He began his painting career in 1978 and he has continued to show his paintings in such varied places as Hong Kong, New York, and several galleries in Los Angeles. His expressive use of color and subject matter range from the sublime to the ultra-dramatic. He refers to his painting style as, Narrative Surrealism. Influenced by a multi-cultural city that embraces the differences of its people and its ever-changing style and landscape, Richard Cronin uses his paintings as the vehicle in which to explore societal myths, dreams, and his physical surroundings.

He has studied with such noted Los Angeles artists as: Robert Green, and Roman A. Clef, and attended Otis-Parsons Art Institute in Los Angeles. He is in several collections, including Kirk and Ann Douglas and The Bank of America and The Carnegie Art Museum. He had a large exhibition of his paintings and drawings in 2001 at the Carnegie Art Museum. Posters from the Carnegie Museum showing are available for purchase on this site.

Artist Statement:

• "I've always considered painting to be an act of discovery. Each painting is a journey into an unknown terrain in which I surrender logic and allow my imagination full reign to translate intuitive concepts into colors and forms. In the last few years I've tried to merge the rational world of logic with the non-rational world of dreams to create a style I refer to as Narrative Surrealism.
• I call it Narrative Surrealism because each painting is it's own story waiting to unfold itself to the viewer. Color is an important part of my work. I continuously experiment with different blendings in order to create an emotional framework that will express my sense of wonder and questioning nature."