Biography

For more than 30 years, Lyme - Connecticut based portrait artist, Cynthia M. Bourbeau, has executed hundreds of portrait commissions in the USA. These oil paintings and pastels hang in private homes, corporate offices, public collections, and museums.

Classically trained, Cynthia resides in close proximity to the endless wealth of masterpiece art in New York City and Boston. Her own works pay tribute to the masters - and more. Cynthia’s portraits and figures not only reflect outstanding individual qualities, but the soul of her subjects. Her work captures significant moments in time that allow people to receive magic memories for years, as well as creating a legacy for future generations.

Cynthia’s formal art training has been a long and intense process. At the University of Hartford, art history and contemporary art trends were matched with figurative / portrait theories and techniques. Her subsequent training at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts blossomed in the grand tradition of classical portraiture under highly influential Robert Brackman. Humanity was taught to be the most beautiful, exciting thing in the world expressed on canvas. She then followed numerous workshops with notable artists to refine her technique; Art Students League (NYC); National Academy of Design (NYC). Finally, of great value and importance, were years spent as a museum copyist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC); Museum of Fine Arts (Boston); Yale Art Gallery / Yale Center for British Art (CT); National Portrait Gallery (DC); and the Clark Art Institute (MA).

With the re-emergence of high-end portraiture, Cynthia’s commissions include men, women, children, groups, notables, as well as sporting men and women in field and stream, and at the racetrack (motorsports). Details in the background often illuminate the sitter’s interests and passions.