Jenness Cortez is a distinguished painter, teacher, and philosopher of creativity whose work stands at the intersection of masterful craft, contemplative inquiry, and lived spiritual practice. Widely recognized for her role in the contemporary revival of realist painting, she has devoted her life not only to how art is made—but to understanding where it comes from and why it matters.

Early Training and Artistic Foundation

Born in Indiana, Cortez received her earliest artistic training from Antonius Raemaekers, the Dutch-born painter and gifted teacher whose rigorous and perceptive instruction laid the foundation for her lifelong pursuit of excellence.

She continued her studies at the Herron School of Art & Design and the Art Students League of New York, where she developed a strong command of classical technique.

Mastery Across Subjects

Cortez has demonstrated exceptional versatility throughout her career, working across a wide range of subjects, including:

From 1977 to 1996, she became especially known for her luminous paintings of thoroughbred racehorses—works that combined anatomical precision with a rare sensitivity to presence and character.

“Field of Dreams II: Two Jumps from the Wire” Acrylic on linen, 36 by 72 inches

A Deeper Inquiry into Art and Meaning

By the mid-1990s, Cortez’s artistic and contemplative inquiries deepened. Driven by a desire to explore the inner dimensions of perception and meaning, she expanded her subject matter and began developing her distinctive approach to “art in art.”

Exhibitions and Recognition

Since 1975, Jenness Cortez has exhibited her work extensively, with more than forty solo exhibitions across the United States.
Her paintings are held in numerous private and public collections, including those of:

• The Polk Museum at Florida Southern College
• Skidmore College
• SUNY Empire State College

• President Ronald Reagan
• President Bill Clinton
• Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
• The New York State Museum
• The Polk Museum at Florida Southern College
• Skidmore College
• SUNY Empire State College

Art, Yoga Science, and the Teaching Museum

Beyond her accomplishments as a painter, Cortez has devoted decades to the study and practice of Yoga Science. Over time, she came to recognize that the principles guiding her creative work were deeply aligned with this tradition.

This lived integration of art, discipline, contemplation, and service led to the founding of the Jenness Cortez Teaching Museum—a living educational space dedicated to exploring creativity as a universal human capacity.

Teaching the Science of Creativity

Through the Museum and The Science of Creativity: An Artist’s Course for Creative Insight, Cortez shares a lifetime of insight into the inner conditions that allow creativity to flourish:

•  sustained attention
•  disciplined craft
•  freedom from fear and habitual patterns
•  the quiet confidence that arises when action is guided by deeper wisdom

•  sustained attention
•  disciplined craft
•  freedom from fear and habitual patterns
•  the quiet confidence that arises when action is guided by deeper wisdom

Her teaching emphasizes that art is not merely self-expression—it is service: an offering that emerges when skill, clarity, and inspiration are brought into harmony.

Life and Work

Jenness Cortez lives with her husband, Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev), in rural upstate New York, where her studio practice, teaching, and contemplative life continue to inform one another.

Her work stands as a testament to the enduring power of craft in service to something greater—and to the rewards of living creatively, consciously, and with purpose.