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

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 Style and Isolation 2003 Kipniss discusses how he developed his mature style in relation to his youthful admiration of major painters of the late nineteenth century and his studies at The Art Students League and The University of Iowa, concluding, “The mistakes of my youth have led me to an interesting and rewarding maturity.” Downloadable PDF Self-portrait: Petersburg, Virginia (1957) oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in., Collection of The National Academy Museum, New York.

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

From 1968 to 1994, Kipniss created lithographs that followed the style and content of his paintings, whether generally or specifically. A commission from a print publisher in 1968 for five editions of lithographs precipitated his adoption of lithography as a medium. < LITHOGRAPHS Hillside w/ porch & moon 1994, color lithograph, 6 x 5.125 inches. Edition unknown. Roadside, Elsah 1990, color lithograph, 12.5 x 15 inches. Edition of 90. Road to Middleburg 1988, color lithograph, 13 x 11.375 inches. Edition of 120. Revisitation, afternoon 1987, color lithograph, 11 x 15 inches. Edition of 150. Green, Green 1987, color lithograph, 16 x 12 inches. Edition of 120. Streets & alleys, afternoon 1987, color lithograph, 11 x 12.75 inches. Edition of 120. As the rain ends 1987, color lithograph, 10 x 16 inches. Edition of 120. The Blue Stove 1987, color lithograph, 17.5 x 14 inches. Edition of 120. City, dusk 1987, color lithograph, 6.5 x 5 inches. Edition of 150. The Artist’s Bedroom 1986, color lithograph, 12 x 10 inches. Edition of 120. August 1986, color lithograph, 8 x 9 inches. Edition of 120. Invitations 1986, color lithograph, 15.75 x 17 inches. Edition of 120. Small Porch & Clouds 1986, color lithograph, 13.25 x 11 inches. Edition of 120. Poised 1986, color lithograph, 11 x 15 inches. Edition of 120. Just before the sun 1985, color lithograph, 12 x 11 inches. Edition of 120. Suspension II 1985, color lithograph, 10 x 13.5 inches. Edition of 120. Splash 1984, color lithograph, 6.5 x 5 inches. Edition of 175. Ohio moment 1984, color lithograph, 11 x 14.5 inches. Edition of 175. Window sitting 1983, color lithograph, 10.5 x 14 inches. Edition of 120. Souvenirs 1982, color lithograph, 13.5 x 10 inches. Edition of 200. The Other Room 1981 (Lundgren 232-SL), color lithograph, 13.5 x 9 inches. Edition of 150. Small Hilltop 1981 (Lundgren 241-SL), color lithograph, 10 x 13.5 inches. Edition of 120. Remembering 1981 (Lundgren231-SL), color lithograph, 22 x 28 inches. Edition of 120. Just beyond 1980 (Lundgren 216-SL), color lithograph, 14 x 16.75 inches. Edition of 275. Dark Fields 1980, (Lundgren228-SL), lithograph, 4 x 3 inches. Edition of 250. View more "In lithography my great excitement came from effects I can best describe as silvery, like ghosts of gray, grays faint yet fully drawn, with nuances that gave the appearance of images have been just breathed onto the stone, and from there with Burr [Miller]’s magic coaxed to the paper…When printing went smoothly the experience was deeply rewarding, a sense of well-being at having brought to life a vision that could have gone wrong in so many ways, at so many moments. These times were like gifts from an unpredictable printing god, and were the events that made painful failures endurable. It was essential to know my goals could be reachable." - Robert Kipniss, 2002 From 1968 to 1994, Kipniss created lithographs that followed the style and content of his paintings, whether generally or specifically. A commission from a print publisher in 1968 for five editions of lithographs precipitated his adoption of lithography as a medium. Kipniss's first lithographs were done in black and white, but by 1970 he was also working in color. He taught himself "to lay in the most delicately light silvery tones on the surface of the limestone by maintaining an exceptionally sharp point on the lithographic pencil and drawing with no pressure other than the weight of the pencil itself." He built up a support so that his hand and wrist could "dangle" over the stone. By 1994 Kipniss had completed about 450 editions of lithographs, usually of 90 to 250 impressions, at the Burr Miller studio in Manhattan. He worked from 1969 with master printer Burr Miller and then with Steve and Terry, his sons. In 1980 Kipniss began to draw on aluminum to make all of his lithographs, and by 1986 he was achieving an increased subtlety in the use of color with a light palette including "greens, blues, pinks, browns, and grays," as a critic noted that year. He added: "Kipniss enhances the remarkable purity and elegance of line in these lithographs by his restrained use of color. The delicate hues of his prints are of such extraordinary subtlety that it is only on careful examination that the viewer can recognize how complex they are, requiring as many as eight different plates to produce a single print." In 1994 Kipniss's concern with densely drawn fine tones led to increased difficulties in printing, and he gave up the medium.

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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 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

Robert Kipniss has artwork in major collections including the Syracuse University Art Museum, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, and the Allentown Art Museum to name a few. COLLECTIONS MAJOR REPOSITORIES Smithsonian Archives of American Art View Details Washington, DC Wittenberg University Library View Details Springfield, Ohio Syracuse University Art Museum View Details Syracuse, New York Fort Wayne Museum of Art View Details Fort Wayne, Indiana Allentown Art Museum View Details Allentown, Pennsylvania The British Museum View Details London, England The Metropolitan Museum of Art View Details New York, New York The Heckscher Museum of Art View Details Huntington, New York SELECTED ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COLLECTIONS A - F Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, Maine Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris The Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Massachusetts Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio Canton Art Institute, Canton, Ohio Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The Century Association, New York, New York Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio De Cordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, Florida Davis Gallery, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York The Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York Federal Reserve Board Fine Arts Program, Washington, D.C. Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis G - M Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New York The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York Hofstra University Museum, Hempstead, New York Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Stanford, California Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, University of Richmond Museums, Richmond, Virginia Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California Maier Museum of Art, Randolph College, Lynchburg, Virginia McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas Minnesota Museum of American Art, Saint Paul, Minnesota Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina The Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Michigan The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, New York Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas N - Z National Academy of Design, New York, New York The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri The New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana The New York Public Library, Print Collection, New York, New York Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pinakothek der Moderne, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, Ohio Victoria and Albert Museum, London Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York Wichita Falls Museum and Art Center, Wichita Falls, Texas Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

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