Artist Statement
A draftsman & painter rooted in the Old Master tradition, I believe in a thick reality—visible and invisible, inhabited together. I revel in making pictures that grapple with the weight and wonder of people and place.
Shaped by this belief in real presences, I labor from life-in-the-round, as much as I can. While our anxious age seems to scatter our attention, I prize the depth and wholeness found in steady composition. Holding historic practices in conversation with contemporary advances, I’m continually relearning how to look & 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 enjoyed a private artist’s residency in Roskilde, Denmark. That summer, he was awarded “Best in Show” at the annual Open Painting, Sculpture, & Graphics Exhibition held by the Salmagundi Club, where he is now a member. During March of 2023, Bertling completed Studio Escalier’s three-week Paris-based drawing intensive, Spring Portrait at the Louvre. Joining the Portrait Society of America in 2023, he studied with Tina Garrett at the Scottsdale Artists’ School in Arizona in early 2024.
Having completed his second solo show at Dacia Gallery in January 2025, Bertling attended Ricky Mujica's Painterly Portrait workshop in May, held at Alia Fine Art Studio in Raleigh, NC. In September, he participated in Karen Offutt’s Narrative Portrait Painting workshop at Atelier Dojo in Austin, TX. While continuing to develop his studio work and execute commissions, Bertling is currently seeking further gallery representation and applying for residency opportunities abroad.
CV
Nathan Bertling, 1974
Art Renewal Center, Living Artist
Portrait Society of America member
Salmagundi Club NYC, Non-Resident Artist member
represented by Dacia Gallery, NYC
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024, All of the Above, Winter solo show, Dec 12-Jan 18, 2025, Dacia Gallery, NYC
2022, Quick to Listen, Spring solo show, March 2-12, Dacia Gallery, NYC
2018, Fall Featured Artist, Coldwell Banker CAINE Main Street Gallery, Greenville, SC
2018, Passing Through, Centre Stage, Greenville, SC
Selected Group Exhibitions & Awards
2026, 142nd Annual Members Exhibition, Part II | Feb 24-Mar 13, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2025, Semi-Finalist, The Almenara Art Prize: Online Exhibition, Sept 1- Nov 30, Córdoba, Spain
2025, Online Summer Travels Exhibition, August 1-31, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2025, Annual Members Exhibition, Jan 28-Feb 14, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2024, 116th Annual Thumb Box Exhibition, Dec 10-Jan 3, 2025, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2024, Open Studios, November 9-10, Greenville, SC
2024, An Enchanted Forest of Fine Art, Beaux Arts Gala, Nov 7-9, Scottsdale Artists School, AZ
2024, Partial Scholarship, Secrets to Painting Edges, Jan 29-Feb 2, Scottsdale Artists School, AZ
2023, Fall Auctions, October 2-27, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2023, Full Tuition Scholarship, Portrait Soc. America 25th Conf., May 11-14, Reston, VA
2022, Lineage: Generations of Realism, Nov 20-Dec 10, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2022, Open Studios, November, Greenville, SC
2022, Drawings from Life: Works on Paper, August 8-26, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2022, Best-in-Show, Open Painting, Sculpture, & Graphics, July 18-Aug 5, Salmagundi Club, NYC
2020, Semi-Finalist, Art Renewal Center 15th Annual International Salon
2020, Open Studios, November, Greenville, SC
2019, Dacia Gallery Spring Artist’s Residency, Dacia Gallery, NYC
2018, Dacia Gallery Holiday Exhibition, Dacia Gallery, NYC
2018, Open Studios, November, Greenville, SC
2018, Flat Out Under Pressure, Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC
2018, Open Studios Retrospective, Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC
2017, Open Studios, November, 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, November, Greenville, SC
2016, ARTISPHERE Artists of the Upstate Juried Exhibition, Greenville, SC
Bibliography
Malafronte, Allison: “Artist to Watch,” Fine Art Today Online, Fine Art Connoisseur, Aug 2024
Malafronte, Allison: “Five to Watch,” Fine Art Connoisseur, Vol 20, Issue 1, Feb 2023, p. 50
Cuenca, Melody: “Nathan Bertling transforms people, places into calming art,” Greenville Journal, 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, Nov 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 & abroad.
Professional
2018-present, Private Painting & Drawing Instructor
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
2025, Narrative Portrait Painting, Karen Offutt, Atelier Dojo, Austin, TX, Sept 5-7
2025, The Portrait: A Painterly Approach, Ricky Mujica, Alia Fine Art, Raleigh, NC, May 16-18
2025, Experimental Approaches to Color (online course), Zoey Frank, Mar 28-May 30
2024, Secrets to Painting Edges, Tina Garrett, SAS, Scottsdale, AZ, Jan 29-Feb 2
2023, Spring Portrait at the Louvre, Studio Escalier, Paris, France, Mar 13-31
2019, Spring Artist’s Residency, Dacia Gallery, NYC
2016, Bo Bartlett Master Class, CSU & Bo Bartlett Studio, Columbus, GA
2002-2008, The Fine Arts League of the Carolinas, Asheville, NC, under Benjamin F. Long, IV
1992-1996, Furman University, Bachelor of Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies, cum laude