Norman Sunshine was born in Los Angeles, attended the University of Southern California, and received a BFA from New York University (where he had a class with Philip Guston). Post Graduate work continued at Art Center School in Los Angeles, majoring in illustration and painting. At Art Center he studied with the pioneer minimalist, Lorser Feitelson, and independently with William Brice.

Immediately after graduating, Sunshine launched a very successful career as an illustrator, both in Los Angeles and New York, where he finally settled. He won numerous awards for his commercial work both for magazines and television, but “serious” painting became more and more his passion. His first body of work was shown at the Adam Gallery in New York, received excellent reviews and sold out.

With such encouragement his passion became his full time endeavor, resulting in numerous shows in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, plus major galleries throughout the United States and at international art exhibitions. His paintings and sculpture are in major private and public collections as well as: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Museum of Arts and Sciences, Columbia, NC, and the Palm Springs Museum of Art, CA.