About the Artist
Biography
Marianne Rice (b. 1979) is a fine art oil painter and commissioned portrait artist; born, raised and residing in Southwest Wisconsin. She paints in both indirect and alla prima approaches with a primary focus on the portrait and human figure. Marianne is best known for representational portraits that bring a contemporary feel to the traditional genre and capture both the likeness and essence of the person. She aspires to seize through the permanence of oil paint, the nature of the human spirit and to transcend the ordinary into something profound that narrates our fleeting human existence.
Marianne is a member of the Oil Painters of America and the Portrait Society of America. She is also a contributing writer and the current chair of the Portrait Society of America’s Literary Committee. Marianne has been recognized by the PleinAir Salon and has participated in major exhibitions through the Oil Painters of America. As an emerging artist, she continues to study under contemporary living masters like Daniel Keys, Anna Rose Bain, Margaret Carter Baumgaertner, Kathie Wheeler and more.
Marianne feels fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue and create art. It is one of the few innate human impulses that connects us to the past, reaches into the future and holds such power that even amidst the trappings of modern age, still stirs the human heart to longing, nostalgia, familiarity, sadness and joy. What a gift.
RECENT HONORS:
Oil Painters of America National Exhibition
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
$20,000 Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Midwestern Fellowship - 2026
Between the Bluffs Plein Air LaCrosse
Burman Best Figure Award - 2025
Between the Bluffs Plein Air LaCrosse
Burman Best Figure Award - 2023
12th Annual PleinAir Salon Art Competition
January 2023 - "Best Beginner"
Between the Bluffs Plein Air LaCrosse
1st place Quick Paint - 2022
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
Oil Painters of America National Exhibition
Steamboat Art Museum, Steamboat, CO. USA - 2026
Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition
Beverly McNeil Gallery, Birmingham, AL. USA - 2023
Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition
James R. Ross Fine Art, Indianapolis, IN. USA - 2022
PRESS:
"In Honoring Local Group, Rice Perpetuates Community Gifting of Talents." Monroe County Herald, 24 October 2024, p. 1 & 2
https://monroecountyherald.com/stories/in-honoring-local-group-rice-perpetuates-community-gifting-of-talents,95628
"Reflections from a Conference Attendee." Portrait Society of America Blog, 08 June 2023.
https://www.portraitsociety.org/single-post/reflections-from-a-conference-attendee
Rodriguez Moran, Jennifer. "Hidden Talent." Monroe County Herald, 03 November 2022, p. 1 & 5
https://www.monroecountyherald.com/stories/hidden-talent-coaxed-out-of-local-artist,18334
Marianne Rice
(608)633-4655
