Graves International Art

Adolf Sehring (1930-2015) was a Russian/German-American realist painter. Best known for his landscape, figurative, and still-life paintings, Sehring's career was characterized by change and upheaval. Born in Russia on June 8, 1930, he moved from attending art school in Berlin after World War II to Philadelphia in 1949, and subsequently enlisted in US military service during the Korean War. During this time, he taught himself to paint, gaining recognition by portraying popular actresses Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell during his military stint, and returned to the US in the early 1950s to pursue advertising and illustrating. Sehring continued to paint until death in Punta Gorda, FL on March 4, 2015, garnering regional acclaim and prominent commissions like a papal portrait of Pope John Paul II in 1979, and a bronze sculpture of Pocahontas in 1994. His works are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Grand Palais in Paris, U.S. Embassy to Sweden, Chrysler Museum, Mellons, Temple University, Museum of St. Mary's, Bayly Museum of Virginia, the U.S. State Department and the Vatican, among many other private and public collections.