About Hans

Hans Guerin is an award-winning American artist and educator whose work is rooted in observation, traditional craftsmanship, and a lifelong fascination with the visual world.

Working across oil painting, watercolor, drawing, and sculpture, Hans has explored subjects ranging from still life and the figure to landscape, portraiture, and animals. His work moves between highly developed studio paintings and the immediacy of alla prima painting from life, where drawing, color, value, and composition are resolved within a single sitting.

Hans represents the sixth consecutive generation of artists in his family. After earning his bachelor's degree from Salisbury University, he continued his training at the Schuler School of Fine Arts in Baltimore, founded by his grandparents, sculptor Hans C. Schuler and artist Ann Didusch Schuler. His atelier education encompassed drawing, painting, watercolor, sculpture, and the traditional preparation of artists' materials. He later became an instructor and Assistant Director of the school.

Over the course of his career, Hans's work has received recognition in national and international exhibitions and competitions, including those of the Oil Painters of America, National Oil & Acrylic Painters' Society, Art Renewal Center, Salon International, Scottsdale Salon, and International Artist. His work has also appeared in publications including Southwest Art, International Artist, and American Art Collector, as well as books published by North Light Books.

Selected Collections & Commissions

Hans's work is represented in significant public and private collections.

His official portrait of former Maryland First Lady and District Court Judge Catherine Curran O'Malley is part of the Maryland State Art Collection and hangs in Government House in Annapolis, the official residence of Maryland's governor.

His painting Mother Earth was acquired by Audrey and Ambassador Raúl Yzaguirre and was formally unveiled at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in the Dominican Republic.

Hans was also among artists commissioned through the Schuler School of Fine Arts by the City of Baltimore to create portraits honoring notable Marylanders for the permanent collection of Baltimore City Hall. His contributions include drawings of Babe Ruth and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, along with additional work from the series. The collection was publicly unveiled at City Hall in 2004 and covered by The Baltimore Sun.

Painting from Life

An important part of Hans's practice has been working directly from life and sharing that process publicly.

Through live demonstrations and his Hans Guerin – Art Mentor video work, he has painted figures and still lifes alla prima, allowing viewers to watch a painting develop from its first marks to its final decisions in real time. Unlike his more extensively developed studio paintings, these works embrace the immediacy and uncertainty of completing a painting while the paint remains wet, often within a single session.

For Hans, the value of this process is not simply speed. It is the discipline of observation—making decisions about drawing, value, color, edges, and composition while the subject is present and the painting is unfolding.

Selected Recognition

National & International Exhibitions
Oil Painters of America · National Oil & Acrylic Painters' Society · Art Renewal Center International Salon · Salon International · Scottsdale Salon

Selected Publications & Features
Southwest Art · International Artist · American Art Collector · North Light Books

Public, Diplomatic & Notable Collections
Maryland State Art Collection / Government House, Annapolis · Baltimore City Hall Permanent Collection · Audrey and Ambassador Raúl Yzaguirre Collection

Education & Professional Experience
Salisbury University · Schuler School of Fine Arts · Instructor & Assistant Director, Schuler School of Fine Arts · Artist, educator, juror, and public demonstrator