Donald Traver

Donald Traver completed his studies for BFA at SUNY in New Paltz. He studied artistic anatomy with Robert Beverly Hale at the Art Students League and established long-lasting internships with Miriam Schapiro, a leader of the Pattern and Decoration art movement, and Ida Applebrough.

At the age of 28, Donald became a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts and a NY Foundation for the Arts in Painting grants for his large-scale surrealist paintings. He had his first solo exhibition at Massimo Audieno Gallery in New York in 1984 and has been protean in his practice ever since.  In the 1980’s, Donald joined the vibrant East Village artistic community.

Always an active presence in art community as instructor, educator and curator, Donald had worked as Artistic Director at the Limelight nightclub before venturing onto a 30-year career as Operations Director at the Pace Editions while also teaching drawing and painting as adjunct instructor at NYU.

For over 40 years, on the weekends, Donald has painted en plein air at his country house in rural Pennsylvania, and many of his works, whether figurative or abstract, bear impression of the countryside vernacular.