Robert Sturman (b. 1970) American, Artists Proof Photograph. Sturman used this photo as the cover for his book "Reflections For the Soul." Signed bottom right in pencil. Titled "Monks at Kathmandu" and inscribed "A.P." (artists proof) bottom left in pencil. Original framing label on back. 

Overall: 33 1/2 X 30 in. 

Sight: 30 1/2 X 27 1/2 in. 

#3850 . 

Robert Charles Sturman was born on February 17th, 1970 in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in an environment that fostered his blossoming interest in literature and art. While at boarding school in Idyllwild in 1984 his father gifted him a Pentax K1000 camera, which he began using to document his life and surroundings. After graduating from high school in Santa Monica in 1988 he enrolled at the University of California, Santa Cruz, while simultaneously taking night courses at Otis College of Art and Design. He studied art history and drawing at UCSC, and developed a close friendship with master photographer William Giles, who took him on as an apprentice at his studio in Carmel for two years. His experience there introduced him to printmaking as well, and after he graduated with his BA in 1992 he attended the Memphis College of Art for two more years, working under Italian master painter John Torina, whose imagery had a profound influence on Sturman's drawing, painting, and photography. In 2000, seeking inspiration, he traveled to India and Nepal, where he first became acquainted with yoga and the work of the Indian mystic poet and painter Osho. He developed an appreciation for music over the next two years while making multiple trips to Cuba, creating one of his first artistic series. He then traveled throughout Europe in 2003, where he created multiple images inspired by the works of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Rodin, and Picasso, and developed a highly moralistic activist stance after visiting the Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camp. In 2004 he was selected by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to be the official artist for the 47th Annual Grammy Awards, and the following year he was commissioned by the US Olympic Committee to create exclusive portraits of the Hall of Fame Olympians. Over the next two decades he created striking images from the aftermaths of hurricanes, the insides of maximum security prisons, and the works and achievements of important people in sports, medicine, philanthropy, and the arts.  His time is primarily spent now on California's coast, where he devotes the bulk of his efforts to yoga and bringing it to communities that would otherwise not have the opportunity to explore the practice and its healing benefits. His most recent project began when he adopted a dog who was a survivor of animal testing, using photography and social media to raise awareness about the subject and modern alternatives. With countless solo exhibitions and a prolific body of work, he remains one of the leading "activist artists" of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries.