JEFFREY T. LARSON

Expertly Putting the Pieces Together

- Christine Egnoski

The winner of the Portrait Society's 2024 Draper Grand Prize, Jeffrey T. Larson, was born in 1962 in Two Harbors, Minnesota, and grew up in the Twin Cities. He received his artistic training in the style of the Old Masters at the renowned Atelier Lack, a school rooted in the traditions and teaching methods dating back to impressionism and the French academies of the 19th century. Following his formal four-year education, he furthered his studies through museum visits in the United States and abroad. In 2015, Larson founded the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art, aiming to pass on his knowledge by offering a classical training program. This program is modeled after the traditional European Atelier system that thrived in the 19th-century Parisian art scene. I recently interviewed Larson in his studio in Minnesota.

CHRISTINE EGNOSKI: You have been painting for over 40 years and founded an atelier. Can you tell us about your education and what compelled you to open your own atelier?