Diana Ross; mixed media on paper by S. Kluchik; Size: 22,5"x28,5"", with frame: 31"x37"; painted in 1988; Steven Kluchik was born on April 19, 1946 in Budapest, Hungary. He studied Ethnography and Art History in college, but found his passion for the arts once he started copying Leonardo and Michelangelo’s works. His interest in the French Impressionists, such as Renoir, sprouted later on. During the rise of communism in Hungary, Kluchik’s work was unacceptable in a country where only Socialist-Realist paintings were advocated. While he showed success in other countries, such as Germany, he was unable to obtain a professional license in his own country. The acts of his home country towards him pushed the artist to escape to an Austrian refugee camp. Later on, he immigrated to America, and has been working here since. Kluchik continually aspires to search for the beauty of nature, and explore the fine depth of dimensions through his works.