Art of Edward Loper on view through July 20

‘My Father the Bishop,’ 1975, by Edward L. Loper Sr., oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, University Museums of the University of Delaware, Paul R. Jones Collection. Donated to the University in 2004 by Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Loper Sr.

Editor's note: Summer hours for this exhibition, which continues through July 20, are 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; and 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesdays. The exhibition is closed weekends.

2:33 p.m., April 2, 2007--“The Art of Edward L. Loper Sr.: On the Path of the Masters” is now on view in UD's Mechanical Hall. The exhibition follows Loper's artistic journey from his early, realistic detailed works to what is described in the exhibition catalogue as the “kaleidoscopic cubism” of his later years. The exhibition runs through July 20.

There are 40 works by Loper on display--from early works as a draftsman for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to his still lifes, landscapes and figurative paintings, known for their bold color and fragmented forms. His works have been collected by the National Gallery of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Howard University Gallery of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Loper was the first African-American artist to be awarded a prize in the Delaware Art Museum's annual exhibition.

A 60-page catalog with illustrations, published by the University, accompanies the exhibition.

A book signing and interview with the artist will be held from 5-7 p.m., Thursday, April 12, in Mechanical Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Anna Marley, a graduate student in UD's Department of Art History, who was selected to be a Smithsonian Institution art history fellow and a McNeil Dissertation Fellow at Winterthur Museum & Country Estate, wrote an essay for the catalog. She describes Loper's early years working for the WPA and the growing recognition he received in the 1940s when his work was included in “The Negro Artist Comes of Age” at the Albany Institute of Art and History. This also was the time he met Philadelphia art dealer, Robert Carlen, who sold his paintings for many years. Studying at the Barnes Foundation in the 1960s, where he was exposed to the works of Cézanne, profoundly influenced Loper's later paintings, Marley notes.

‘Winter Still Life,’ 2002, by Edward L. Loper Sr., oil on canvas, 48 x 35 inches, University Museums of the University of Delaware, Paul R. Jones Collection, 2003.

Judith Cizek, who joined the University Museums staff from the Delaware Art Museum in 2006, is curator of the exhibition.

University Museums galleries are open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesdays; 1-4 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays; and are closed on Mondays and University holidays. Admission is free.