Nicole Wittenberg is an American artist known for her oil paintings and dry pastel that often depict lifelike paintings and drawings, sexually aroused men. "The biggest challenge is to trust what I see, even when it conflicts with what I think I see...Often, reality contrasts to how I think things should look," she has said about her work. Born in 1979 in San Francisco, CA, she studied at the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, CA. Wittenberg currently resides in New York City. She has been recognized with the American Academy of Arts and Letters coveted John Koch Award for Best Young Figurative Painter. Her works are included in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Albertina, and the Boston Museum of Fine Art.