Jeffrey T. Larson Returns to the Galleria

Edina, Minnesota | October 15, 2026

Jeffrey T. Larson returns to the Galleria in Edina from October 15 through November 1, 2026, bringing together paintings made during the fourteen years since his last exhibition at the venue. Presented by Objet, the show offers a sustained encounter with an artist whose attention moves between people, places and ordinary objects. It also introduces a movement built around the continuing place of beauty, craftsmanship and representational painting in contemporary culture.

Born in Two Harbors, Minnesota, in 1962 and raised near Minneapolis, Larson studied with Richard Lack at Atelier Lack from 1980 to 1984. His education continued through anatomical study, bronze casting and close examination of paintings in museums in the United States and abroad. That training established the foundation for decades of work, with observation and a growing command of the craft giving him the means to develop his own artistic voice.

For Larson, learning to paint is closely tied to learning to see. In his documentary, he describes still life as a place to consider composition, drawing and subtle shifts in value. Outdoors, changing sunlight asks him to make decisions more quickly. Moving between these settings has helped his drawing and color develop together. His written thoughts on Contemporary Classicism place the trained eye alongside a deep personal aesthetic, with individual perception at the center of the work.

That patient inquiry is visible in the stories behind the paintings. Larson spent three years on White Tricycle, returning to a composition he had brought to apparent completion as he found more to discover. In Color of White, an arrangement of starched linen, porcelain and a pitcher led him into pale rose, sea-glass green and buttercream. The arrangement became an opportunity to explore color with greater subtlety and to follow the beauty he found in soft light.

His work has received national and international recognition. In 2024, the Portrait Society of America awarded its William F. Draper Grand Prize to King Hall. The portrait is now in the permanent collection of the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art. In 2016, the Tweed Museum of Art presented Domestic Space, a retrospective spanning twenty-five years of Larson’s work. These milestones sit within a career devoted to the daily practice of painting.

Teaching is part of that commitment. In 2016, Larson co-founded the Great Lakes Atelier of Fine Art in Duluth with his son Brock. He continues there as director and a full-time instructor. The school carries forward an education grounded in drawing, painting and observation. For Larson, the knowledge received through his own teachers also becomes something to share, helping another generation develop the discipline and perception on which an individual practice can grow.

Objet was founded by Larson and Dean Forbes to restore the cultural prestige of master-level representational art. Its mission joins an artist agency and a foundation. The agency creates opportunity through representation, storytelling and collector relationships. The foundation is dedicated to education and cultural preservation. Together, they seek recognition for a living tradition and carry its knowledge forward through the work of today's artists.

We invite editors, writers and visitors to spend time with the paintings and the ideas behind them. The opening reception takes place on October 15 from 5–9 PM. The exhibition continues through November 1 at the east end of the Galleria, across from Pittsburgh Blue. It is an opportunity to meet the work in person and consider what a lifetime of looking can bring into view.