From early childhood in Manhattan's East Harlem, Ralph Papa exhibited a strong passion and natural talent for drawing and painting. First lessons at age five were from his father, Edward and later at age nine from Television's first media artist John Gnagy. In the 1960's after developing his own style, he studied art and architecture at Queens College City College of New York and painted under Henry Gasser at the Art Students League. Through the 1960's and 70's, his paintings were of larger than life faces conjuring a pensive mood with feelings of isolation and loneliness. In the past 20 years, Papa has lightened up as seen in his studio paintings while in Iran in 1978. In the 1990's he began plein-air painting on-location in the New York Hudson Valley, the Long Island Hamptons and Palm Beach Florida. Spanning more than 40 years, his artworks present an evolved style that reflects his admiration and respect for nature and individuality. Papa is a member of the Garrison Art Center, the Delray Art League and the Professional Art Guild at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. He resides and paints in New York and Southeast Florida and teaches drawing and painting at the Cornell Museum of Art in Delray Beach, Florida.
