Kipniss created a handful of mezzotints from 1982-84 but did not focus on this medium intently until 1990. He had his first solo mezzotint show in New York in 1992. He also showed mezzotints in 1995 at his first solo print show in England, and that year they comprised his first show of prints in Germany. Tall Trees at Night (2001) is in five museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, and the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, both in London. < MEZZOTINTS Evening clouds 2021, mezzotint, 9.625 x 12 inches. Edition of 18. Crest 2019, mezzotint, 9.25 x 11.5 inches. Edition of 20. Passing storm OR Lifting storm 2018, mezzotint, 9.25 x 14 inches. Edition of 25. Lace V 2016, mezzotint, 4.5 x 5.75 inches. Edition of 20. Vase & four trees 2015, mezzotint, 7.5 x 6.25 inches. Edition of 25. Three trees 2015, mezzotint, 3 x 2.5 inches. Edition of 20. Fluttering OR (Five trees) fluttering 2014, mezzotint, 7.75 x 7 inches. Edition of 40. The artist as a tree 2014, mezzotint, 5.375 x 4.375 inches. Edition of 25. Trees & stars 2013, mezzotint, 11.75 x 9.375 inches. Edition of 30. A song of leaves 2013, mezzotint, 19.625 x 19.5 inches. Edition of 80. Tomorrow 2013, mezzotint, 14 x 9.25 inches. Edition of 30. Moonrise & sunset 2013, mezzotint, 7.75 x 7 inches. Edition of 30. Memories 2013, mezzotint, 7.875 x 7 inches. Edition of 40. Before morning: chimney & window 2010, mezzotint, 19.5 x 19.375 inches. Edition of 40. Reappearing 2009, mezzotint, 9.25 x 11.75 inches. Edition of 60. Silver Morning 2007, mezzotint, 6.375 x 4.5 inches. Edition of 300. Still life w/ knife & fruit 2007, mezzotint, 14 x 9.375 inches. Edition of 60. An island in the forest 2007, mezzotint, 19.5 x 19.5 inches. Edition of 70. For Laurie 2005, mezzotint, 17.75 x 23.75 inches. Edition of 90. Nocturne w/ six trees 2004 (Grace 139), mezzotint, 7 x 5 inches. Edition of 150. Nocturne: still live w/ two vases 2004, mezzotint, 19.5 x 13 inches. Edition of 75. Two vases 2004 (Grace 137), mezzotint, 19.5 x 15.375 inches. Edition of 100. Echo trees & shadow 2003, (Grace 129), mezzotint, 19.5 x 16.5 inches. Edition of 60. Revisitation 2003 (Grace 123), mezzotint, 7.875 x 7 inches. Edition of 60. Tall trees at night 2001 (Grace 115), mezzotint, 19.625 x 13.5 inches. Edition of 60. View more "A year after turning sixty, while immersing myself in mezzotint, I began to feel like a young artist again. Everything I worked at was filled with energy and intensity. I loved starting with a world of blackness and drawing the light. Every touch on the plate is a glint of illumination, and my burnisher is like a wand that reveals and defines form as I probe into the dark." - Robert Kipniss, 2011 Kipniss created a handful of mezzotints from 1982-84 but did not focus on this medium intently until 1990. He had his first solo mezzotint show in New York in 1992. He also showed mezzotints in 1995 at his first solo print show in England, and that year they comprised his first show of prints in Germany. Tall Trees at Night (2001) is in five museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, and the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, both in London. When a copper plate is roughened in preparation for working on it, thousands of tiny holes are produced on the surface of the plate to hold the ink. Kipniss's preference has been for mechanically roughened plates because of their greater uniformity. Unlike many makers of mezzotints, he prefers using a burnisher rather than a scraper for reducing the depth of the holes, a process that controls the amount of ink held on the plate. The burnisher allows him freer motion and a greater range of pressure, as a pencil would, giving him the ability to create an image that looks drawn rather than machine crafted. Over time, Kipniss sought "narrower ranges of middle tones" while still bringing out the richness and resonance of darks characteristic of mezzotints. He has worked with master printer Anthony Kirk from 2003 to the present, first when Kirk was associated with the Connecticut Center for Printmaking in Norwalk, Connecticut, and then at Kirk's own studio in North Salem, New York. Tall Trees at Night is one of Kipniss's many mezzotints that view trees fairly close up at dusk or night and show a play of light upon them. The characteristics that became increasingly prominent in his mature work, his concern with capturing the essence of form and with even more subtle light effects, are clearly apparent. The trees in Kipniss's mezzotints have an especially strong purity of form when only their trunks are depicted. Sometimes leaves are spread across the trees, adding more movement and increasing the technical challenge. Window w/vase & forest (2000) is representative of still lifes that show a vase of plant cuttings, most often of stems with leaves. The vase is generally viewed close up before a window on a surface that may or may not be visible. Occasionally the bottom part of the sash is showing, and usually trees are beyond. Here, part of the view into the distance is through three layers of glass, and the form to the left is part of a chest of drawers. A painting done in reverse predates this print, and in both Kipniss extemporized the pale, delicate scrim of trees. The print is in four major museum collections, among them the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

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Robert Kipniss is a distinguished American painter and printmaker. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at major galleries and museums worldwide since 1951. ​The Robert Kipniss studio is resource for the artwork and literature from the artist's longstanding career. ​ Robert Kipniss is a distinguished American painter and printmaker. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at major galleries and museums worldwide since 1951. Robert Kipniss Studio is a resource for the artwork and literature from the artist's longstanding career. ABOUT Learn more ARTWORKS View selected works EXHIBITIONS View selected exhibitions RESOURCES View books, collections, essays, and interviews

Kipniss's early work consisted of abstractions, biomorphic forms, landscapes, cityscapes, still lifes, and figures. The majority of these works were landscapes of subdued color, often with few details, and loosely brushed. Large Trees at Dusk (1962) was one of several paintings and drawings in 1961 and 1962 which introduced a boldness of form and a more pronounced moodiness. < PAINTINGS Nine Trees 2018, oil on panel, 18 x 24 inches. A Celebration of Morning 2007, oil on canvas, 40 x 48 inches. Afternoon with Black and Gray trees 2005, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches. Vase & Leaves IV 2005, oil on canvas, 20.25 x 22 inches. Poised 2005, oil on panel, 14 x 12 inches. Testament 2005, oil on canvas, 28 x 32 inches. On Point 2004, oil on canvas, 36 x 25 inches. Intervention 2004, oil on canvas, 25 x 36 inches. Silver Morning II 2004, oil on canvas 22 x 28 inches. The Stage 2004, oil on canvas, 22 x 28 inches. Green, Green 2004, oil on canvas, 32 x 22 inches. Lace II 2003, oil on paper, 24 x 20 inches. Splash III 2003, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches. Evening Figures 2002, oil on canvas, 29.25 x 40 inches. Crossings 2002, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 inches. Hillside Illusions II 2001, oil on canvas, 32 x 22 inches. Shelter 2001, oil on canvas, 32 x 22 inches. Forest Interior 2001, oil on canvas, 40 x 29 inches. Trees and Shadows 2001, oil on canvas, 32 x 28 inches. Still Life with Curtains and Tree 2001, oil on panel, 24 x 16 inches. Silver Morning 2000, oil on canvas, 36 x 40 inches. Looking Through IV 2000, oil on canvas, 40 x 32.25 inches. Mist 1999, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches. Interior with Leaves 1999, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches. The Artist's Studio 1999, oil on canvas, 48 x 40 inches. View more Kipniss's early work consisted of abstractions, biomorphic forms, landscapes, cityscapes, still lifes, and figures. The majority of these works were landscapes of subdued color, often with few details, and loosely brushed. Large Trees at Dusk (1962) was one of several paintings and drawings in 1961 and 1962 which introduced a boldness of form and a more pronounced moodiness. The paintings and prints that followed, executed either in black and white or in color, include numerous variations in the shape, size, and placement of trees. Large Trees at Dusk exhibits the beginning of Kipniss's purification of tree forms, his use of closely related hues in a subdued or dark range, and the sense of solitude characteristic of his mature output. Of the paintings and prints since 1962, hundreds show the interplay of tree trunks, focusing on close or more distance views. In a review of the artist’s 1966 solo painting show at The Contemporaries, Time magazine wrote: "In the twilight zone between recollection and imagination, a New York painter has found a vista of mind and mood that he calls ‘the Inner Landscape.’ With hushed tones, feathered brushing and eerie chiaroscuro, he invests his scenes with the appearance of reality and the ambiance of dream." (“Art in New York,” Time, Feb 4, 1966: E2) Kipniss’s paintings in the late 1960s often exhibit vibrant, jewel-like undertones that lend pulsing energy to the composition and his rugged brushwork. In the 1970s and 1980s, Kipniss developed his mature style, composing his forms and spaces separately, working on each alternately after the paint has dried. He brushes between them and recomposes each area more than once, sometimes with five or six passes in order to get "the varied parts of the image to mesh together.” Continuing his exploration of landscape and its relationship to human experience, his brushwork began to be more refined. His palette also morphed to warm ochres, brick reds, and deep green earth tones. He often composed detailed studies of residential settings at the edges of open, undeveloped areas, seen at a distance. Fences and outbuildings often punctuate the scene. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Kipniss frequently turned to interior scenes, and his style once again shifted. His compositions of this period are atmospheric and moody, depicted in a palette of dark, cool colors. Forms are stylized, lacking detail, and there is an intense focus on the effects of light and shadow. The scene is set as within a domestic structure, with the landscape showing just beyond, through a window. Elements of the natural world are juxtaposed with plants and arrangements of flora as viewed from indoors; the two realms seem to meld in compositions such as Clear vase & landscape (1995) and Interior w/ leaves (1999). In Kipniss’s late phase, from 2000 to 2018, he returned to landscape, favoring a hazy pastel palette. Splash III (2003) and A celebration of morning (2007) are examples of Kipniss's paintings of this period which center trees extending into grassy landscapes, often in different effects of light. These paintings display his use of closely related tones, a strong accent on the purity of form, refined silhouetting, and pronounced luminosity.

It is not my wish to translate visual expression into words. This is about the actual making of the work. The intricacy of this image presented me with a persistent obstacle and an irresistible allure. Difficulties in bringing the drawing from paper to copper included physical and conceptual challenges. < Back to all essays Artist Statement 1980s Kipniss expounds further on his artistic journey and how intimate experiences in nature have shaped his art. Downloadable PDF Robert Kipniss at work in his studio, circa 1985

Robert Kipniss is a distinguished American painter and printmaker. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at galleries and museums worldwide since 1951. He is a Royal Academician (retired), an elected member of the National Academy of Design, New York, and holds two honorary doctorates. ABOUT CV Representation & Important Links Honors Artist Statement Biography Influence & Style ROBERT KIPNISS Robert Kipniss is a distinguished American painter and printmaker. Born Brooklyn, NY, February 1, 1931 Downloadable CV REPRESENTATION The Old Print Shop, New York, NY ebo Gallery, Millwood, NY CK Contemporary, San Francisco, CA Windsor Fine Art, New Orleans, LA Galerie d'Orsay, Boston, MA IMPORTANT LINKS Wikipedia Page WorldCat Smithsonian Archives of American Art HONORS National Academy of Design, Lifetime Achievement, 2014 The Artists’ Fellowship, Lifetime Achievement, 2010 Society of American Graphic Artists, Lifetime Achievement, 2007 National Academy of Design, New York, The Cannon Prize, 1999 Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, London, elected member, 1998 Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois, Honorary Doctorate, 1989 American Academy of Arts & Letters, Hassam, Speicher, Betts and Symons Purchase Award, 1988 Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, honorary doctorate, art building dedication, 1979 ARTIST STATEMENT One thing I have most wonderfully learned is that the greatest reward for making art is making art. Instinctively I knew that painting and exhibiting were the only essentials I needed, and whatever difficulties I encountered along my path, there was always the reassurance of working and learning. I was working and showing right from the start, and it never occurred to me to wonder if I would be successful or not. In the beginning, it was very challenging, mostly because there was no sure way to do it, no rules, no guideposts. For about ten years my painting was lyrical, energetic, filled with bright color, and charged with exuberance. At the same time, the poetry I was writing was dark, angry, and often painful to create. When I stopped writing in the early 1960s, my paintings took on the characteristics of my poetry and became infused with anger, a dark monochromatic palette, gravitas, and occasionally slightly surreal themes. It was only after a few years when my lyricism began to re-surface and meld with the darkness. This was the beginning of my mature style...my life as an artist continues to be a passionate adventure. Every day I learn more about the constellations of feelings and thoughts I derive from the simple act of seeing. The life of an artist is about the art. I have lived my life as I dreamed of doing when I was a young man. BIOGRAPHY Robert Kipniss is a distinguished American painter and printmaker. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at galleries and museums worldwide since 1951. He is a Royal Academician (retired), an elected member of the National Academy of Design, New York, and holds two honorary doctorates. His work is represented in the collections of numerous public institutions, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and many others. He has created over 750 editions and is perhaps best known as one of the leading living practitioners of mezzotint. After working in various locations in New York City for over three decades, in 1989 he moved his studio to Ardsley-on-Hudson, New York. He now lives and works in Sharon, Connecticut. "For over five decades, Robert Kipniss has prolifically produced paintings, prints, and drawings of remarkable beauty, eloquence, and refinement...he has gained international recognition for his distinctly American images of spacious landscapes and smalltown vistas, as well as quiet interiors and intimate still lifes. Following in the footsteps of such esteemed predecessors as Paul Cezanne and Giorgio Morandi, the artist has faithfully investigated and reexamined these familiar, humble subjects...He has never felt confined or restricted by their narrow range; rather, he is liberated within it... Kipniss's art has always clearly bespoken his independent spirit and lifelong embrace of solitude." − Daniel Piersol, Seen In Solitude: Robert Kipniss Prints from the James F. White Collection (New Orleans Museum of Art, 2006) INFLUENCE & STYLE In a 1982 New York Times review, critic John Caldwell observed that "the question of artistic influences is unusually complicated in the case of Mr. Kipniss" and that "the sense that one gets in all of [his] work is of a genuinely individual sensibility." While this strongly individualistic approach has been universally acknowledged by many critics and scholars since, some have found resonance between Kipniss's concerns and that of Giorgio Morandi, René Magritte, Paul Cézanne, Caspar David Friedrich, Tonalism, the Hudson River School, and the Barbizon School, particularly Camille Corot. Kipniss's subject matter is landscapes, interiors, and still lifes, often described as conveying solitude and inward experience. The lighting is penumbral or shadow-like; twilight and dawn are favored time settings. In his paintings Kipniss employs exceptional subtlety in tones and restrained use of color to create an overall atmospheric effect. His prints are masterly meditations on mood and light using a resticted black-and-white palette, though he has occasionally created color variants of selected prints, always employing a subtle color palette. His works in various media—paintings, drawings, and printmaking—are often interrelated, presenting variants on a theme. The paintings date from the early 1950s; the prints from 1967. His favored techniques in printmaking have been lithography and mezzotint, the former dating from 1968 into 1994, the latter since 1990. In keeping with his subtle and understated style, he has a unique approach to titles: the first word is capitalized, and any subsequent words are lower case, unless a proper noun; “and” is replaced by an ampersand, and “with” is shortened to “w/”.

Kipniss's first print and only etching was made in 1967. That year he began producing drypoints, which he has made periodically since, although in smaller numbers than his works in other mediums. "Almost all of his drypoints have the large areas of white typical of that medium, creating much more of an effect of outdoor light than his mezzotints." < DRYPOINTS & ETCHINGS Untitled 2020, drypoint, 9.875 x 8 inches. Not editioned. A small copse in a field 2016, drypoint, 6.5 x 7.875 inches. Edition of 16. Untitled 014 1992 (Grace 29), soft-ground etching; key plate impression in black (the edition was printed in three colors from three plates), 6.875 x 7.875 inches. Edition of 75. Pages from a sketchbook #2 2003 (Grace 126), drypoint - printed from two plates w/ chine collé, 9.875 x 8 inches. Edition of 60. Pages from a sketchbook #4 2003, drypoint, 9.375 x 6.875 inches. Edition of 50. Trees 2003 (Grace 128), drypoint, 2 x 2 inches. Edition of 20. Hilltop 1996 (Grace 62), drypoint, 6.875 x 7.5 inches. Edition of 30. Morning, Springfield OR Sunday, Springfield 1992 (Grace 40), drypoint, 6.875 x 7.375 inches. Edition of 50. Near Lancaster 1992 (Grace 39), drypoint, 6.75 x 7.375 inches. Edition of 50. Springfield, O 1991 (Grace 31), drypoint - printed from two plates, Fifth and final state, 1 impression pulled from each previous state, 12.75 x 10.875 inches. Edition of 60. Self-portrait, second state 1969, reprinted 2019 (Lunde 15), drypoint, 10.75 x 9.825 inches. Edition of 17 (1969), and 16 (2019). Pale trees 1968 (Lunde 3), drypoint, 8.25 x 11.75 inches. Edition of 30. View more Kipniss's first print, an etching, was made in 1967 at Pratt Graphics Center. That year he began producing drypoints, which he has made periodically since, although in smaller numbers than his works in other mediums. Almost all of his drypoints have the large areas of white typical of that medium, creating much more of an effect of outdoor light than his mezzotints. Springfield, O . (1991) shows the typical velvety black lines of the drypoint, caused when ink adheres to the raised burr next to the furrow, but Kipniss's lines are placed more tightly than is usual in drypoints. The work is in three institutional collections, including the British Museum, London. After a long hiatus from drypoint, Kipniss has returned to the medium in his later years. Since 2016, he has completed several atmospheric compositions in the medium, working with Anthony Kirk Editions.

In this brief address to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Kipniss discusses the nature of “vision” and muses on how he was influenced by roaming outdoors as a youth. < Back to all essays On Vision 1988 In this brief address to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Kipniss discusses the nature of “vision” and muses on how he was influenced by roaming outdoors as a youth. Downloadable PDF Neighbors , 1987, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 in. Collection of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Hassam, Betts, and Speicher Purchase Fund.

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​It is an immense challenge to state in words what I try to put into images. I can talk about process and approaches, but the essence of my art eludes words. As a painter my statements are pictorial. I do know my pictures are not intended as decorations. If I must make a statement, my art is a moment of seeing the urgency in beauty, and an attempt to hold and keep something I can have and touch from this transient experience. On My Work Robert Kipniss February 28, 2016 < Back to all essays It is an immense challenge to state in words what I try to put into images. I can talk about process and approaches, but the essence of my art eludes words. As a painter my statements are pictorial. I do know my pictures are not intended as decorations. If I must make a statement, my art is a moment of seeing the urgency in beauty, and an attempt to hold and keep something I can have and touch from this transient experience.

Robert Kipniss dabbled in editioned metalwork in the early 1970s: rings, belt buckles, bas-reliefs, and medallions were some of the formats he explored. < METALWORKS Autumn textures 1975, bronze, 8.75 x 9.75 x .25 inches. Edition of 500. Large landscape ca. 1970, bronze, 11.875 x 16.125 x 1.25 inches. Edition of 8. Untitled small landscape (horizontal) ca. 1970, bronze and silver editions, 5.625 x 3.75 x .825 inches. Two small editions of under 6. Untitled belt buckle ca. 1970, bronze, 2.0 x 2.0 x .375 inches. Small edition of under 6. Untitled medallion ca. 1970, bronze and silver editions, 1.5 x .125 inches. Two small editions of under 6. Untitled ring (rectangular face) & Untitled ring (circular face) ca. 1970, 14 carat gold and sterling silver editions, under 6 of each type. View more

Seen in Solitude is the hardcover catalog of Kipniss's exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art. It contains eighty-six reproductions of the artist's lithographs, drypoints, and mezzotints created between 1968 and 2005, along with images of paintings and photographs. < Back to all books Seen in Solitude Robert Kipniss Prints from the James F. White Collection Consult Bookfinder for availability Foreword and acknowledgements, E. John Bullard, director, New Orleans Museum of Art Collector's Statement, James F. White Critical essay by curator Daniel Piersol, chief curator, The Mississippi Museum of Art Robert Kipniss and Daniel Piersol (interview) Published by the New Orleans Museum of Art, 2005 68 color plates Seen in Solitude is the hardcover catalog of Kipniss's major prints retrospective of 86 works at the New Orleans Museum of Art in early 2006, a selection of the artist's lithographs, drypoints, and mezzotints created between 1968 and 2005. It was the first exhibition presented at the museum following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and traveled to four more museums through 2009. In his critical essay, curator Daniel Piersol places Kipniss among “such esteemed predecessors as Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964)” and follows his trajectory as a printmaker through the decades. He draws stylistic parallels between Kipniss’s work and that of George Inness, René Magritte, Mark Tobey, and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, each of whom projected a unique vision against those of their contemporaries. In an artist’s statement, Kipniss asserts, “I have always felt that wherever you are, everything is there. You just have to learn how to see it. While I have worked with a limited number of subjects—trees, houses, chairs—it’s really very limitless. I know this by having gone back to the same landscape over a period of time; every time I go there, I see a different landscape.” This book is out of print.