Richard La Presti is a modern New York City artist since the 1960s, who’s most recent works include landscapes and still lifes near and around his home now in the Catskill mountains.  There he paints using mediums of acrylics, pastels, and watercolors capturing mountain views, bathers on shorelines, as well as still lifes in his studio. 

La Presti is known for his series of paintings capturing sunbathers communing on the shore.  His landscapes are descriptive of the scene, created with bold and heavy brushstrokes.  La Presti conveys his enthusiasm of form and color in his images be it a crowded studio table or figures lounging by the water. 

Writing about La Presti, Gabriel Laderman stated:  “He is a very passionate man.  His paintings are, in fact, meditative, they are also full of passion.  Passion for … people.. the sky and the clouds.. the land, the trees and foliage and (his work) is full of zest and verve.” 

La Presti said of his work, “I derive inspiration from all periods of art history in terms of color.  I am particularly fond of the modern masters such as Matisse, Dufy, Derain, and Mondrian and figurative artists such as Kossoff and Giacometti in their drawings and structures.”

Richard La Presti holds a Bachelors of Fine Art from the Pratt Institute and is an associate member of the Bowery Gallery in New York City and is a member of Zeuxis, an association of still life painters.

In 1993 he was awarded the Ingram Merrill Award for painting.