Richard Hennessy1979 Large Colorful Abstract Oil Painting "Nightlife" Jazz Inspired Art, 1979

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Richard Hennessy, 1972. Born in Rochester, NY, in 1941, Hennessy began as a gifted concert pianist studying at the Eastman … Read more Richard Hennessy, 1972. Born in Rochester, NY, in 1941, Hennessy began as a gifted concert pianist studying at the Eastman School of Music from 1954-1959. He went on to study art history at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, from 1963-66, after which he began his career as a fine artist. His early paintings were quickly admired and supported by Henry Geldzahler, curator of Modern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His first exhibition was in 1969 at Olivier Bernier Inc. NYC, followed in 1970 by a show at the Tibor De Nagy Gallery, also in NYC. Over the years he has shown in San Francisco, Indiana, Arizona, Florida, and at other prominent NYC galleries including Robert Miller, Hamilton, John Good and a retrospective at NYU’s Grey Gallery. Aaron Copeland, America’s foremost composer, and John Ashberry, America’s premier poet, were early champions of his work. He is in NYC collections of the Brooklyn, Metropolitan, Guggenheim and Whitney Museums, as well as the Copland Manor house in Cortland NY, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo and many others. He has been the recipient of grants from the Pollock Krasner Foundation and the Ann & Erlo Van Waveron Foundations. Art critic Roberta Smith called his work “ironic, lyrical abstraction.” Critic Christopher Scott: “Hennessy has, unlike many modern artists, not ignored the history of art, and his works are enriched by the paintings, sculptures, buildings, decorative arts, photographs, films, music and literature that he immersed himself in. He has harnessed the power of his talent and intelligence for artistic purposes leading to virtuoso maximalist. He has applied this intelligence with the same adventurousness of spirit visible in the early abstractions of Hans Hofmann and Willem de Kooning, spontaneous yet precise.” HIs work would go well in a 1980's Memphis Milano interior. He showed at MoMA with
Lynda Benglis, Jonathan Borofsky, Billy Copley, Eric Fischl, Deborah Kass, Elizabeth Murray, Yoko Ono, Sean Scully In 1982.
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014 GEOFFREY YOUNG GALLERY GT. BARRINGTON, MA ELEMENTS OF STYLE
2007 VILLE DE REIMS GLOBAL BOOKS: LES LIVRES D'ARTISTE DE GERVAIS JASSAUD
2006 SNUG HARBOR CULTURAL CENTER STATEN ISLAND, NY ABSTRACT LANDSCAPES
2000 THE HECKSCHER MUSEUM OF ART HUNTINGTON, NY AARON COPLAND USA
1997 ESPACE CULTUREL DE TINQUEUX FRANCE LA TENTATION DU LIVRE
1992 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY NEW YORK THE ARTIST, THE WRITER AND THE BOOK DESIGN (ARTISTS'S BOOKS FROM COLLECTIF GÉNÉRATION)
1992 MARGULIES/TAPLIN GALLERY MIAMI GROUP SHOW
1991 NINA FREUDENHEIM GALLERY RICHARD HENNESSY AND JEFFREY WASSERMAN
1991 FRENCH CULTURAL SERVICES NEW YORK
1991 ANDRE EMMERICH GALLERY NEW YORK ABSTRACT PAINTING: THE 90'S
1990 MARTA CERVERA GALLERY NEW YORK THE PAINTER AND HIS OCCASION, CURATED BY ALAN JONES
1988 NINA FREUDENHEIM GALLERY BUFFALO FIVE PAINTERS
1986 TIBOR DE NAGY GALLERY NEW YORK GALLERY AND INVITED ARTISTS
1985 STEPHEN WIRTZ GALLERY SAN FRANCISCO WORK ON PAPER
1985 EDWARD THORP GALLERY NEW YORK ABSTRACT PAINTINGS
1985 ONE PENN PLAZA NEW YORK LUXE CALME ET VOLUPTE, CURATED BY JOHN YAU
1984 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN NEW AMERICAN PAINTING
1983 QUEENS MUSEUM NEW YORK TWENTIETH CENTURY ART FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, RECENT ACQUISITIONS
1983 HAMILTON GALLERY NEW YORK NEW BIOMORPHISM AND AUTOMATISM
1982 MUSEUM OF FINE ART HOUSTON JOAN MIRO IN AMERICA
1982 P.S. 1 NEW YORK CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES
1982 MUSEUM OF FINE ART FORT WAYNE, IN PAINTERLY ABSTRACTION: FOUR VIEWS OF THE EIGHTIES
1982 GREY ART GALLERY, NYU NEW YORK SETS AND COSTUMES FOR THE RIDICULOUS THEATRICAL COMPANY
1982 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA, NORMAN NORMAN, OK POINTS OF VIEW 1982
1981 TIBOR DE NAGY GALLERY NEW YORK THE BROKEN SURFACE
1981 HAMILTON GALLERY NEW YORK RAFAEL FERRER, RON GORCHOV, RICHARD HENNESSY
1980 HAMILTON GALLERY NEW YORK PLUS FOUR
1980 GALLERY 70 MILWAUKEE, THE CONTINUING TRADITION OF AMERICAN ABSTRACTION
1973 ROBERT ELKON GALLERY NEW YORK GROUP EXHIBITION
1967 MARTHA JACKSON GALLERY NEW YORK YOUNG ARTISTS THEIR WORK A SHOW

Selected Public Collections:
ALBRIGHT KNOX ART GALLERY, BUFFALO, NEW YORK
BROOKLYN MUSEUM, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
CARNEGIE MUSEUM, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK
MOMA/P.S.1, STAIRWELL MURAL
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART, PENNSYLVANIA
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, NEW YORK
THE WADSWORTH ATHENEUM, HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK See less