James Langley is an contemporary classicist working at the intersection of the human figure with narrative, allegorical, and historical content. His work, both sacred and profane, is imbued with a timeless and yet idiosyncratic perspective.

American figurative artist James Langley (b:1961) continues to build upon a continuous thirty five year career painting in oil and watercolor with work currently on view at the American Embassy to the Vatican in Rome, Italy. His trompe-l'œilarchitectural murals for the Metropolitan Museum of Art were made in collaboration with Thomas Gordon Smith Architects for the American Wing as featured in The Magazine ANTIQUES February 2007 edition.

Langley Artworks recently installed “Odysseus and the Sirens” for the library at Capstone Classical Academy in Fargo North Dakota.  His “Stations of the Cross” are found in two American churches as well as in the Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Toledo Spain. 

Among other commissioned work: Langley produced a monumental (192 x 108 in.) altarpiece for the priestly Fraternity of St Peter at Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in Denton Nebraska. He painted the ”Canticle of Creation” in oil on canvas as part of a massive (188 sq ft) polyptych for St Francis of Assisi Chapel at Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne Indiana. His triptych of the “The Hidden Years” is installed within a beautiful arched frame for a chapel in the corporate headquarters of Opus Dei in New York City where he also furnished over forty paintings to ornament the 15 story tower.  

Langley studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA) and at the New York Academy of Art (MFA). His early work includes stage sets for Anathan Theatre in Steubenville Ohio where he also painted views of the Ohio River Valley and executed an altarpiece for the centennial restoration of St Johns Church in Clinton Massachusetts. James taught drawing and painting at Franciscan University and has over 22 years of teaching experience including Savannah College of Art and Design. His work has been exhibited in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Finland, and Portugal. The artist currently works on commission basis from his studio along the coast in Beaufort, South Carolina.