Oak Park Native Matthew James Collins: Portrait of an Accomplished Italian/American Artist

He hadn’t been to his native Oak Park in a decade, so when artist Matthew James Collins recently made the journey back from his adopted home of Florence, Italy, he made every moment count.

Among the spots on his packed itinerary: the opening of a show featuring his work at a Chicago art gallery, a workshop at the Oak Park Art League, a lecture at the Oak Park Public Library, and an interview for a feature segment on the Village of Oak Park’s Channel 6.

The nine-day stretch in early fall was a decidedly whirlwind pace for someone whose vocation is creating work to be admired over long periods of time—and who does the work in a part of the world that is admired for its leisurely beauty.

Collins’ work ranges from portraitures and landscapes to decorations and figurative objects. His oil paintings, frescoes and sculptures reflect his careful study of the masterworks of the past, as well as an astute observation of nature.

He brought his expertise to the Oak Park Art League one Sunday afternoon, when he led a dozen people in a live-portrait workshop. Collins had taken classes at the Art League as a youngster and has built a relationship with OPAL over the years, said the organization’s executive director, Julie Carpenter.

“He’s been a great asset to us,” Carpenter said. “He’s paying it forward now as an instructor and we’re thrilled that he continues to show his work in our gallery. We are always proud to say that we have art on display from as far away as Italy.”

During his library lecture a few nights later, Collins brought a slice of his adopted country to Oak Park. He shared stories from his experience working as an artist and studying and researching the classical techniques of painting and sculpture in Italy over the past 15 years.

His presentation, “A Dream Incarnate: Plein Air Landscape Painting in Italy,” was held in collaboration with the Oak Park Art League.

For more than 15 years, Collins has been studying and researching the classical techniques of painting and sculpture. And for about 12 of those years he has been teaching – in fact, that’s how he met his wife Celeste, a classical archaeologist. She was a student in one of his summer drawing courses.

They married in 2007 and have two children, 4-year-old Gabriel and 1 ½-year-old Marie-Neige.

Gabriel accompanied his father on the trip to Oak Park, traveling to some of the same spots where he grew up four decades earlier: dinosaurs at the Field Museum, sharks at the Shedd Aquarium, paintings at the Art Institute, and Scoville Park, where his great-grandfather’s name appears on the World War I memorial

Early in his visit, Collins was feted at the opening of his show of paintings, sculptures and drawings at the Michael LaConte Gallery. The show in the Fulton Market neighborhood runs through October 31st.

For Collins, who has known LaConte for over 20 years, it was especially gratifying to have his work on display there.

“He has always believed in me as an artist and I couldn’t be happier,” Collins said of LaConte. “In addition to being a splendid person, Michael’s gallery is elegant and well positioned. It is the perfect environment for my paintings, drawings and sculptures.”

The exhibit is only the latest in Collins’ far-flung artistic reach. His works are represented in public and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. Those venues include the Museu Europeu d’ Art Modern (MEAM) in Barcelona, Spain, the only contemporary art museum in Europe dedicated exclusively to figurative work.

MEAM acquired “Mattia,” his oil portrait of an Italian artist, Mattia Colombo. It is part of the museum’s permanent collection after Director Jose Manuel Infiesta took a personal interest in the classical vision that Collins brings to his work.

Collins also has a sculpture, “Venus Pluvia,” that is currently in the National Sculpture Society’s 82nd Annual Awards Exhibition in Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina.

Artistic associations that include the Portrait Society of America, The National Sculpture Society, the Art Renewal Center and the American Society of Traditional Artists have recognized Collins’ work.

Raised in Oak Park, Collins is the oldest of three brothers who were nurtured by artistically inclined parents who met at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. His father, James Edward Collins, is an award-winning architect, and his mother, Joan, is a novelist who writes under the pen name of J. Bard-Collins.

The thought of having an accomplished career in his own right, however, would have seem far-fetched to Collins after he had a negative experience in a freshman art class at Oak Park and River Forest High School.

“Art seemed something detached from our everyday experience. Figurative art was also non-existent in the 1980s,” Collins recalled. “So I took a break from it. But after graduating high school, I rediscovered my interest and my talent. Art has always been almost a compulsion for me.”

He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he focused on drawing, etching and sculpture. He completed a BA in the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Illinois in Chicago, then traveled to Europe in 1994 to continue his study of art.

At the time, he didn’t plan on making Italy his long-term home—it gradually emerged, then was sealed when he met Celeste.

In addition to his current teaching position, Collins is creating short-term workshops in portrait sculpture, fresco painting and plein air landscape painting for people who travel to Italy.

“It’s a way for them to not only admire the art that is part of what has made the country so famous, but to create it in that setting as well,” he said. “I hope that people in and around Oak Park will be among my students.”

Photo Captions:

Photos 1 through 5: Matthew James Collins at the Oak Park Art League during the live-portrait workshop that he led in late September. He sits with OPAL Executive Director Julie Carpenter in photo #5.

Photos 6 through 9: Images of some of the art created by Matthew James Collins. Photo #9 is “Venus Pluvia,” which is currently in the National Sculpture Society’s 82nd Annual Awards Exhibition in Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina.