Joseph Sulkowski knew that he would be an artist since childhood. His parents were so supportive of his talent that Sulkowski’s father gave him oil painting lessons when he was only eight years old. Officially choosing fine art as his vocation, Sulkowski studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and later at the Art Students League of New York. While at the Art Students League, Sulkowski met his greatest artistic influence, Frank Mason, who was the foremost American authority on the techniques of the Old Masters. Sulkowski became Mason’s apprentice and learned the traditional principles of painting, like preparing his own canvases and mixing his own oils.

Sulkowski describes his style as “poetic realism,” in which he paints interpretive forms inspired by the natural world. His favorite subjects to paint are animals, figures, and landscapes, and he aspires to “put the world on canvas in just a few strokes.” Sulkowski’s work is collected throughout Europe, North America, and the Far East.