Robert Vickrey | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Remsen Vickrey (1926-08-26)August 26, 1926 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | April 17, 2011(2011-04-17) (aged 84) Naples, Florida, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | Tempera painting |
| Notable work | Admiral Benbow,Early Snow |
| Movement | Surrealism |
| Website | robertvickrey |
Robert Remsen Vickrey (August 26, 1926 – April 17, 2011)[1] was aMassachusetts-based artist and author who specialized in the ancient medium ofegg tempera. His paintings aresurreal dreamlike visions of sunset shadows of bicycles, nuns in front of mural-painted brick walls, and children playing.
Vickrey was born inManhattan on August 26, 1926. He was the son of Claude Claire Vickrey and Caroline Remsen McKim (1903–1936), the granddaughter ofRobert George Remsen through whom he was descended from many of New York's oldest families.[2] Vickrey's father, while at his graduating ball from theU.S. Naval Academy, courtedWallis Warfield (who was better known later in life as theDuchess of Windsor).[2] His parents later divorced and his mother remarried to Caleb van Heusen Whitbeck III,[2] in 1929,[3] with whom she had another son, Caleb Whitbeck.[1]
Vickrey graduated from thePomfret School, then studied atWesleyan University before receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree fromYale University in 1947, followed by a year in New York studying withReginald Marsh andKenneth Hayes Miller at theArt Students League.[4] He returned to theYale School of Fine Arts, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1950.[1]
He was one of the illustrators ofTime covers during the period from 1942 to 1966, which has been called the golden age ofTime covers.[5] His portrait ofJ.D. Salinger, from a 1961Time cover, was hung at theNational Gallery of Art following the writers death in 2010.[6] Other cover artists during this period includedBoris Artzybasheff,James Ormsbee Chapin,Bernard Safran andBoris Chaliapin.[7]
His work with tempera has aligned him with fellow tempera artistsAndrew Wyeth,Jared French andPaul Cadmus, who also "attempted to combine Surrealism with Realism, the amalgam being termed Magic Realism."[8]
In 1960, he exhibited his paintings at the Midtown Galleries at 17 East 57th Street.[9] In 1982, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Museum of Art, Science and Industry inBridgeport, Connecticut.[8]
In the 1970s, he wrote two books:New Techniques in Egg Tempera (1973), with Diane Cochrane, andRobert Vickrey: Artist at Work (1979).[1]
His works are in the collections of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, theWhitney Museum of American Art, theBrooklyn Museum in New York, theCorcoran Gallery of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art, in Rio de Janeiro.[8]
Vickrey received theGerard Manley Hopkins Award for Excellence in the Arts fromFairfield University and theRegina A. Quick Center for the Arts in March 2009, where a retrospective exhibition of Vickrey's paintings from 1951-2007 was held at the Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery. The award and exhibition coincided with the publication of "Robert Vickrey: The Magic of Realism," written by Dr. Philip Eliasoph, a Fairfield University professor of art history.[10]
Vickrey was married to Marjorie, with whom he had two son and two daughters, Scott Vickrey, Elizabeth Nicole (née Vickrey) McMartin, Wendy Caroline Vickrey, and Sean Vickrey. After Marjorie's death in 1997, he married Beverly Bowen Rumage.[1]
Vickrey died at his home inNaples, Florida, on April 17, 2011, at the age of 84.[1]
