RALPH DELLA-VOLPE (1923-2017) Fine Art Painter, American Contemporary The Valley Oil on canvas Hand signed lower left and again to stretcher and verso 16 x 20 inches. frame dimensions: 22 1/4 x 26 inches, wood frame Provenance: The Estate of the artist Ralph Della Volpe TRAINING: National Academy of Design The Art Students League, NYC Ralph Eugene Della-Volpe's semi-abstract paintings of often simplified, minimalist, beach scenes and anonymous portraits "convey profound awareness of mood and character", and his paintings are hardly as literal as they may first appear (Arts Magazine. "New York Exhibitions". 1965). His brightly-colored, light-infused, ornamental compositions bring together aspects of many modernist art movements including Fauvism, Impressionism, Symbolism, and abstraction. Della-Volpe first studied painting at the prestigious National Academy of Design before joining the Army during World War II. As a soldier, the artist saw action on Utah Beach, winning a Purple Heart, and his experiences undoubtedly affected his later artistic style. The Fauvist "coloristic exuberance" found in the works beginning in the mid 1960's, with their vibrant fuschias and yellows, seem to offset what could be an otherwise solemn tone to many of his works at the time. Upon his return from military service, Della-Volpe’s style evolved significantly. In the years following the second world war, his work was solemn, imbued with a quiet darkness. Over time, this darkness faded: by the 1950s, influenced by his time at the Art Students League, his oeuvre was overtaken by the tenants of Abstract Expressionism. Paintings from this period boast bold brushwork, energetic compositions, and strong color. Although the next decade saw Della-Volpe trade expressionist abstraction for figuration, his love of color continued to shine through his work.Della-Volpe took a teaching position as the first artist-in-residence at Bennett College in Millbrook, New York where he remained for 28 years, serving as chairman of the Art Department for most of that time. Obviously influenced by impressionism 's preoccupation with the treatment of light, Della-Volpe's own works have a "faultless tonal quality, with its sense of failing light—the areas of silvery gray deepening into rosy tans" (Arts Magazine. "In the Galleries". 1960). Della-Volpe has exhibited widely throughout his career and has lectured on art at colleges, universities, and galleries across the country. SOLO SHOWS: Hotchkiss Library, Sharon, Conn Millbrook Library, Millbrook,NY Gregory James Gallery, New Milford, Conn Greenwich Gallery, Greenwich CT VVFA, New York, New York Saxon Gallery, Southampton, NY Studio 22 Gallery, Amenia, NY Mabbettsville Gallery, NY Greenwich Gallery, Greenwich CT Randall Tuttle Fine Arts, Woodbury CT River Gallery, Essex. CT. 50 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE, Warren Street Gallery, Hudson NY O’Leary- Jacobson Gallery, Torrington, CT. Canio’s, Sag Harbor, NY 1987 RETROSPECTIVE, Columbia Mus. Of Art, Columbia, SC Wolfe Street Gallery, Washington D.C. Arts Exclusive Gallery, Simsbury, CT. Talking of Michelangelo Gall. Washington D.C. The Gallery, West Cornwall, CT Anderson Fine Art Center, Anderson, IN University. Of Maine, Presque Isle, ME 20 Years of Painting Retrospective, Bennett College Gallery, Millbrook NY Babcock Galleries, NYC GROUP EXHIBITS: Gregory James Gallery, Connecticut VVFA , Manhattan Grand Central Art Galleries, NY Pa. Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA Library of Congress, Washington D.C. “Modern Masters” The Silo Gallery, New Milford, CT. Southern Connecticut State College, New Haven, CT. WORLD’S FAIR, House of Good Taste, NY National Institute of Arts and Letters Parke-Bernet Galleries, Summer Exhibit, NY Butler Art Institute Annual, Youngstown, OH Contemporary Gallery, NY State University of N.Y. at Albany, NY MacNay Institute, San Antonio, TX Houston Gallery, Houston, TX Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT. Lehigh University Art Gallery, Easton, PA Albany Museum, Albany NY Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY Terry Art Institute, FL Sweat Museum, Portland, ME.Boston Society of Independent Artists American Drawing Annual, Norfolk Museum, Norfolk VA Art Association of Newport, RI Washington Watercolor Club, Washington, D.C. Speed Museum, Louisville, KY Flint Institute, Flint , MI Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS Chicago Society of Etchers, Chicago, IL The Print Club, Philadelphia, PA Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y. Springfield Art Center, Springfield OH MacDowell Colony Exhibit, NYC Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Museum of Modern Art Lending Library, NY American Color Print Society, Philadelphia PA Fifth National Veterans Art Exhibit Society of Washington Printmakers, Was D.C. Boston Printmakers, Boston MA Print Club of Albany, Albany, NY Bradley University National Print Annual New Britain Print Annual, New Britain CT Appalachian National Drawing Annual, Boone, N.C. PURCHASE AWARD & PRIZES: Library of Congress, Wash, D.C. Purchase Award Wichita Art Association, KS Purchase Award Art Students league, NYC Purchase Award Washington Watercolor Club Honorable Mention Berkshire Museum Drawing Prize REPRESENTED IN COLLECTIONS: Library of Congress, Pennell Collection Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, New York New U.S. Treasury Bldg. Washington D.C. Slater Museum, Norwich, CT Art Students League, NYC Wichita Art Association REPRODUCED IN: THE ART DIGEST AMERICAN ARTIST ART NEWS ARTS Country and Abroad Magazine Several reproductions in THE NEW YORK TIMES, ARTS YEARBOOK 7, AND NEW YORK ART WORLD, 1964 MACDOWELL FELLOWSHIP: Mac Dowell Art Colony, Peterboro, N.H. 1963 REPRESENTED: Who’s Who in America 2007 Mantle Fielding’s “Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers”1983 Who’s Who in the East Who’s Who in American Art Artists Biographical Dictionary Art Almanac American Prints in the Library of Congress International Who’s Who of Art and Antiques Dictionary of International Biography International Directory of Arts Outstanding Educators of America