University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 25, March 27



              Stephen Tanis' artwork in New York gallery
     
     The rich colors and detailed textures in paintings by
artist Stephen Tanis are on display in New York this month.
Tanis, art, has a one-artist show, "Tree of Life," at the
Sherry French Gallery in New York City until March 29-his
sixth show with the gallery.
     This summer, the exhibit will be shown from June 12-
Aug. 13, at the Sheldon Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute,
Indiana
     The show consists of close to a dozen still-life and
figure paintings, five of which were first displayed in a
faculty exhibition at the University Gallery in Old College.
Some works on paper also are featured.
     Describing himself as a realist in his still-life
works, Tanis frequently juxtaposes objects, fruits, flowers
or figures with the jewel colors and textures of an oriental
carpet or draped white cloth, meticulously painted to show
the shadows, highlights and folds.
     "I try to convey the sensuousness and the visual
richness of what I am painting. By working with different
combinations of textures and selections of content, I hope
to evoke a wide range of responses from those who see my
paintings," he said.
     For example, in his oil painting, "Pink Roses," a vase
of roses is painted above a foreground of an intricately
designed oriental carpet next to draped, creased fabric.  In
"Assumption," white lilies are atop a table covered with a
white cloth, while a clutch of Reubens' chubby putti are
shown against a background of clouds. In "Tree of Life," a
nude woman is crouched over a stylized oriental carpet of
that name.
     "I was able to do these paintings last year in part
because of a Center for Advanced Studies fellowship. It was
a gift of time which provided me with a wonderful
opportunity to concentrate on my art," he said.
     Portraiture is his other genre, and Tanis has been
commissioned to do portraits of several scholars on campus,
including L. Leon Campbell, former provost and Hugh M.
Morris Research Professor of Molecular Biosciences; Martin
Pomerantz, director emeritus of the Bartol Research
Institute; and Arthur B. Metzner, H. Fletcher Brown
Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering.
     Tanis also loves teaching. "I enjoy teaching drawing to
freshmen and watching their progress during the year. I also
teach figure and advanced painting classes," Tanis said.
     A graduate of the University of Cincinnati with an MFA
from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, Tanis joined
UD's faculty in 1972. He has exhibited his works in numerous
one-artist and group shows  nationwide.
                                         -Sue Swyers Moncure