Robert Schefman

Robert Schefman is a sculptor and painter. After achieving an MFA in sculpture at the University of Iowa, he moved to New York City, setting up a studio and producing large scale minimalist steel sculpture. Gradually adding painting to his studio practice, Schefman has continued to make illusionist narrative work the focus of his practice. Fascinated with connecting threads in the social fabric, he uses the illusionist format to address the unchanging reality of sight.

Schefman’s work is in numerous private and public collections including The Broad Museum of Art, East Lansing, MI; The Frank Lloyd Wright Smith House, Bloomfield Hills, MI; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; The Flint Museum of Art, Flint, MI; The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC; The Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL; The 19th District Court, Dearborn; Ford Arts Center, Dearborn; Wayne State University, Detroit; The Cooley Law School, Lansing; The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA and private collections in Detroit, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He was in The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, which toured to multiple museums in the U.S. including the Grand Rapids Art Museum, The Orlando Museum of Art and the Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC. Schefman’s work has been exhibited widely including The Detroit Institute of Art, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Midland Center for The Arts, The Krasl Art Center, Oakland University, The Salamagundi Club, Foley Square/ Federal Plaza, New York City, Robert Kidd Gallery, Manifest Research Gallery and David Klein Gallery.

A native of Detroit, Schefman earned a BFA from Michigan State University, and an MFA from the University of Iowa. Awards include the Kresge Artist Fellowship, Pollack-Krasner Foundation, The Bernard Maas Prize, ArtServe Michigan, The Arts Foundation of Michigan, and the University of Iowa. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and is represented by the David Klein Gallery in Ferndale, MI.

Robert Schefman

Robert Schefman | The Garden

Remember Me: Faces, Places, & Home

Drawing

Summer 2023

Expo Chicago 2023

New Work / New Year

Robert Schefman | Secrets

Pictures of You

A portrait competition that stretches the definition of a likeness

National Portrait Gallery Announces Winners

Expo Chicago

Cookie preferences