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Walter Darby Bannard (September 23, 1934 – October 2, 2016) was an American abstract painter and professor of art and art history at the University of Miami

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Walter Darby Bannard
Born	(1934-09-23)September 23, 1934 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	October 2, 2016(2016-10-02) (aged 82) Miami, Florida, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Phillips Exeter Academy, Princeton University
Known for	Abstract painting
Movement	Modernism, Lyrical Abstraction, Minimalism, Formalism (art), Post-painterly Abstraction

Early life and education

Bannard was born in New Haven, Connecticut and attended Phillips Exeter Academy, where he graduated in 1952.[1] He attended Princeton University, where he struck up a friendship and working relationship with Frank Stella, who was also interested in minimalist abstraction.

Career

Bannard was associated with several movements in art and painting, including modernism, lyrical abstraction, minimalism, formalism, abstraction and color field painting.

He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1968 and had close to a hundred solo exhibitions and several hundred group shows. He was represented in the collections of all the major New York museums and many others around the world. He was a prolific writer on art with over a hundred published essays and reviews; Bannard has taught, lectured and participated in panel discussions, and has been a Co-chair of the International Exhibitions Committee of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Bannard was professor and head of painting in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

Work

Art

Bannard's paintings from 1959 to 1965 contained few forms, as little as a single band painted around a field of color, and then developed into somewhat more complex geometric forms by the mid-1960s. The critic Phyllis Tuchman wrote about these works, "These colors are still radiant. And the artist’s pale palette is as uniquely personal today as it was fifty years ago. You can’t even apply a name to his hues."[2]

In the late 1960s the forms dissolved into pale, atmospheric fields of color applied with rollers and paint-soaked rags. He began using the new acrylic mediums in 1970 and his paintings evolved into colorful expanses of richly colored gels and polymers applied with squeegees and commercial floor brooms.[3]

Writings

Bannard's numerous essays appeared in Artforum, Art in America, and other publications, including museum catalogs. He curated and wrote the catalog for the first comprehensive retrospective exhibition of the paintings of Hans Hofmann at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. Bannard's writings are collected at the Walter Darby Bannard Archive.[4]

Death

Bannard died in Miami, Florida on October 2, 2016 at age 82.[5]

References

Bibliography

• Krauss, R., "Darby Bannard's New Work," Artforum, vol. 4, April 1966, pp. 32-
• Bourdon, D., "Darby Bannard: The Possibilities of Color," Art International, vol.11, May 1967, pp. 37 – 39
• "New Look for Old Tradition," Time Magazine, vol. 93, February 7, 1969, pp. 60 – 63
• Mashek, J., "London Commentary: Bannard at Kasmin," Studio International, vol. 178, November 1969, p. 175
• ..... "Canvases Brimming with Color," Life Magazine, September 24, 1971, pp. 74 – 79
• Elderfield, J., "Walter Darby Bannard at Kasmin Gallery," Studio International, vol. 184, #949, November 1972, pp. 184 – 186
• Mashek, P., "His Latest Work," Artforum, Vol. XI, #8, p. 66, March 1973
• Cone, J. H., catalog essay and interview, "Walter Darby Bannard," Retrospective exhibit, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
• Carmean, Jr., E. A., "Modernist Art 1960 to 1970," Catalog essay for exhibit "The Great Decade of American Painting," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. Also published in Studio Magazine, July/August 1974, Vol. 188, #968
• Walsh, J., "Walter Darby Bannard's New Pictures," Arts, September 1982, pp. 77 – 79, incl. three color reproductions: Riffle, 1982; Cloud Comb, 1981; Tarquin, 1981
• Fenton, T., "Walter Darby Bannard," Catalog for the exhibition at the Edmonton Art Gallery, September 2 - October 30, 1983, organized and written by Terry Fenton (incl. numerous reproductions & photos)
• Fox, M., "Walter Darby Bannard," in catalog of show Definitive Statements - American Art: 1964 - 1966, List Art Center, Brown University, March 1–30, 1986, (ill: Seasons #2, 1965, b&w)
• Wilkin, K., "Walter Darby Bannard" Contemporary Artists, Third Edition 1989, St. James Press, London, (Ill: The Flurry, 1982)
• Koenig, R., "Walter Darby Bannard: Recent Works, 1987 - 1990," catalog essay for the exhibition at the Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ, February 17 March 31, 1991 (ill. in color: Osa Montana #2, 1987; Formosa, 1988; The Indians, 1990)
• Humblet, C., "La Nouvelle Abstraction Americaine", a major three-volume survey of American abstract painting published by Skira of Milan, includes a full chapter on Bannard's work, 33 reproductions in color of paintings and a black & white portrait of the artist. (Volume III, Section 13, Pgs. 1480-1513) It was published initially in French and was published by Skira in English as "The New American Abstraction 1950-1970" in 2007
• Link, J., "Darby Bannard’s Scallop Series: Minimalism Mastered" catalog essay for the exhibition "Darby Bannard: The Scallop Series", Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Feb. 1-20, 2006
• Rose, Barbara et al, "Painting After Postmodernism | Belgium - USA", exhibition catalog published by Lannoo, Tielt (Belgium), 2016, P. 7, pp. 9–20, pp. 21–32.

External links

• New York Times obituary
• Flickr.com paintings
• Bannard's web site selected artwork and biography
• The Walter Darby Bannard Archive Articles and letters of comment, Franklin Einspruch, editor
• newCrit “Plain Talk about Art”, maintained by John Link and Darby Bannard

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