Richard Rappaport
Encyclopedia
Richard Rappaport, born 1944 in Pittsburgh, is a classically trained painter of portraits and large-scale figurative works whose pictorial evolution has spiraled towards and away from the Renaissance ideal for half a century.
In his work, even when taking the image to abstraction, Rappaport keeps the iconic figure as primal source. Besides portraits of psychological depth, Rappaport, in the tradition of painting as an act of remembrance, borrows Christian iconography to represent the Holocaust, the civil war in Biafra, and the war in Vietnam.
A former student and friend of Robert L. Lepper at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Rappaport is one of the artists influenced by Lepper’s course “Individual and Social Analysis”.
His 1989 paper “Robert Lepper, Carnegie Tech, and the Oakland Project” is the principal source on Lepper’s influence on Andy Warhol, Philip Pearlstein, Mel Bochner, and Jonathan Borofsky when they were Lepper’s students.
Since 1981 Rappaport’s use of the advertisement pages of international art magazines as a place of exhibition has been his principal form of public presence. This includes issues of Art in America, Artforum, Flash Art, Bomb, Modern Painters, World Art, The New Criterion, and Limn.
in Painting from the Carnegie Institute of Technology
(now Carnegie Mellon University
), and in 1981 he received his Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College
.
In 1968, upon being awarded the Chaloner Prize through the Rome Prize competition, he began what would be an almost three year sojourn in France. There he was awarded a residency at le Cité Internationale des Arts. Moving to the East Village, Manhattan
in New York City in 1973 and later to Brooklyn
, in 1985 he returned to Pittsburgh.
1966 - Solo Exhibition at Skibo hall, Carnegie Mellon University
.
1967 - Solo Exhibition of the "Oratory Mural" at Skibo hall, Carnegie Mellon University
.
1967 - Solo Exhibition at the University of Chicago - Lexington Studio Gallery, Chicago.
1968 - the Chaloner Prize, as a finalist in the American Academy in Rome Prize Competition.
1969 - Group exhibition, "Jeunes artistes americans" at le Centre Cultural Americaine, Paris.
1970 - Solo exhibition at le Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris.
1974 - 1977 Installation - "Joseph in the Pit", "Jacob in Mourning", the Joseph Papp Public Theater, New York
1974 - Solo Exhibition - South Houston Gallery, SoHo, New York.
1976 - "Carnigie Mellon/NYC Alumni Show", West Broadway Gallery, SoHo, New York.
1982 - "29 Downing Street", New York City
1983, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991 - Solo exhibitions of paintings at the Blue Mountain Gallery, SoHo, New York City.
1987 - Installation of the "Oratory Mural" on extended loan to the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, Philadelphia http://www.iahp.org/.
1995 - Solo exhibition - "The German Girl Nude" at Magdalena Baxeras Galleria d'Arte, Barcelona
1997 - Group exhibition "Go Figure" at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston.
2005 - "Ashes in the Wind: The Work of Mourning", Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh.
2007 - Group exhibition, "Garden Show: In Full Bloom" Space Gallery, Pittsburgh.
2011 - "Rappaport Unblurred", International Children's Art Gallery, Pittsburgh.
In his work, even when taking the image to abstraction, Rappaport keeps the iconic figure as primal source. Besides portraits of psychological depth, Rappaport, in the tradition of painting as an act of remembrance, borrows Christian iconography to represent the Holocaust, the civil war in Biafra, and the war in Vietnam.
A former student and friend of Robert L. Lepper at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Rappaport is one of the artists influenced by Lepper’s course “Individual and Social Analysis”.
His 1989 paper “Robert Lepper, Carnegie Tech, and the Oakland Project” is the principal source on Lepper’s influence on Andy Warhol, Philip Pearlstein, Mel Bochner, and Jonathan Borofsky when they were Lepper’s students.
Since 1981 Rappaport’s use of the advertisement pages of international art magazines as a place of exhibition has been his principal form of public presence. This includes issues of Art in America, Artforum, Flash Art, Bomb, Modern Painters, World Art, The New Criterion, and Limn.
Biography
From very early on Rappaport showed unusual promise in drawing and was already an accomplished draftsman when he won the gold medal in drawing in the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 1962. In 1966 Rappaport received his Bachelor of Fine ArtsBachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in Painting from the Carnegie Institute of Technology
Carnegie Institute of Technology
The Carnegie Institute of Technology , is the name for Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. It was first called the Carnegie Technical Schools, or Carnegie Tech, when it was founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie who intended to build a “first class technical school” in Pittsburgh,...
(now Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
), and in 1981 he received his Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
.
In 1968, upon being awarded the Chaloner Prize through the Rome Prize competition, he began what would be an almost three year sojourn in France. There he was awarded a residency at le Cité Internationale des Arts. Moving to the East Village, Manhattan
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
in New York City in 1973 and later to Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, in 1985 he returned to Pittsburgh.
Awards and Exhibitions
1962 - Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the National Gold Medal in Drawing.1966 - Solo Exhibition at Skibo hall, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
.
1967 - Solo Exhibition of the "Oratory Mural" at Skibo hall, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
.
1967 - Solo Exhibition at the University of Chicago - Lexington Studio Gallery, Chicago.
1968 - the Chaloner Prize, as a finalist in the American Academy in Rome Prize Competition.
1969 - Group exhibition, "Jeunes artistes americans" at le Centre Cultural Americaine, Paris.
1970 - Solo exhibition at le Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris.
1974 - 1977 Installation - "Joseph in the Pit", "Jacob in Mourning", the Joseph Papp Public Theater, New York
1974 - Solo Exhibition - South Houston Gallery, SoHo, New York.
1976 - "Carnigie Mellon/NYC Alumni Show", West Broadway Gallery, SoHo, New York.
1982 - "29 Downing Street", New York City
1983, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991 - Solo exhibitions of paintings at the Blue Mountain Gallery, SoHo, New York City.
1987 - Installation of the "Oratory Mural" on extended loan to the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, Philadelphia http://www.iahp.org/.
1995 - Solo exhibition - "The German Girl Nude" at Magdalena Baxeras Galleria d'Arte, Barcelona
1997 - Group exhibition "Go Figure" at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston.
2005 - "Ashes in the Wind: The Work of Mourning", Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh.
2007 - Group exhibition, "Garden Show: In Full Bloom" Space Gallery, Pittsburgh.
2011 - "Rappaport Unblurred", International Children's Art Gallery, Pittsburgh.
External links
- Rappaport’s website, "Portraits & Passages," is his memoir illustrated by his works.
- Article in Pittsburgh City Paper, Article on show at International Children's Art Gallery (July 2011).
- For a gallery of Rappaport's work click on "Richard Rappaport" in the "Wikimedia Commons" icon just below, bottom right.