Paul Bertholet, a native of Providence, R.I. was encouraged to paint from an early age by his father and persuaded to give up his Saturday mornings in favor of children's art classes at The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Paul attended Rhode Island College where he studied Art and Anthropology. Once convinced of pursuing a career in the visual arts, he transfered to his formative roots at RISD, where he studied Illustration under such luminaries as Chris Van Allsburg and David Macaulay.

He had the opportunity to copy masterpieces of Corot, Monet, Frank Benson and Charles Hopkinson in the RISD Museum. His oil studies on a winter session trip to Mexico his senior year demonstrated the influence of those masters and established the tone of his life work. He was a recipient of the RISD Alumni Scholarship and a Doyle Dane Bernbach Scholarship, receiving a BFA in Illustration in 1986.

Paul lived in Los Angeles during the nineties, reveling in the consistent California sun and successfully capturing its intensity in a series of open-air paintings of Venice and Topanga Canyon. He was represented by Gallerie Michael on Rodeo Drive and had a solo exhibit at the Sandbox Gallery in Venice Beach. Paul's LA experience also included decorative painting and mural projects for such clients as movie producer John Davis, industrialist Lee Iacocca, the Saudi oil minister, an international financier in Switzerland, and a pharmaceutical magnate's Bermuda home.

Paul is currently represented by Gallery 5800 in Richmond, Va. He has painted portraits for The Homestead Hotel and Historic Christ Church, and has many paintings in private collections, including Capitol One, Media General, Xenith Bank, Bank of America/Fleet Bank, and The G Tech Corporation. He is actively engaged as a muralist, landscape painter, and portraitist. He and his wife, Virginia, reside in Richmond.