Should a painter's biography be in first or third person?

Always third person in a portfolio PDF. 'Laura Chen is a painter': not 'I am a painter.' This is the consistent convention for artist biographies in gallery materials, portfolio PDFs and press releases.

How long should a painter's biography be for a gallery submission?

Between 80 and 150 words. Short enough to read in under 30 seconds. A biography longer than 150 words in a portfolio PDF pushes into space that belongs to the artworks.

What should a painter include in their portfolio biography?

Name, medium, location, education, key exhibitions or residencies, and optionally a sentence about current direction. Only include what is directly relevant to the submission context. Avoid personal narrative: save that for the artist statement.

Is an artist biography the same as an artist statement?

No. A biography is factual and third person: it covers your background, education and career milestones. A statement is first person and explains your thinking, motivations and practice. Both often appear in a portfolio PDF, in different sections.

Artist Bio Examples for Painters

Examples of artist biographies written for painters. See how painters introduce their background, exhibitions and practice in portfolio PDFs for galleries and residencies.

Short painter biography example: gallery submission

This example is typical for a gallery or residency submission. Third person, factual, 100 words:

Laura Chen is a painter based in Vienna whose work investigates colour relationships and spatial perception. She studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and currently lives and works between Vienna and Prague. Her paintings have been exhibited in group exhibitions across Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic, with a focus on contemporary abstraction and process-based painting. She was a resident at the International Studio Programme Vienna in 2024.

What works here: opens with name, medium and location. Mentions education concisely. References recent exhibitions without listing them. Includes one residency. Under 80 words of actual content: clean and fast to read.

Painter biography example: early career

This example is appropriate for an emerging painter with a short exhibition history:

Julien Moreau is a painter based in Lyon working with oil on paper and canvas. He graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon in 2024 and has participated in group exhibitions and open studios across France. His paintings explore the tension between landscape memory and abstracted mark-making. He is currently developing a new body of work informed by a recent residency at Le Générateur, Gentilly.

What works here: honest about career stage (recent graduate). The last sentence suggests active development: important for residency applications where panels want to see forward momentum.

What makes a strong painter biography

A painter biography for a portfolio PDF should answer four questions in under 150 words:

Who are you?: name, medium, location
Where did you study?: one or two lines on education
Where has your work been shown?: key exhibitions or residencies, not an exhaustive list
What is your practice currently doing?: an optional closing sentence that signals direction

Avoid: personal narrative that belongs in the statement, vague descriptions like 'internationally exhibited' without specifics, or promotional language that reads like marketing copy rather than a factual document.

The biography is always written in third person: never first person in a portfolio context.

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