It’s Personal:
The Art of Robert Beck
July 30 through January 2, 2021
The James A Michener Art Museum Doylestown, PA
“In the long tradition of Bucks County masters such as Edward Redfield, George Sotter, and William Lathrop . . . memorable works in frequently unusual situations . . . creative tension distilled in paint.”
- Curator David Leopold.
Costume Barn, 16x16 painted live in Cargill Custom Costumes in Pipersville, an example of Beck’s interior environments, and local documentary images. One of 60 paintings in It’s Personal: The Art of Robert Beck.
Robert Beck paints what fascinates him, whether it be on land or sea; in Bucks County, New York, Maine, or around the world. His “documentary” style of plein air painting—works in which looks beyond just landscape to capture the vitality of everyday life, even if that life is on the active set of Good Morning America, the annual “High Heel Drag Race” in New Hope, or in a dusty village in Senegal—sets him apart from many of his contemporaries. “The majority of my paintings are done directly from the subject in one sitting,” says Beck. “They depict where I am, what catches my interest, and what it feels like to be there.”
Now for the first time, a retrospective exhibition will bring together the best examples of this plein air work as well as selections from his studio work, where he tackles ideas and compositions that would be impossible in his documentary paintings. “The paintings I do from life have the voice of a play-by-play announcer, whereas the ones in the studio have that of a storyteller,” observes Beck.
For the past three decades, Robert Beck has been an integral part of the Bucks County art scene, particularly in New Hope, both as a leader and an iconoclast. Witness: The Art of Robert Beck reveals how Beck’s paintings bear witness to our world and tell nothing but the truth of how he sees it.
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