Robert Kipniss Paintings 1950-2005 presents the first comprehensive investigation of this artist's painting, from the distinctive and original style found in his earliest works, to those of the 1970s and 1980s when he was consolidating and refining his visual vocabulary, to the recent achievements of a mature artist. < Back to all books Robert Kipniss: Paintings, 1950 - 2005 Consult Bookfinder for availability Foreward by E. John Bullard Essay, "Solitude and Silence," by Richard J. Boyle Essay, "Notes from the Studio," by Robert Kipniss Published by Hudson Hills Press, 2007 Robert Kipniss: Paintings 1950-2005 presents the first comprehensive investigation of this artist's painting, from the distinctive and original style found in his earliest works, to those of the 1970s and 1980s when he was consolidating and refining his visual vocabulary, to the recent achievements of a mature artist. Essays by E. John Bullard and Richard J. Boyle, and by Kipniss himself, introduce us to an artist with an intensely independent vision and methodology, as well as his process and inspirations, and the profound impact of his art on viewers. The book has one hundred and two reproductions of Kipniss paintings, almost all of them in full color. In his essay, "Notes from the Studio," Kipniss wrote that as this book came into being "I am surprised to see the wholeness, the one shape, formed by the various points of my gradual evolution." "During the ten weeks the Kipniss show was on view in New Orleans, I had the pleasure of seeing the works numerous times," wrote E. John Bullard, director of the New Orleans Museum of Art. "I thought of Zenga, paintings by Japanese Zen Buddhist monks and priests...The twilight lyricism of many of his landscapes, with muted colors and soft edges, could almost be scenes in Japan." "If the work of the fifties and sixties was exploratory, searching, the work of the seventies and eighties was consolidating and refining, the forming of a vocabulary for the expression of his ideas. The work of the nineties to the present represents the achievement of a mature artist, the marriage of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary to fulfill the intensity of his vision; in Rilke's words, 'not to form, nor to speak, but to reveal'," wrote Richard Boyle, former director of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and adjunct professor of art history at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Robert Kipniss' unique works on paper consits of pencil and watercolor drawings. < UNIQUE WORKS ON PAPER Landscape w/ pale trees 2019, watercolor on paper, 12.25 x 10 inches. Landscape w/ seven trees 2019, watercolor on paper, 8.5 x 12 inches. White trees ca. 2013, pencil on paper. Splash III ca. 2003, pencil on paper. Still life w/ two vases ca. 2002, pencil on paper, 12.75 x 8.75 inches. White Forest III 2001, pencil on paper. Still life w/ dark window 2001, pencil on paper, 9.5 x 6.75 inches. Untitled (bushy trees) ca. 2000, watercolor on paper, 9.5 x 7.25 inches. Study for “Spring Secrets” 1995, graphite on laid paper, 8.875 x 7.62 inches. Through bedroom curtains ca. 1983, pencil on paper. Untitled ca. 1980s, pastel on paper. Study for “Essence” 1976, graphite on wove paper. Untitled #16 1963, pencil on paper, 8.375 x 10.75 inches. View more "In sketching and drawing I search for structure, the formal understanding of my seeing the physical world, and the layers of awareness that visual events provoke. Whether in the countryside or in my studio, I work with the elements of landscape as a vocabulary to express the vision, the voice, the sense of what it is within myself so touched by what I see." Robert Kipniss, 1999

View exhibitions, collections, essays, and books by Robert Kipniss. RESOURCES BOOKS View COLLECTIONS View ESSAYS View INTERVIEWS View

Robert Kipniss has been interviewed by major organizations such as the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Alan Avery Art Company, and the Weinstein Gallery to name a few. Watch is videos via youtube or listen to the podcasts here. INTERVIEWS "Episode 146: Robert Kipniss" Interview by Miranda Metcalf Hello Print Friend June 28, 2022, Audio (podcast), 47:18 "The Painter, Printmaker, and Writer Robert Kipniss Talks About His Memoir Robert Kipniss: A Working Artist's Life " Interview by Tom Hill, Library Café, Vassar College Art Library September 15, 2021 "American Stories: Fort Wayne Museum of Art Presents Robert Kipniss" Interview by Charles Shepard Access Fort Wayne January 6, 2017 (YouTube), video, 36:18 “Interview for the exhibition Robert Kipniss: Intaglio and Oil" Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco October 15, 2004 Watch Highlight Reel (3:28) “Printmaker Robert Kipniss: As the Artist Turns 80, a Look Back” Interview by Ira Goldberg, LINEA: Journal of the Art Students League of NY (New York, New York) Spring, 2011 Read “Conversations with Robert Kipniss” Interview by Alison Armstrong American Arts Quarterly (Hastings- on-Hudson, NY: Newington-Cropsey Foundation) v. 26, no. 3 Summer 2009; republished in Alison Armstrong (Xlibris, 2019) Available from the Author

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.

Robert Kipniss has primarily worked in oil painting, lithography, and mezzotint over his seventy-year career. As a young man he was a poet and artist, abandoning poetry in 1964 to focus on painting, which he continued until 2018. From 1968 to 1994, he created over 450 lithographs. He is perhaps best known as one of the leading living practitioners of mezzotint, of which he has created over 275 editions, and has also made several drypoints and etchings. SELECTED ARTWORKS Learn more about the artworks here MEZZOTINTS View More PAINTINGS View More LITHOGRAPHS View More DRYPOINTS & ETCHINGS View More UNIQUE WORKS ON PAPER View More METALWORKS View More

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.

Upon his acceptance of a lifetime achievement award from the Society of American Graphic Artists, Kipniss discusses his journey as a printmaker: first in etching, then lithography, and finally in mezzotint. He concludes with the observation that other printmakers are one of the finest aspects of practicing this art, due to the camaraderie they share. < Back to all essays Lifetime Achievement Award Address, SAGA 2007 Upon his acceptance of a lifetime achievement award from the Society of American Graphic Artists, Kipniss discusses his journey as a printmaker: first in etching, then lithography, and finally in mezzotint. He concludes with the observation that other printmakers are one of the finest aspects of practicing this art, due to the camaraderie they share. Downloadable PDF Robert Kipniss and Burr Miller at George C. Miller & Son, Lithographers, 20 W. 22nd Street, New York, New York, 1976

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.

View and purchase books by and about Robert Kipniss. BOOKS Paintings & Poetry, 1950 - 1964 Overview and Details Available from the publisher Intaglios, 1982 - 2004 Overview and Details Consult Bookfinder for availability Paintings, 1950 - 2005 Overview and Details Consult Bookfinder for availability A Working Artist's Life Overview and Details Consult Bookfinder for availability Seen in Solitude Overview and Details Consult Bookfinder for availability The Graphic Work Overview and Details Consult Bookfinder for availability

In 2011, as the artist turned 80, Kipniss in deep reflection on his life and career in multiple ways. He had just published his memoir, and had reviewed his early work as a poet in preparation for Robert Kipniss: Paintings and Poetry, 1950-1964. Here, for a solo exhibition of recent work, he considers the lessons that sixty years at the easel has brought and shares a particularly poignant and relevant poem he wrote in 1959 that lends its title to the exhibition. < Back to all essays Regard 1959 / 2011 In 2011, as the artist turned 80, Kipniss in deep reflection on his life and career in multiple ways. He had just published his memoir, and had reviewed his early work as a poet in preparation for Robert Kipniss: Paintings and Poetry, 1950-1964 . Here, for a solo exhibition of recent work, he considers the lessons that sixty years at the easel has brought and shares a particularly poignant and relevant poem he wrote in 1959 that lends its title to the exhibition. Downloadable PDF Springfield, O. III (2005), oil on canvas, 20 x 22 inches, exhibited in “Recent Paintings by Robert Kipniss” at the New Orleans Museum of Art, March 4 – May 14, 2006.

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