Susanna Briselli

Susanna  Briselli was born in Philadelphia, PA. Her training  in  drawing  and  painting  began  at  the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After graduating from New York’s Pratt Institute with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, she returned to Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Fine Arts, studying painting under Neil Welliver.

Shortly thereafter, Briselli began revisiting her interest in photography while continuing to paint.  In 1975, she experimented combining one medium directly with the other. Though the results confounded many at the time, Briselli decided to pursue this approach finding it both challenging and compelling. The first group of “photo-paintings” was exhibited in New York at the Kathryn Markel Gallery in 1979. Briselli continued developing and exhibiting her work in New York and across the country. In 1989, she joined the Witkin Gallery, remaining an active artist on its roster until it’s closing in 2000.

In addition to her studio work, Briselli has received numerous commissions, both private and commercial, including those from The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Random House, Ballantine and Vintage Books.  In addition to her membership in the Professional Women Photographers organization, she is represented by Getty Images, the highly regarded international photography agency.

During the mid-1990’s, a portfolio of Briselli’s photo-paintings from a specially commissioned edition sold at Christie’s auction of 19th & 2Oth Century Photographs.