About The Artist
—
Robert "Bob" Wallace Cassidy passed on March 21, 2020.
"As far back as I can remember, I have always loved art. At the early age of six, I remember how much I enjoyed sitting down and drawing pictures. In elementary school, I attended art classes at the Milwaukee Art Institute and remember completing a drawing of a streetcar. Later on as a student at Bay View High School, I designed program covers, painted backdrops for stage productions and won recognition in several scholastic art competitions. Becoming aware of traditional art, I studied the painters of the Hudson River School and great masters, particularly Millet, Rembrandt, and Turner. These artists still inspire the art I enjoy to this day.
When I was in the Army, stationed in Korea, I was an illustrator for the 7th Division Artillery Battalion. I completed several murals and paintings, including a Korean landscape which was one of the top three among U. S. troops in the Far East. After the service, I attended Wisconsin State College (now, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee) studying Art Education with renowned teachers Robert Von Nuemann and Joseph Friebert.
From 1960 to 1998 I worked in the museum field: a Background Artist for the Illinois State Museum; Chief Exhibits Designer at the Rochester Museum and Science Center in New York; and Assistant Director at the Milwaukee County Historical Society in Wisconsin.
During these years, I continued to paint 'traditional city views and landscapes' for private collections, law firms, insurance companies and other businesses.
Since retiring from the museum field in 1998, my art has evolved in a new direction...toward more imaginative landscape subjects, almost entirely as watercolor acrylics. These 'imaginative landscapes' often employ new compositional strategies derived from a variety of photographic records, including the Farm Security Administration files of the 1930's and 40's. My most recent paintings evolve from an interest in the use of architecture along with the figure as an integral and vital element in the depiction of a particular place...the union of figures and setting.
I feel that with each painting I create, presents a unique challenge to evolve into the means of enlivening my landscapes...a sense of place will connect with each viewer."
"As far back as I can remember, I have always loved art. At the early age of six, I remember how much I enjoyed sitting down and drawing pictures. In elementary school, I attended art classes at the Milwaukee Art Institute and remember completing a drawing of a streetcar. Later on as a student at Bay View High School, I designed program covers, painted backdrops for stage productions and won recognition in several scholastic art competitions. Becoming aware of traditional art, I studied the painters of the Hudson River School and great masters, particularly Millet, Rembrandt, and Turner. These artists still inspire the art I enjoy to this day.
When I was in the Army, stationed in Korea, I was an illustrator for the 7th Division Artillery Battalion. I completed several murals and paintings, including a Korean landscape which was one of the top three among U. S. troops in the Far East. After the service, I attended Wisconsin State College (now, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee) studying Art Education with renowned teachers Robert Von Nuemann and Joseph Friebert.
From 1960 to 1998 I worked in the museum field: a Background Artist for the Illinois State Museum; Chief Exhibits Designer at the Rochester Museum and Science Center in New York; and Assistant Director at the Milwaukee County Historical Society in Wisconsin.
During these years, I continued to paint 'traditional city views and landscapes' for private collections, law firms, insurance companies and other businesses.
Since retiring from the museum field in 1998, my art has evolved in a new direction...toward more imaginative landscape subjects, almost entirely as watercolor acrylics. These 'imaginative landscapes' often employ new compositional strategies derived from a variety of photographic records, including the Farm Security Administration files of the 1930's and 40's. My most recent paintings evolve from an interest in the use of architecture along with the figure as an integral and vital element in the depiction of a particular place...the union of figures and setting.
I feel that with each painting I create, presents a unique challenge to evolve into the means of enlivening my landscapes...a sense of place will connect with each viewer."
