Born in New York City, Jacob Collins received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College in 1986. He also studied at the New York Studio School, the New York Academy of Art, L’Ecole Albert Defois, and the Art Students League, before founding the prestigious Water Street Atelier in 1995.

In 2005 he founded The Grand Central Academy of Art and, in 2006, the Hudson River School for Landscape to answer the needs of a rising generation of talented artists.

Combining a technique reminiscent of the nineteenth-century American realists with a freshness of vision scarcely encountered among today’s traditional painters,

Collins’ works form that rarest of unions where classic beauty and striking originality meet as harmonious equals. He has had over 20 solo shows and numerous group exhibitions at prominent galleries in North America and Europe.

Jacob Collins has been commissioned to paint portraits of numerous luminaries, including J. Paul Getty, Jr., President George H.W. Bush, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger. His work is included in several American institutions, including Harvard’s Fogg Museum and Amherst’s Mead Art Museum as well as a multitude of important private collections. Currently, Collins is represented by Hirschl & Adler Modern (NYC), the John Pence Gallery (San Francisco), and Meredith Long & Co. (Houston).