Mark Arian first became aware of the transcendent power of art at age 14 while viewing an original Rembrandt painting. At age twenty-one he made a commitment to live the spiritual life of a monk and for the next eighteen years his artistic endeavors were nurtured by his spiritual order, as he was given abundant opportunities for advanced study and worldwide travel while devoting many hours a day to painting. His original oil paintings and drawings, which the artist refers to as Poetic Realism, are the product of heartfelt passion, and more than fifty years of study and observation.
Arian's formal training includes the Angelo Frudakis Academy of Classic Realism in Philadelphia, the Barnstone Studios in Allentown, Pennsylavania, a private art academy in Florence, Italy, and the La Jolla Atheneum and Watts Atelier in San Diego, California. Museums, Corporations, celebrities such as George Harrison and Michael Jackson, former Monarchs the Prince of Saudi Arabia and the Princess of Iran, as well as prominent art collectors in the USA and China have acquired Mark Arian's work.
