Biography

Matthew Holden Bates is an American painter and novelist based in Florence, Italy. Born in Washington, D.C., he grew up surrounded by art, music, and creativity. His father, Stephen Bates, was a clarinet player in the Marine Band, his sister Jessica became a theater actress, his grandmother and great aunt were both painters, and his mother Isabella teaches meditation.

Growing up in Washington was a powerful introduction to the art world. As a child, he visited many of the city’s great museums, including the National Gallery, the Corcoran, and the Phillips Collection. He began painting when he was young, but it was at Sidwell Friends High School that art became a serious part of his life.

His teacher Percy Martin encouraged experimentation with printmaking, drawing, watercolor, and acrylic painting. Later, while studying in San Francisco, Bates found himself drawn away from advertising and toward the art department, where drawing, design, and painting became central to his path.

A turning point came when sculptor Thomas Marsh advised his anatomy students that if they considered themselves artists, they should buy a plane ticket to Florence. Bates eventually followed that advice and came to Florence through Gonzaga University’s Florence program.

In Florence, he lived in a pensione in the historic center and met Manola, who has been part of his life ever since. After a brief return to San Francisco, life brought him back to Florence at the age of twenty-two. There he had to learn a new language, a new culture, and a new way of living.

Painting became his anchor. Florence began to shape his vision, and he started taking photographs of the city in search of compositions. As digital photography developed, his process evolved. He began collecting thousands of images, searching for scenes that could become paintings.

His cityscapes tell the story of his life in Florence. Each painting can take many months, sometimes up to a year, to complete. They capture people in real moments: lovers, tourists, people waiting in line, people on phones, people crossing the street, and the daily theater of life inside historic architecture.

Florence and the Work

Bates works from his own photography, creating highly detailed cityscapes and figurative paintings that capture everyday life within the historic architecture of Florence. His paintings are not only views of the city, but records of people moving through it in time.

Selected Exhibitions

1997 Artisans Gallery, Washington D.C. USA
1998 Watergate Gallery, Washington D.C. USA
1998-2000 Mannaioni Gallery, Firenze, Italy
1998 Piansa Gallery, One Man Show, Firenze, Italy
1998 Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. USA
2001 Ken’s Gallery, Firenze, Italy
2001 Florence Art Gallery, Firenze, Italy
2001 Art-E-Mail, Marbella, Spain
2001 American Consulate, Firenze, Italy
2002 Agora Gallery, New York City
2002 Art-E-Mail, Marbella, Spain
2003 Enoteca Giraldi, One Man Show, Firenze, Italy
2004 Figaro Gallery, Annandale, Virginia USA
2005 Figaro Gallery, Annandale, Virginia USA
2006 Flowers That Last Forever, Figaro Gallery, Annandale, Virginia USA
2006 Art in Progress, SKY TV Italy, Leonardo Channel
2008 NEEL Gallery, Paris, France
2009 NEEL Gallery, Paris, France
2009 Galerie Neel, Cannes, France
2010 Galerie Neel, Cannes, France
2010 Oltre La Prospettiva, One Man Show, Padiglione Berti, Sesto Fiorentino
2010 Le Scatole nel Mondo - Il Mondo in una Scatola, Palazzo Pretorio, Sesto Fiorentino
2010 Giuseppe Pescetti, Palazzo Pretorio, Sesto Fiorentino
2010 Reflections on Water, Palazzo Pretorio, Sesto Fiorentino
2011 Know Breast Cancer, Manchester, MA USA
2011 Galerie D'Orsay, Boston, MA USA
2011 In Viola, LiberArte, Villa San Lorenzo, Sesto Fiorentino
2012 Galerie D'Orsay, Boston, MA USA
2012 Tema Libera, LiberArte, Villa San Lorenzo, Sesto Fiorentino
2013 Galerie D'Orsay, Boston, MA USA
2013 Fra Spazio e Tempo, One Man Show, Gallery San Firenze, Firenze, Italy
2014 Galleria di Hotel Nazionale, One Man Exhibition, Firenze, Italy
2014 Confronti: Astrattismo - Realismo VI edizione, Merlino Bottega d'Arte, Firenze
2014 ArtExpertise, Group Show, Firenze, Italy
2014 LiberArte, 10th Year Group Exhibition, Sesto Fiorentino
2014 La Fondazione Claudio Ciai, New Florence Event, Group Show, Firenze
2015 Galleria di Hotel Nazionale, One Man Exhibition, Firenze, Italy
2015 Visto da Vicino, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Firenze, Italy
2016 Galleria di Hotel Nazionale, One Man Exhibition, Firenze, Italy
2017 Tuscan Taste, One Man Show, Firenze, Italy
2017 Galleria di Hotel Nazionale, One Man Exhibition, Firenze, Italy
2018 Sala San Sebastiano, Group Show, Sesto Fiorentino
2019 Home Visit, One Man Show, Manchester by the Sea
2019 Sala San Sebastiano, Group Show
2023 Arte si Mostra, Group Show, Pio Soldalizio dei Piceni, Roma
2026 Awakenings, Group Show, Beach Street Gallery, MBTS

Map of Florence featuring the placement of painting inspirations by Matthew Holden Bates

Painting Florence

This map of Florence shows the placement of many cityscape painting inspirations. It turns the city into a visual archive of lived experience, observation, and painted memory.

Exhibition Posters

Posters of major exhibitions by Matthew Holden Bates

Posters from major shows and exhibitions.

Writing

Where the Circle Meets the Square

A novel set in Florence, 1503 and 2025. Click the cover to read the first chapter.

Sitting on the Steps of the Duomo

A novel of self-discovery in Florence, inspired by one of Bates's paintings.