Victor Matthews

Young Victor Matthews attended PS138 school in Brooklyn, New York. At his youngest age, he spent hours in his bedroom sketching any usual object that he could put his hands on. He naturally decided to study art, which led him from the High School of Art and Design to a Bachelor of Fine Arts obtained in 1985 at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, before setting up his first studio in the East Village, Manhattan.

Victor Matthews' often large-sized paintings were exhibited in an increasing number of galleries between 1985 and 1992, and then in all the United States. Germany, Italy, France, Saint-Barthélémy and many other countries would follow. The first peak of his career took place in 1999 with a first participation in the Venice Biennale (with Rene Cox), followed by a second appearance in 2013 (this time alongside Paolo Nicola Rossini). Gradually, Victor Matthews' universe got the attention of famous people from the show business and American entrepreneurship. International superstars such as Jay Z, L.A. Reid and Robin Thicke own some of his paintings, as well as Russell Simmons, founder of the legendary Def Jam label, who says his Antarctica painting by Matthews is his absolute favourite. Among the many collectors who acquired Matthews' work are also billionaires Donald Trump and Nathaniel Rothschild, former President of Botswana Festus Mogae, actor Forest Whitaker, author Salman Rushdie, and Ellen DeGeneres.

Victor Matthews (born 1963) is an American painter born in New York City, who now shares his time between his birthplace and Los Angeles. He debuted with the support of the most important artists in NY's street-art scene in the eighties, and now is one of the leading figures of the contemporary art scene alongside Keith Haring, Francesco Clemente, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Donald Baechler, and Brice Marden.