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The Art of Edward L. Loper, Sr.: On the Path of the Masters
Mechanical Hall, University of Delaware
April 2 – July 20, 2007
Edward L. Loper, Sr., recently featured in a cover story in Delaware Today, is one of Delaware’s best known living artists. In 2005, the artist and his wife, Janet Neville Loper, promised a gift of Loper’s works to the Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art at the University of Delaware. This exhibition celebrates both the artist and that gift.
From his early days as a young draftsman working for the Works Progress Administration to his later years as a teacher of what his students term the “Loper Tradition,” Edward L. Loper, Sr., has been committed to the exploration of the medium of painting. Born into the racially segregated world of Wilmington, Delaware, in 1916, he has through tenacity and talent made a significant mark on the American art scene of the Twentieth Century. Loper was the first African American artist to be awarded a prize in the Delaware Art Museum’s Annual Exhibition. His still life paintings, Delaware landscapes and figurative paintings, known for their bold color and fragmented forms, have been exhibited and collected by such prestigious institutions as the National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Howard University Gallery of Art, and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.
This exhibition traces Loper’s journey as an artist from the 1930s to the present through forty works, loaned from museums as well as private collections. A fully-illustrated, 60-page catalogue with an essay by Anna O. Marley, published by the University of Delaware, accompanies the exhibition.
A book signing and interview with the artist will take place from 5-7 pm. on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at Mechanical Hall. This event is open free to the public. Information: 302-831-8037.© 2007, University Museums
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