Nanette Fluhr's paintings bridge centuries, blending Old Master techniques with contemporary realism to reveal timeless human character. With extensive professional experience spanning three decades, she brings the discipline of classical training into dialogue with a modern vision, creating oil portraits that feel both intimate and enduring.
Her work has been exhibited in major museums including the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, the Reading Public Museum, and the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art, where she was a finalist in their inaugural international painting competition.
She was selected for Contemporary American Realism, a landmark exhibition that toured six national museums across China, representing the strength and vitality of American figurative painting.
Her painting has been sold at Sotheby's, reflecting both critical and collector recognition.
Fluhr's work is also permanently archived in the Lunar Codex, a time capsule of art and literature launched aboard NASA-partnered missions to the moon. Her painting was included in the landing of the Odysseus spacecraft, the first U.S. moon landing since 1972 and the first commercial spacecraft to reach the lunar surface. This makes her among the first women artists in history to have work preserved beyond Earth.
Nanette Fluhr has received numerous awards and honors from leading artistic organizations, including the Art Renewal Center, the Portrait Society of America, the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists, BoldBrush, the School of Visual Arts, and The Artist’s Magazine (Top Ten Award). In 2022, she received the HerStory Award from Manhattan Arts International. The following year, she was honored with their Outstanding Woman Artist Achievement Award. American Women Artists presented her with the Distinguished Achievement Award for Portraiture and Figurative Painting. She also received the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Award from Allied Artists of America, the Dorothy Kenney Memorial Award, and the Hannah Mueller Award of Excellence from the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club. Her achievements were formally recognized with a proclamation from the Suffolk County Legislature.
Nanette graduated from Rutgers University and then went on to earn her BFA with Honors from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where she received the Rhodes Family Award for Outstanding Achievement. There she met John Frederick Murray, who taught her drawing, painting and picture making skills gleaned from the techniques of the Old Masters. She is most grateful to him for the profound effect his wisdom and insight have had on her painting.
Mr. Murray became her mentor, and under his tutelage she painted museum-quality master copies of Old Master paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Velázquez, Van Dyck, and Lawrence. As a registered copyist with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, she studied these works firsthand. She also created a master copy of a painting by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun—an artist whose pioneering spirit continues to inspire her.
Fluhr shares her extensive knowledge of traditional realism as a sought-after instructor. She teaches workshops at the Landgrove Inn in Vermont and has taught Master Copy and Portrait Painting at the Art League of Long Island and the Teaching Studios of Art. In partnership with Craftsy.com, she created a seven-episode online video class, Classic Children's Portraits in Oil. She has also worked with Rosemary & Co. Brushes to create two signature brush sets.
In 2022, she was invited to an artist residency at the Pouch Cove Foundation in Newfoundland, Canada, where she created new work in a dedicated studio environment.
Her work and career have been featured in Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, Realism Today, American Artist Magazine, Artist's Magazine, PoetsArtists, Newsday, 25A, The New York Optimist, Rutgers Today, and Universal Principles of Art. She has appeared on News 12 New Jersey and has been the subject of several in-depth artist profiles, including features in BoldJourney and The Art World Post. A full list of selected publications and press can be found on her website.
Nanette has supported many prominent art organizations through the years, including the Portrait Society of America, Oil Painters of America, Poets and Artists, Art Renewal Center, and the Art League of Long Island. She was invited to be a Lifetime Honorary Member of ACOPAL (America Chinese Oil Painting Artists League), is an elected member of Allied Artists of America, and an Associate with Distinction Member of American Women Artists.
She also supports Smile Train, donating a portion of her proceeds to help provide life-changing cleft surgeries for children around the world.
Nanette Fluhr lives and works in Matawan, New Jersey.
Lizzy featured on the Beijing World Art Museum's Jumbotron during the Contemporary American Realism exhibition
