Jan Anders Nelson is a classically trained artist working in a variety of mediums and subjects, based in the Northwestern United States.

Earning a Master of Arts from the University of Wisconsin in 1977, Jan also spent time living in New York City attending New York University, working on a series of drawings under the mentorship of fellow artist and friend Don Eddy.

Jan's artwork has been described variously as hyperrealism, photorealism, or precisionism, though he prefers contemporary realism. This multidisciplinary artist captures the narratives and realities of the people and places in his life. Using his camera as a sketchbook, Nelson often relies on multiple photographs to help answer queries that arise in the studio. While his paintings and drawings are created using more traditional methods, his digital photography is oftentimes manipulated in photoshop and reworked by hand.

Jan’s work has been exhibited at several museums, including the Minnesota Museum of Art, Joslyn Museum of Art, Appleton Museum of Art, Knoxville Museum of Art, New Hampshire Institute of Art, Grand Palais in Paris, Coupelouzos Museum in Athens, and the European Museum of Modern Art as well as several invitational and juried shows internationally. 

His work is in collections public and private including the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, The Coupelouzos Museum in Athens and the Terry O. Herndon Collection. A complete CV can be seen here.  

"My Dad manages to produce photography that looks like paintings and drawings that look like photos." Maja Sophia Nelson-Shaffer, 201