Raoul Middleman, 1972 Gestural Oil Painting Boat in Harbor Figural Abstraction Raoul Middleman, 1972

Description

Raoul Middleman (born 1935 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American painter. Middleman has been a member of the Maryland Institute … more Raoul Middleman (born 1935 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American painter. Middleman has been a member of the Maryland Institute College of Art faculty since 1961. American University Museum at the Katzen Center has described Middleman as a "Baltimore maestro [whose] nudes are not pretty—they are sagging, dimpled, and real. His cityscapes reveal the underbelly of post-industrial rot, his narrative paintings give contemporary life to his personal obsessions. They are intelligent, messy, and utterly masterful."
From an interview with RM "I was doing abstract art. Then Roy Lichtenstein came around, and I wanted to be current. I remember Grace Hartigan said, “You’ve gotta go to New York, seize destiny by the hand.” My friend Jon Schueler took my slides up to Eleanor Ward, who had the Stable Gallery. My Pop art paintings were discovered. I moved to New York into Malcolm Morley’s old loft down on South Street. Agnes Martin was upstairs... People who interest me come from different quarters. I knew guys around Schueler, like B.H. Friedman. But I also knew the Pop world pretty well – Al Hansen, Richard Artschwager, Lichtenstein. I became friends with Raoul Hague and I rented a place in Port Jervis, New York. I started doing my first landscapes up there. I thought making landscapes was the dumbest thing you could do. You got flies, insects, cow pies, humidity. But I loved it... I went down to the meetings of the Figurative Alliance. I met my friends there — Paul Resika, Paul Georges, Rosemarie Beck, Louis Finkelstein, Gretna Campbell. Gabriel Laderman — he was difficult and complex, but ultimately supportive. Marjorie Kramer and Sam Thurston. They were welcoming."
Paintings by Raoul Middleman can be found in private and corporate collections such as Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; National Academy of Design, NY; New York Public Library, NY; and Syracuse University, NY.
The C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland has represented Raoul Middleman since 1977. Troika Gallery Troika Gallery in Easton, Maryland has represented Raoul Middleman since 1997.

Education: 1959, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1961 Brooklyn Museum Art School, Brooklyn, New York
1960 Skowhegan Summer School, Skowhegan, Maine
1955 B.A. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Selected Solo Exhibitions
Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
The Painting Center, New York, NY
Rodger Lapelle Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
Bavarian Paintings, Murnau, Germany
MB Modern, New York, NY
Troika Gallery, Easton, MD
Ice Gallery, New York, NY
Ingber Gallery, New York, NY
Contemporary Realist Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Swanston Fine Arts, Atlanta, GA
Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY
Kornbluth Gallery (with Wolf Kahn), Fair Lawn, NJ
William Capro Gallery, New Bedford, MA
Boston University, Boston, MA
Yale Summer School of Art, Norfolk, CT
Scott-McKennis Gallery, Richmond, VA
Krasner Gallery, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions
C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, “Narrative Visions, Works by: Grace Hartigan, Beverly McIver,
Raoul Middleman, George McNeil, Sangram Majumdar, David Rich, and Tony Shore”
National Academy, New York, NY Annual Exhibition
Ice Gallery, New York, NY
C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD “The Painterly Landscape”
American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY “Invitational Exhibition”
Gaumann Cicchino Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL “The Landscape Revisited from Maine to Key West”
Haus der Kunst, Munich “Das Automobil in der Kunst”

George Washington University, Washington, DC “The Painterly Vision”

Selected Collections
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
National Academy of Design, New York, NY
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Towson University, Towson, MD
University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Selected Awards & Honors
Edwin Palmer Memorial Prize, National Academy of Design, New York, NY
Artist In Residence, LMCC, World Trade Center, New York, NY
President, National Academy of Design, New York, NY
Benjamin Altman Prize for Figure Painting, National Academy of Design, New York, NY
Robert & Rochelle Phillip Prize, National Academy of Design, New York, NY less