Biography
Charlottesville’s John Randall Younger is one of the Piedmont’s finest portrait artists. Born in Missouri and raised in Florida, John studied drawing with his father early in life and learned to paint on his own. He has made his home outside Charlottesville for 35 years.
The National Portrait Gallery, in Washington, D.C., has twice honored Younger with entry to its Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, a triennial national contest that invites artists from across the country to submit their best work. Thousands of submissions are winnowed to just 43 finalists. Younger is one of only a few artists to have been admitted twice, winning entry to the 2006 and 2009 contests.
“My father was a working illustrator and wildlife artist. He always had his studio in the house, so I was exposed to art from the outset. He was an excellent draughtsman and an obsessive perfectionist with his own work. I picked up very useful observation and drawing skills from him. Learning to paint is much easier if one can draw well.”
See more in the March 2017 issue of the Piedmont Virginian here.
HONORS
2011 Allied Artists of America Award, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
2009 Jury's Selection, Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
2006 Jury's Selection, Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
1994 Award of Honor, Peninsula Fine Art Center, Newport News, VA
1993 Representational Painting Award, Peninsula Fine Art Center, Newport News, VA
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2011: Seventy-Fifth National Midyear Exhibition" at The Butler Institute of American Art, Yougstown.Ohio
2009: Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
2007: Los Angeles Art Show, Santa Monica, CA
2007: Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2006: Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
2006: Art Chicago, Group Show, IL
2006: Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2005: Art Chicago in the Park, Il
2005: Group Show, Gallery Henoch New York, NY
2005: San Francisco International Art Exposition, Ca
2004: Art of the 20th Century, New York, NY
2004: Group Show, Doran Gallery, Tulsa OK
2004: Group show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
2003: Butler Institute of Art, Youngstown, OH
2000: Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
1999: Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
1996: Gallery Henoch, “The Realist Figure”, New York, NY
1995: Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY
1994: The Peninsula Fine Art Center, Newport News, VA
1994: The Virginia Bar Association, Richmond, VA
1994: Piedmont Virginia College, Charlottesville, VA
1993: The Different Eye, Traveling Exhibition, Newport News,VA
1992: Peninsula Fine Art Center, Newport News, VA
1991: McGuffy Art Center, Charlottesville,VA
1985: Art in Embassies Program, Belgium
1984: Gallery at Centerville, Wilmington, DEL
1982: Gallery ll, Charlottesville, VA
1976: Community Center, Boca Grande, FL
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Seven Bridges Foundation, Greenwich, CT
C& P Telephone, Richmond, VA
United Virginia Bank, Richmond, Va
E. R. Carpenter, Richmond, VA
Old Dominion Electrical Corporation, Richmond, VA
Hirschler, Fleischler, Weinberg, Cox & Allen, Richmond, VA
Bayard Sharp, Wilmington, DEL
Peter Pulitzer, Palm Beach, FL
John Grisham, Charlottesville, VA
Giovanni Ribisi, Los Angeles, CA
North Carolina Ducks Unlimited, NC
Virginia State Bar, Richmond, VA
Wheat First Securities, Richmond, VA
PUBLICATIONS
Seven Bridges Collection: The First Fifteen Years 1993-2008. Ed. Anna F. Burgess. Seven Bridges Foundation, 2009.
"Painting with Egg-Oil Emulsion Medium.” American Artist Magazine, January 1992.
EDUCATION
Studied sculpture and life drawing at The Portland School of Fine Arts, Portland, ME, 1972-73
Self-taught painter