the words wrestling with the canvass on a white background.
A blindfolded middle-aged man clambers over bricks.

Above: Allegory of Ignorance, oil on linen, 18″ x 24″

Right: Cheating at Solitare, oil on canvas, 22″ x 23″ 

A bald man sits alone at a table for two with playing cards. A leather jacket hangs in the corner. A poured out bottle is on the table, along with cans of alcohol on the floor.
a white and yellow logo with the letter m.

arc A. Duquette is a contemporary realist figure and portrait painter working in oils. His work has been included in

numerous local, national, and international exhibitions. He has been selected as an ARC International Salon finalist twice and recently was published in American Art Collector and Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. His work has won numerous awards and been collected all over the country, as well as in Toronto, ON. He is a member of the Salmagundi Club in NYC, Buffalo Society of Artists, and the Western NY Artists Group.

After graduating from SUNY Buffalo State College (B.A., Art) in 2002, he attended several workshops and continued to study on his own for the next eight years. Marc was introduced to the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto and fell in love with it. He studied part time for seven years, learning an Academic method and tradition of drawing and painting. The program he studied is based on the French Academy of the 19th century. By acquiring the skills necessary to achieve a high level of competence in painting and drawing, Marc believes he can justly translate his ideas onto canvas.

Aside from art, Marc was involved in wrestling throughout high school and college. He competed for Hofstra University and after, training for Senior National level events and the US World Team trials. While in college, Marc began coaching at a local club, later for a community college, and finally at a high school. He has found that many of the hard lessons learned from wrestling can be translated directly to being a professional painter.

A somber looking man sits at a counter, staring down, unmoved by the bowl of soup in front of him. Behind him, there is a crowd of people watching him, speaking amongst themselves.

Soup at the Bar, oil on canvas, 20″ x 30″

A bald man with a beard, wearing glasses sits apprehensively with his hands on his thighs.

Resolute, oil on linen, 18″ x 12″

“My figurative oil paintings and drawings are a reflection on various aspects of my life. I paint in a classical representational style of the Old Masters, while creating contemporary images. Metaphors are often used in my work to illustrate a belief, experience, or emotion. Some works are personal reflections on my life and the experiences that have shaped it. Other work is a commentary on, or reaction to events, people, society, and life in our world. An image develops in my mind to communicate in a way that my words are not always able to articulate. In either manner, I aim to speak to the many challenges and universalities of being human in today’s world.”  –  Marc Duquette

A three-quarters view of a black man with a beard, done in graphite.
A woman with brown hair faces left. She has a studded earring with a flowy blouse and green sleeves.

Above: Reflections, oil on linen, 16″ x 12″

 

 

Left: Wrestler’s Badge of Honor