Robert McCurdy
Robert McCurdy is an American artist known for his photorealistic oil paintings and photographs of notable figures in American History. Among his works is a painting of Toni Morrison held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. In 2002, McCurdy was commissioned to paint a portrait of US Representative Martin Sabo for the US Capitol.
Robert McCurdy begins his painted portraits with a photograph, asking his sitters to address the unseen viewer directly and to make no gestures. He seeks an image that has no implied past or future but exists in the eternal present. McCurdy's goal is to provide a neutral environment in order to maximize the highly personal nature of the encounter between subject and viewer.
McCurdy's skillfully executed paintings focus the viewer's traditional response to the image of a human being: the coda of his paintings is the gaze, not the sitter's setting and story, compelling and recognizable though that story may be. Among those who have stood for McCurdy are the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Jane Goodall, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, Neil Armstrong, Muhammad Ali and Warren Buffett, among others. His methodology includes taking hundreds of photos in an effort to arrive at the one that will best yield what he is striving to achieve: a moment suspended, when the viewer catches the gaze of the rendered image – and holds it, without the veil of distracting thought or judgement. That brief and elemental moment between the viewer and the image being viewed is what the artist hopes to achieve.
His minimalist approach in the presentation of a figure is one the artist has determined is the sustainable moment captured during the sitting, the image whose cues as to space and time have been most successfully set aside.
The artist removes any clue or comment as to time, place, history or judgement, leaving the viewer's initial and whole engagement in the exchange of a gaze.
Robert McCurdy has been exhibiting his photography and paintings for the past forty years. Select showings and collections include the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Frye Museum, Seattle; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida; Le Tresors des Arts, Gstaad, Switzerland; Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; Nancy Solomon Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington; Venetia Kapernikas Gallery, New York, Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, among others. McCurdy attained his BFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and received an Arts Fellowship from Yale University.
Solo Exhibitions
2009 Venetia Kapernekas Gallery, New York, NY2008 Venetia Kapernekas Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Venetia Kapernekas Gallery, New York, NY
2005 Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, NY
2003 Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, NY
2001 Venetia Kapernekas Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Pamela Auchincloss, New York, NY
“Robert McCurdy, Paintings”, Shick Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
“Robert McCurdy, Paintings”, Frye Museum, Seattle Washington
1997 Nancy Solomon Gallery, Projects Room, Atlanta, Georgia
1992 Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1990 Le Tresors des Arts, Gstaad, Switzerland
1989 Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1986 Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1985 Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1984 Addison-Ripley Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1980 “Recent Works”, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C.
1976 Robert McCurdy: Works in Virginia”, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2010 National Portrait Gallery2008-09 “Gaze: Vision, Desire and Difference in the Frye Collections” Frye Museum, Seattle, Washington
2006 National Portrait Gallery
2003-04 “Crosscurrents at Century’s End” Selections from the Neuberger Berman Art Collection
Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, September 2003
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida December 2003
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa Florida, January 2004
Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, June 2004
1996 “Untitled”, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1995 “Art without Frontiers”, curated by Claude Simard, La Rouche, Canada
1995 “The Verdict is...”, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1995 “Paper Work”, Nancy Solomon Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
1994 “Sculpture/Painting Robert McCurdy and Don Porcaro” Nancy Solomon Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia curated by Mary Dinaberg
1994 “Robert McCurdy. Elisa D’Arrigo” Victoria Anstead Fine Art, New York, NY
1993 “Abstratagies, Painting in the Nineties” Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin, FL curated by Genevieve Linneham
1991 “Le Plaisir de la Raison”, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1990 “Heroes & Saints of Contemporary Art”, Transart Exhibition, Koln, Germany curated by Akim Monet
1988 “David & Goliath Exhibition”, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1987 Summer Group Exhibition, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1985 Invitational Exhibition, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
1984 Public Works Artists’ Space, Washington, D.C.
1983 Addison Ripley Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1981 Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1981 “Final Annual New Talent Show”, Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1980 “Hanover Show”, Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1979 “Fifteen Washington Artists”, Arts Gallery, Baltimore, MD
"Elements Of Art: Texture”, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
“Miniatures”, Foundry Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Site Pieces
1981 Rattler Spaulding & Style, Bethesda, MD1980 House, Washington, D.C.
1976 Outdoor Sculpture, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Selected bibliography
1999 Ken Johnson: New York Times1996 Kim Levine: "Voices Choices", Village Voice July 30, 1996
1994 George Melrod: "Robert McCurdy/Don Porcaro", Art and Antiques December
1993 Joanne Milani: "Abstratagies", The Tampa Tribune, May 1993
1992 Maria Vescovo: "Robert McCurdy", Tisolo, May 1992
1986 Leone Lawrence: "Robert McCurdy", ARTNews
1982 Paul Richard: "Robert McCurdy: Abstract at Shaiman's", The Washington Post Nov. 23, 1985
Paul Richard: "Chic to Chic", The Washington Post, June 15, 1985
1982 Patrick Ladden: "Robert McCurdy", New Art Examiner, January 1982
David Tannous: "Robert McCurdy", Art in America
1981 Paul Richard: "Miracle on 7th Street", Washington Post, November 13, 1981