Sylvia Schuster

With a career spanning six decades, Sylvia Schuster, born in 1943, depicts in her work her deep understanding of the human form. As a young child roaming the corridors of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Sylvia Schuster spent endless hours drawing torsos, Egyptian Mummies and African Heads. Early on she was recognized as a child with exceptional ability.

Sylvia says of her many drawings, “They are a part of me. I remember them. I know when I did them. They are my friends.” Speaking of why most of her work is in black and white she relays, “I was forced to use black and white a lot because I just could not afford paints. Cadmium yellow, cadmium red and vermillion are very expensive paints. The earth colors were much cheaper. I could use inks. The inks were cheaper because they went further, but I spent $20-25 a day on ink, every day. I did big brown heads like this one with the sepia ink and burnt sienna ink, charcoal and brown. I just kept making more and more heads and doing collages and making prints. It was a wonderful experience.”

Schuster attended :’Academia de Bella Arts in Rome as a member of the Rhode Island School of Design. Ms. Schuster earned her B.F.A from R.I.S.D in 1965, and continued her studies in Italy on a Fulbright grant and a Prix de Rome scholarship. In 1967, she earned a M.F.A from Crenbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Ms. Schuster also studied at Boston University at Tanglewood, the University of Iowa, New York Studio School, Creighton University, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the University of Illinois.

Sylvia Schuster was invited to serve residences at the Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, New York, Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York, and the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forrest Illinois. In 1999, she was the artist in residence for the Summer Six Art Program at Skidmore College.