Orlando Rafael Quevedo was born on Janauary 1st, 1970 in Holguin, Cuba. At an early age he showed an interest in fine arts and specifically drawing. He started his fine art education in 1982, attending the highly respected vocational school of art. At the age of 8 he won the first prize at the National Celebration of the History of Cuba Competition, surpassing 14 to 18 year old students. He continued his studies at the Professional School of Fine Art in Holquin, where only five students are chosen to attend. Orlando received his Masters Degree from the Superior Art Institute of Havana, Cuba in 1993.

One of the first works which one can observe his promising talent for painting was an oil portrait painting of his grandmother. Until this Day the portrait is featured in one of the most important art school museums in Cuba.

Orlando Immigrating to the United States of America
Orlando's father was the first member of his family to leave Cuba and head to the USA. His father settled in Philadelphia. Orlando followed after 15 years and made Philadelphia his home as well. He always speaks of the moment of re-uniting with his father and how it had a major impact on his style of painting. He speaks of it as the happiest moment of his life and he decided to express that with his vivid colors.

Orlando's Time with the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art
Orlando now resides in Philadelphia and along with his fine painting career; he worked as a professor of Art Appreciation at LaSalle University for ten years. He also worked as a curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art, one of the most reputable art museums in USA. He helped beautify the city of Philadelphia by painting several large murals in the downtown area.

Orlando's Paintings [Orlando Rafael Quevedo In His Studio.]
At the young age of 35, Orlando, is the nation's proponent of "Magical Realism". Magical Realism is an aesthetic style in which magical elements blend with the real world. His paintings portray these magical elements as realistic as possible, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same subject matter.

A typical Orlando painting may include representations of works by renowned artist such as Chagall, Degas, Lautrec, Miro, Monet, Mucha , O'keefe, Picasso, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh.

Inspired by his favorite artists, Peter Paul Rubens, Velazquez and Rembrandt, he continues to pay homage to these "Masters" as he combines their techniques to create the light, drama and movement that clearly define a continually evolving Baroque, surreal and magical style. When asked about why he loves paying homage to the masters in his paintings, he states that during his time at the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art he felt that it was a natural progression to include some of the paintings he spent years observing. Orlando is a master of the light and shadow technique, the depiction of light and shadow is an important technique to represent illusory space in a painting. Without light, nothing can be seen but with shadow and shade objects and the Space surrounding them can be realistically defined.

Orlando explains that the hardest thing for a fine artist is to give the spectator an impression of a three dimensional world on a flat canvas. This is when a lot of artists go wrong.

Orlando's Development of Limited Edition Prints
Orlando has been producing small editions of hand signed giclee prints on canvas to be able to meet the demand of his collectors. The average edition size is 99, signed and numbered by the artist with a small number of artist's proofs. He is currently working on new mediums such as works on paper, and hand embellished works on canvas. Orlando is always exploring new trends in the world of print-making to be able to reach his large following worldwide.

Orlando's Exhibitions and Achievements
Orlando recently opened his first permanent gallery in Philadelphia. The gallery also includes his personal studio and painting room. He personally worked on the design and architecture of the building. He also operates a fine art printing atelier where he controls the quality of his fine art prints and keeps a personal archive of all his editions for copyright purposes.

Orlando's works are exhibited in over thirty major art galleries and art auction homes around the United States and Europe. His work is regularly exhibited in Art Expo, New York, one of the largest art fairs to the trade and collectors.