Michael Newberry (b. 1956) is an American neo-romantic figurative painter residing in Idyllwild, California. His work integrates passion, intellect, and visual perception. Influenced by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and contemporary sculptor Martine Vaugel. His major works are typically life-sized canvases. Newberry has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Rome, Athens, and Brussels.[1]
Self-portrait photograph of Michael Newberry, 2023.
Education and early career
Newberry began painting at age 11 and sold his first work at 17. He studied fine arts at the University of Southern California from 1974 to 1977 and furthered his education at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and the Free Academy Psychopolis in The Hague.[2]
Newberry studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and the Free Academy Psychopolis in The Hague.[3]
The Sculptor (1980), oil on linen, by Michael Newberry
Teaching
He taught figure drawing, composition, and painting at the Otis/Parsons Institute in Los Angeles from 1990 to 1994.[4]
Advocacy
He created and organized the Foundation for the Advancement of Art, which held a conference "Innovation, Substance, Vision: The Future of Art" at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan on October 6, 2003, featuring speakers: philosophers Stephen Hicks and David Kelley, vision scientist Jan Koenderick, and sculptor Martine Vaugel. The mission of the Foundation was to recognize and promote innovative, contemporary representational painters and sculptors.[5][6]
Critical reception
Tennis and artistic beginnings (1976)
At age 19, while studying at the University of Southern California on a tennis scholarship, Newberry balanced competitive tennis with his developing interest in painting. In a 1976 profile in the San Diego Union titled "Newberry Polishes Up Strokes," journalist Linda Kozub described him as "putting in a lot of time these days working on two kinds of strokes"—on the tennis court and at his artist’s easel. In the same article, Newberry stated, "I’m very serious about art. I figure that’s what I’m going to do for the rest of my life."[7]
Early reviews (1983)
In a 1983 review in the New York Tribune, art critic James Cooper described Newberry as "an artist on [the] verge of stating a theme" following his first solo exhibition at the NOHO Gallery. Cooper wrote that Newberry's realism was "unmarred by affectation or compromise with abstractionist considerations," and that while his paintings contained "the necessary ingredients ... to create a statement," their message "was not yet clear."[8]
Greek reception (1996)
In 1996, Greek critic Aristeidis Miaoulis reviewed Newberry's exhibition at the To Dendro gallery in Rhodes in the Ta Politistika ("Arts & Culture") section of the local newspaper I Rodiaki (The Rhodian). Miaoulis wrote that Newberry’s work had "grown in depth and drama" and praised his "technical mastery and expressive power." He described the exhibition as revealing "a mature artistic personality" and "a continual evolution of technique and vision."[9]
Another 1996 article in the Rhodes newspaper I Rodiaki (The Rhodian) described Newberry’s work as combining “strong draftsmanship” with “an unflinching sincerity, free of affectation or mysticism.” The review praised the emotional depth of his paintings such as The Tree and Ascension, noting “a hidden charm in the artistic vision of the painter.”[10]
A separate article by archaeologist and art historian Thodoris Archontopoulos in the same newspaper discussed Newberry’s exhibition at the To Dendro gallery, emphasizing his “meticulous preparation and complete command of form and light.” Archontopoulos described Newberry’s process—beginning with studies in charcoal and pastel before moving to oil—as marked by “discipline, clarity, and emotional strength.”[11]
Engagement with Kamhi and Torres
In 2001, Michael Newberry published “On Metaphysical Value-Judgments” in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies[12] and presented a related lecture, “Detecting Value Judgments in Painting,” at The Objectivist Center’s Summer Seminar in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The text of that lecture was later published by The Atlas Society in 2015.[13] Both works challenged Louis Torres and Michelle Marder Kamhi’s interpretation of Ayn Rand’s aesthetic theory in What Art Is: The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand. Kamhi and Torres replied in 2003,[14] describing Newberry’s interpretation as “facile” and “lamentably all too common among Objectivists.”
Reception of The Art Studio Companion
In a 2025 review, Alexandra York—arts and culture columnist for Newsmax and founding president of the American Renaissance for the Twenty-first Century—described The Art Studio Companion as “a technically detailed tutorial ... [and] indispensable go-to guide for both beginner and professional artists.” Writing on her site Art for the 21st Century, York called the book “an all-encompassing workshop on how to technically and expressively create universally relevant, soul-stirring art,” and commended Newberry for “offering a vast but thorough prismatic window into the artful art of art.”[15]
Recent commentary (2025)
In a 2025 clip from his presentation Philosophy for Real Life, philosopher Stephen Hicks stated:
“I would say my favorite living painter is an artist named Michael Newberry. He is a contemporary painter based out of California, and I’ve been following his career and how he’s developed… What I get from viewing his work is a sense that here is someone who loves the world and loves human beings. He is very skilled at choosing things that I like to look at and spend time with—sometimes a minute, sometimes two minutes, however long I’m looking at a given painting.”[16]
↑ Kozub, Linda (March 1976). "Newberry Polishes Up Strokes." The San Diego Union.
↑ Cooper, James (July 29, 1983). "Michael Newberry: An Artist on Verge of Stating a Theme." New York Tribune (Arts section).
↑ Μιαούλης, Αριστείδης (1996). "Η Έκθεση του Michael Newberry στο Δέντρο" [The Exhibition of Michael Newberry at To Dendro], I Rodiaki (The Rhodian), Ta Politistika (Arts & Culture section) (in Greek), Rhodes, June 1996.
↑ "Έκθεση Ζωγραφικής του Newberry" [Art Exhibition of Newberry], I Rodiaki (The Rhodian) (in Greek), Rhodes, June 22, 1996.
↑ Αρχοντόπουλος, Θοδωρής (1996). "Ο Michael Newberry εκθέτει στη Ρόδο, στο φιλόξενο χώρο του βιβλιοπωλείου Το Δέντρο" [Michael Newberry Exhibits in Rhodes, at the Welcoming Space of To Dendro Bookstore], I Rodiaki (The Rhodian) (in Greek), Rhodes, June 1996.
↑ Newberry, Michael. “On Metaphysical Value-Judgments.” The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, Spring 2001, pp. 331–346.
↑ Newberry, Michael. “Detecting Value Judgments in Painting.” The Atlas Society, November 23 2015, .
↑ Kamhi, Michelle Marder, and Louis Torres. “What ‘Rand’s Aesthetics’ Is, and Why It Matters.” The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, Fall 2003, pp. 1–64.
↑ York, Alexandra (2025). "A Master Class for Artists." Art for the 21st Century. art-21.org. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
↑ Hicks, Stephen (2025). Philosophy for Real Life [video clip].
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