for October 2024.
Curriculum Vitae
Art Renewal Center Living Artist
Portrait Society of America member
Salmagundi Club, Non-Resident Artist Member, 2022
Represented by Dacia Gallery, NYC
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024, Fall solo show, October (dates TBD), Dacia Gallery, New York, NY
2022, Quick to Listen, Spring solo show, March 2-12, Dacia Gallery, New York, NY
2018, Fall Featured Artist, Coldwell Banker CAINE Main St. Real Estate Gallery, Greenville, SC
2018, Passing Through, Centre Stage, Greenville, SC
Selected Group Exhibitions & Awards
2024, Partial Scholarship, Secrets to Painting Edges Workshop, ARC Living Master Tina Garrett, Jan. 29-Feb. 2, Scottsdale Artists School, AZ
2023, Fall Auctions, October 2-27, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2023, Full Tuition Scholarship, Portrait Society of America 25th Conference, May 11-14, Reston, VA
2022, Lineage: Generations of Realism, November 20-December 10, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2022, Open Studios, November 12-13, Greenville, SC
2022, Drawings from Life: Works on Paper, August 8-26, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2022, Best-in-Show, Annual Open Painting, Sculpture, & Graphics Exhibition, July 18-August 5, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2020, Semi-Finalist, Art Renewal Center 15th Annual International Salon
2020, Open Studios, Greenville, SC
2019, Dacia Gallery Spring Artist’s Residency, Dacia Gallery, NYC
2018, Dacia Gallery Holiday Exhibition, Dacia Gallery, NYC
2018, Open Studios, Greenville, SC
2018, Flat Out Under Pressure, Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC
2018, Open Studios Retrospective, Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC
2017, Open Studios, Greenville, SC
2017, ARTISPHERE Artists of the Upstate Juried Exhibition, Greenville, SC
2017, Open Studios Retrospective, Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC
2016, 10 x 10 = 100 Challenge (invitational), Greenville Center for Creative Arts, SC
2016, Open Studios, Greenville, SC
2016, Looking Forward/Looking Back: A Fresh Look at Contemporary Still Life in the Upstate, BJU, Greenville, SC
2016, ARTISPHERE Artists of the Upstate Juried Exhibition, Greenville, SC
Bibliography
Malafronte, Allison: “Five to Watch,” Fine Art Connoisseur, Vol. 20, Issue 1, February 2023. p.50
Cuenca, Melody: “Nathan Bertling transforms people, places into calming art,” Greenville Journal, 26 April, 2019, p. 27-28
Bright, Terri: "Moment's Notice," TOWN Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 4, April 2018, p. 132
Turner, Ariel: “Opening New Doors,” Greenville Journal, November 2016, p. 28
Moore Keith, Abby: “Painter’s Perspective,” TOWN Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 6, June 2016, p. 53-54
Collections
Works are held in private collections across the Southeastern United States and abroad.
Professional
2018-present, Private Tutor
2017-2018, Drawing Instructor, Greenville Center for Creative Arts, SC
2017, Brandon Fellows Mentor, Greenville Center for Creative Arts, SC
2006-2008, Portrait Drawing Instructor, The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas, Asheville, NC
Education
Secrets to Painting Edges Workshop, with ARC Living Master Tina Garrett, Scottsdale Artists School, AZ, Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2024
Spring Portrait at the Louvre, Studio Escalier: Timothy Stotz & Michelle Tully, Paris, France, March 13-31, 2023
New York City Artist Residency, Dacia Gallery, NYC, April 2019
Bo Bartlett Master Class, Columbus State University & Bo Bartlett Studio, Columbus, GA, 2016
The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas, under ARC Living Master B.F. Long, IV, Asheville, NC, 2002-2008
Furman University, Bachelor of Arts: Interdisciplinary Studies, cum laude, Greenville, SC, 1992-1996