Robert S.
Neuman: Pedazos del Mundo
On Exhibit at Childs Gallery
Boston
September 2nd –
November 1st
A
second generation Abstract Expressionist, Robert S. Neuman (b. 1926) explores
global fragmentation in his vibrant series Pedazos del Mundo – Pieces of the World. Begun in 1961 and
painted in response to his time spent abroad in Germany and Spain in the 1950s,
this ongoing project uses the visual language of geometric abstraction to
symbolize the many people and cultures that make up our world. Childs Gallery
is pleased to announce an upcoming exhibition of paintings,
prints, and works on paper from Neuman’s Pedazos
del Mundo series.
The Pedazos del Mundo series utilizes a
recurring visual language across multiple media: concentric circles composed of
many layers of shapes and colors, all symbolizing different aspects of the
world. Using masking tape or circular objects like cans, Neuman paints, traces,
and stamps circles and squares, repeating and arranging them into complex
abstract compositions. Neuman’s approach creates a duality between the circular
form’s visual and literal associations; the globe is at once an abstract
geometric shape and a visual symbol for the world. The Boston art critic,
Robert Taylor remarked (Boston Globe, March 25, 1979): "Neuman's pictures
fuse the methods of color field paintings, emblematic abstractions and
expressionist responses and, at their best as in this series are evocative and
original."
A prolific
painter, Neuman’s career spans more than six decades. From 1947 to 1953 Neuman
was active in the San Francisco Bay Area, completing his Master of Fine Arts
degree at the California College of the Arts in 1951 and holding faculty
appointments at the San Francisco College of Fine Arts and the California
College of Arts and Crafts. While in California, he exhibited alongside a
number of established and emerging West Coast painters, including Richard
Diebenkorn, David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Wayne Thiebaud, and Clyfford Still. The
influence of the San Francisco School is still evident today in Neuman’s
use of broad surface treatments, calligraphic drawings, energized expression,
and certain influences from Oriental Art.
In 1953, Neuman
was awarded a Fulbright Grant for painting, which brought him to Stuttgart,
Germany to study with the abstract artist Willi Baumeister. In 1956, he
received a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship which allowed him to spend a year
in Barcelona, Spain. In between these prestigious awards, Neuman left
California and settled on the East Coast, where he went on to teach at SUNY New
Paltz, NY, Massachusetts College of Art, MA, Brown University, RI, Harvard
University, MA, and Keene State College, NH. As a result of his travels,
Neuman’s oeuvre illustrates a remarkable combination of influences, lending his
paintings a dramatic universality.
Neuman’s work
is in numerous public collections including the Boston Public Library, Boston,
Massachusetts; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Currier Museum
of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire; Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley
College, Wellesley, Massachusetts; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park,
Lincoln, Massachusetts; Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine; List Visual
Arts Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts;
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Hood Museum of
Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; Library of Congress,
Washington, District of Columbia; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts;
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York; National Library of Australia,
Canberra, Australia; New York Public Library, New York, New York’ Rose Art
Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, San Francisco, California; William Lane Collection, Lunenburg,
Massachusetts; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, and many
others.
Robert S. Neuman and his family will
attend the exhibition’s opening reception at Childs Gallery on Thursday,
September 11th between 6:00 and 8:00 PM. The public is welcome to
attend.
