Glenn Dean

Glenn Dean was born in 1976 in Torrance, CA. Inspired by early California impressionist painters, he decided to become an artist, himself. Largely self-taught, he is now a respected and much sought-after landscape painter of the West.

Glenn Dean’s childhood interest in art matured into a love of painting landscapes by his early twenties. Exposure to the California and Western landscape painters of the early 1900’s had a great influence on the young artist, and directed the course of his career early on. In the works of such masters as Edgar Payne and Maynard Dixon, Dean saw the “importance of seeing the color of light” while “carefully observing the simple and basic characteristics of a specific location.”

Largely a self-taught Artist, Dean has a passion and joy for discovering answers to the complexities found in the works of those past masters and continues to strive for a similar quality in his own work. In recent years, Dean has turned his attention to the figure within the landscape as he brings the figure closer to the forefront. It is the relationship between the figure and his surroundings which intrigues Dean.

Dean gained recognition early in his career. He has twice been honored as the cover artist for Western Art Collector magazine, and has appeared in several national magazines including Western Art and Architecture, Art of the West, Southwest Art, and American Artist. Dean has won a number of awards including his most recent, the 2018 Henry Farny Award for Best Painting at the Eiteljorg Museum’s Quest for the West Art Show and Sale. In 2017, Glenn won the Artist’s Choice Award at Quest for the West, and in 2016, Glenn was the recipient of the Victor Higgins Award of Distinction for the Best Overall Body of Work. Select awards include: the Gold Thunderbird Award (Best of Show) at Maynard Dixon Country; the first ever Emerging Artist Award presented by Art and Antiques Magazine; and the Grand Prize and Artists’ Choice Award at the inaugural Tucson/Sonoran Desert Museum Plein Air Invitational.

Dean paints on-location throughout the Southwest, dividing his time between deserts, mountains, and coastal subjects. Time in the field and in the studio are equally important to Dean. While working in his studio, Dean is able to paint larger compositions worked from field studies and other references. Dean and his wife, Suzanne, live in his native state of California on the Central Coast.

Dean has been featured in notable national magazines, including Southwest Art, Art of the West, and Western Art & Architecture. He has also won a number of awards.

Select Awards:

2016, Eiteljorg Museum, Quest for the West Show, Award of Distinction for the Best Overall Body of Work

2013, Gold Thunderbird Award (Best of Show), Maynard Dixon Country

2007, Kelman-Ortiz Award. Torrey Pines Painting Invitational

2003, Grand Prize and Artist Choice Award, Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum Painting Invitational

2002, Honorable Mention, San Luis Obispo Painting Festival

2002, Best Miniature Painting Award, San Juan Capistrano Painting festival