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2 Hour Portraits by Carl Grauer

Mark a special moment in your life with an original all prima painting.  It is a great way to remember important moments, such as a wedding, engagement, milestone birthday, or as a gift.  

A two-hour portrait sitting is where the subject is painted from life in a span of two hours with one ten-minute break.  From start to finish it takes about 3 hours of your time. It is, at the root, a practice of confident and creative strokes with a  rendered likeness at a quick pace.  Painting from life is a preferred method, as it will depict a more genuine and life-like quality that is not replicated with the flattening quality of a photograph.  It is recommended to have a live sitting for the two-hour portraits.*  

The final painting is available immediately or after the painting has dried and sealed.

Sitting is complimentary, with option to purchase portrait for $500.

Available Sessions:

Jan 5th Saturday 2-4pm (BOOKED)

Jan 5th Saturday 4.30-6.30pm (BOOKED)

Jan 11th Friday 2-4pm (BOOKED)

Jan 11th Friday 4.30-6.30pm (BOOKED)

Jan 12th Saturday 2-4pm (BOOKED)

Jan 12th Saturday 4.30pm-6.30pm (BOOKED)

Jan 19th Saturday 2-4pm (Booked)

Jan 19th Saturday 4.30pm-6.30pm (Booked)

Two Hour Portraits™ 2013-present

An example of Carl Grauer's approach to portraiture is a series called Two Hour Portraits™. In this series, Carl paints subjects in a set amount of time. This practice focuses on mindful strokes laid with purpose and with energy. It is a goal to render form,depth, color and likeness within this set parameter of two hours.  More than a practice in painting, this series is a ritual involving the mutual gaze in a set window of time. It is also an ongoing portrait of a group. A group of the population with whom Carl has interacted; thus, as much as it is a portrait of a group, it is a portrait of him. This project began in 2012 and it continues to excite because of this element of time. It documents the subjects in specific amount of time and also his evolution as a painter. 


Carl Grauer was born in Kansas, the youngest of four children from a conservative family. He had a strong aptitude for art at a young age, but had limited exposure to the arts in his small, rural community of 700 people. Grauer received a BA in Biology from the University of Kansas and an MFA in Medical and Biological Illustration from the University of Michigan. He eventually moved to New York City, where he found solace in the abundance of arts and culture there. Upon the sudden death of his brother in 2012, Grauer committed his life to the pursuit of his passion for portraiture and art making. He spent two years in London studying figurative and portrait painting and garnered success internationally, including being shortlisted for the 2015 Wells Art Contemporary Award in the UK and exhibiting with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London. Carl Grauer is currently based in Poughkeepsie, NY, in the beautiful Hudson Valley. He primarily works in oil, painting mostly portraits and figure based contemporary paintings.