Jack O’Connor (b. 1996) first studied Classical Latin and Spanish literature at Fordham University where he graduated from in 2019. He is a classically trained painter from Natick, Massachusetts whose work reflects a deep commitment to craftsmanship, historical technique, and emotional sincerity. From 2021 to 2025, he studied at the Florence Classical Arts Academy mainly under professors Sergei & Svetlana Kurbatskaya, Andre Piankovsky, Arsenii Nefedov, and Yuri Dyaltov, immersing himself in the rigorous Russian academic tradition. 

Since beginning his formal training, O’Connor has exhibited at Evac Gallery in New York City (2022), the Carrousel du Louvre’s Salon International d’Art Contemporain in Paris (2023), and most recently in the Almenara Fall Online Exhibition (2024), where his diploma work, "The Witching Hour," was featured.

At the core of his practice is a relentless sketching discipline. Following the ancient Greek painter Apelles’ injunction that not a day should pass without at least tracing a line, Jack is always armed with an A4 sketchbook and seventy pencils sharpened like a prison shiv in his bag, ready to capture portraits and the fleeting gestures of the people around him—whether they be strangers on the tram, his friends, his fiancée, or himself in the mirror. This mix of discipline and childlike curiosity has greatly sharpened his eye and quickened his hand over the years, allowing him to tackle his more ambitious works in the studio with greater confidence and sincerity. The result is a body of work that is rough yet refined, confident yet deeply observant—always grounded in and true to life. 

Now based between Florence and the U.S., Jack continues to investigate and adapt historical processes to serve his evolving artistic voice. In a time when AI paints and types faster than any human can think, Jack works slowly, stubbornly, pacing back and forth from his easel, sometimes making strides and other times agonizing over his mistakes, yet never losing faith in himself or the principles that guide him.