Don Sahli - Biography

Biography

Don Sahli made the decision to become a professional artist at a very early age. By age 16, he was selling his work and by 18, Sahli was exhibiting side by side with seasoned artists as an established painter. In 1982, this self-taught artist became friends with Russian master painter Sergei Bongart.

During this period with his mentor, Don Sahli was taught in the “old academic way” not how to paint by formula, but how to “see” the relationship of color, form and design in nature. Sahli was the last scholarship student and apprentice of Sergei Bongart. This relationship is a direct link to Ilya Repin, the "fountainhead of modern Russian painting." The heritage: Ilya Repin taught Nicolai Fechin, Fechin taught Peter Kotov, Peter Kotov taught Sergei Bongart, and Bongart taught Don Sahli.

In 1995, Sahli opened the Sahli School of Art in Evergreen, Colorado. “I opened the art school to give the “hungry” student a safe place to learn and work.” Then in 2008, Sahli produced unique art instruction DVDs with interactive features. The school and DVDs create an opportunity for Sahli to meet his goal of carrying on the legacy of his teachers. “My teacher taught, his teacher taught, for me, it is a matter of keeping a tradition alive and of giving something back, but it’s also a critical aspect of the artistic process... it helps one articulate what one is thinking and doing.”

In 2008, Sahli produced unique art instruction DVDs with interactive features, allowing students to bring Art of Painting and his teaching philosophy into their home studio.