Adrian C. Van Suchtelen was born in Semarang, Indonesia in 1941. He is a realist as well as a figurative semi-abstractionist printmaker and painter. He is also an educator who retired as professor emeritus of drawing at Utah State University. He lives in North Ogden, Utah.
Van Suchtelen studied at El Camino College (1959–62) and the Otis Art Institute (1963–66) where he earned an MFA. He studied with Joseph Hirsch, Joseph Mugnaini, and also Moishe Smith who became his colleague at Utah State University. Because Van Suchtelen is an artist intrigued by the metaphysical and metaphorical, his style is allegorical rather than academic.
Van Suchtelen's work has been exhibited in the Springville Museum of Art spring salons. Among his exhibited works are Peaceable Kingdom (1999), a mixed media collage, Purple Bag (1994), oil on paper, which won a merit award, and Profile (1992), a watercolor, which won a cash award.