| PLEASE NOTE: All exhibition descriptions are excerpts from Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art's quarterly newsletter, L'Artiste. |
Past Exhibition Highlights |
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| 2007 2006 |
2005 2004 |
2003 2002 |
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| 2008 January 27 - March 9, 2008  Harold Newton (American, 1934 – 1994) Beach Scene with Palms, c.1950's Oil on Upsom board, 23 ½ x 35 ½ in. |
North
Gallery The Highwaymen Circulated by the Orange County Regional History Center South
Gallery Presenting Sponsor: Raymond James The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art is proud to present two exhibitions featuring the work of Florida’s Highwaymen artists. The Highwaymen, is a national touring exhibition from the collection of Geoff Cook being circulated by the Orange County Regional History Center, Orlando, Florida, and Highwaymen Paintings is a premiere exhibition of 22 paintings from the family collection of George Algernon Speer, Jr. Speer was a prominent prosecuting attorney in Sanford, Florida and one of the early collectors of Highwaymen art. The Highwaymen were a group of 26 African-American self-taught artists who lived and painted in Fort Pierce and Brevard County, Florida. Most notably the group included Alfred Hair, the artist who developed the fast method of oil painting that came to define the style of the Highwaymen, and Harold Newton, an artist who specialized in painting landscapes. A.E. (Beanie) Backus, a southern white and well-known Florida landscape artist, is credited with teaching and encouraging Hair and Newton to paint. The other 24 Highwaymen, including Mary Ann Carroll, the only female in the group, were apprentices to either Newton or Hair and each developed their own distinctive style, brush strokes and trademarks. The Highwaymen started painting in the 1950s and enjoyed successful artistic careers throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. A renewed interest in the Highwaymen began in the 1990s when collectors came to recognize their contribution to Florida’s artistic and natural history. The value of their work has increased dramatically from the $25 - $35 originally paid. Today the paintings are worth thousands of dollars and are receiving national acclaim. The
Highwaymen painted many of their landscape scenes in an hour or less and sold
their art to motels, banks, doctors’ and lawyers’ offices, restaurants and the
general public. Many paintings were sold out of the trunks of their cars, often
before the oils had time to dry. For many of the Highwaymen, painting and
selling landscape art was an escape from their laborious jobs in factories,
orange groves and fields. |
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| March 30 - May 28, 2008
 Dorothy Gillespie (American, b. 1922) Celestial Journey, 1987 Enamel on aluminum, 58 x 40 x 15 in. On loan from Radford University Art Gallery |
Dorothy Gillespie: Shaping Sculpture Presenting Sponsors: Octogenarian Dorothy Gillespie has been an important figure in contemporary American art since the 1950s – she is one of the leading women artists of her generation. Her reputation as an artist spans many of the important movements of post-World War II art including Happenings, environments, installation art, theatre stage design, and art-in-public places. Ms. Gillespie, who forged new directions in metal sculpture, is best known for her large enamel painted, cut aluminum striped installations. Dorothy Gillespie was born in Roanoke, Virginia and attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore in 1941. She moved to New York City and studied with the Art Students League and at Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17. Ms. Gillespie has maintained a studio in New York City throughout most of her career She recently moved to Orlando where she continues to work today. Dorothy Gillespie has had numerous solo exhibitions, art-in-public places commissions, various teaching position, and has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards. She is also well known as a guest lecturer and has served on the boards of various arts organizations around the country. The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art is honored to host Dorothy Gillespie: Shaping Sculpture as a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s career. The 29 works in the exhibit span from a 1944 oil on canvas painting and to a 1997 mixed media piece that stands over 10 feet high. Circulated by Radford University Art Museum in Virginia, this exhibition was organized by Dr. Steve Arbury, curator of the Dorothy Gillespie collection and chairman of the Radford University Art Department. Ms. Gillespie has had a long term relationship with Radford University where she has been a visiting artist and Distinguished Professor of Art (1997-1999). She has gifted 70 of her personal works as well as an impressive personal collection of works by other important 20th century artists to the University. Dorothy Gillespie:Shaping Sculpture is the second exhibition organized by Radford University to be shown at the
Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art. You may remember the 2002 Ibrahm Lassaw: Deep
Space and Beyond exhibition, curated by Arthur F. Jones, which was exhibited
during the Museum’s inaugural year. |
