Richard Neidhardt: 1921-2009 A Mini Retrospective

Richard Neidhardt
Large Man with Bow and Arrows
1998
wood
82 1/2 x 25 1/2 x 48"

Geri Hooks and Hooks-Epstein Galleries is proud to present Richard Neidhardt: 1921-2009 A Mini Retrospective, an exhibition of sculpture and paintings. The exhibition will open at 11:00am on Saturday, January 14, 2012 and is followed by a reception from 6:00 to 8:00pm. The exhibition continues through Saturday, February 11, 2011.

Richard Neidhardt, a native of Tennessee, earned a B.A. from the University of Tennessee at Chatanooga, an M.F.A. in painting from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Neidhardt was the art director at the University of Florida Press in the early fifties. He then became an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Florida from 1954-1961. In 1961, until 1966, he was Art Department Chair at Hardin Simmons University in Waco, TX. Neidhardt was the Director of Art at Angelo State University in San Angelo, TX for a year, before joining the Austin College faculty in 1967. He served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Art and retired in 1986 as Professor Emeritus. He died in August 2009. As chair of the art department, he mentored several junior colleagues who went on to achieve prominence both as artists and teachers.

He was awarded a Cullen Grant to Egypt, and Richardson Grants to Southern France and Greece. His sculptures and paintings have appeared widely in museums, galleries (primarily Hooks-Epstein Galleries), and universities in Texas and elsewhere.

In his art, Neidhardt expressed himself in two different ways. His paintings were formal and abstract statements with little subject matter.

“During World War II as a pilot flying foreign routes, I became interested in cultures and arts of Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and India. I then began the study of art as a painter, searching for a kind of purity free from worldly stress and the vulnerable condition of being human. The energy of color’s language, the drawn line’s vitality and the aesthetics of mathematics appealed to me and became basic to my work."

Richard Neidhardt: 1921-2009 A Mini Retrospective continues through February 11, 2012.

****Joseph Havel will be giving a Gallery Talk on Richard Neidhart's work. Date TBA.****

For more images, please visit the Full Exhibition.