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1939 andinone-manshows,manyofthematmuseumsandcolleges.Worksby
NepoteareownedbytheMetropolitanMuseumofArt,NewYork;SanFrancisco
MuseumofArt;theartgalleryatMillsCollege;Sacramento(California)Junior
College;NapaJuniorCollege;andothers.Heandhiswife,artistHannc-liorcSutro
Nepote,liveinMillbrae,California.
NEUMAN,RobertS.,ForlornOne, 48 x22. Illustration—Plate^27
"Theformaltrainingonereceivesasanartistsupplies,Ifeel,onlyasmallpart
ofthedisciplinenecessarytoanartist.Themoreimportantdiscipline,andalsothe
morerigorous,isthatwhichgrowswithintheindividualfromearlychildhood.When
Icreateapainting,drawing,etc.,Iattempttoassemblewhatseemstomesignificant
formthroughtheuseoflines,colors,shapes,anddesign.Theseelementsbecome
significanttomewhenIfindacertainrelationshipbetweenthemandthephilosophic,
sociological,andaestheticpatternswithwhichIamconcerned.InpaintingIcreate,
then,shapesandcolorswhich,emotionally,Icanrelatetothesepatterns.Naturally,
Idonotsupposeorintendthatmypaintingshouldhavethesamemeaningor
'message'forthespectator.ButIdointendthatmypaintings,though'abstract,'
shouldrevealtheirconcernwiththepredicamentinwhichmanfindshimself.Inthis
sensethen,Ibelievefirmlyinthecontinuityexistingbetweencontemporaryartand
olderforms.Thedifferencebetweenourmostadvancedexpressionsandthoseof
centuriesago,thedifferencebetweenrealismandabstraction,isadifferencepartially
ofsubjectmatter,partiallyoftreatment,buttheessentialcontinuityismoreimportant
thanthedifferences.Centuriesago,astoday,theprimaryconcernoftheartistwasto
compose,design,color,andcreate."
RobertNeumanwasborninKellogg,Idaho,in192G.HestudiedattheCali-
forniaCollegeofArtsandCrafts,Oakland,California,wherehereceivedtheB..\.A.
incommercialartandin 1951 theM.F.A.inpainting;theUniversityof Idaho;
MillsCollege,Oakland,California;CaliforniaSchoolofFineArtsatSanFrancisco;
andwiththelateMaxBeckmann.Hispaintings,sculpture,lithographs,etchings,and
jewelryhavebeenexhibitedinvariousshowsinthiscountry,especiallyonthewest
coast.AsamemberofthefacultyoftheCaliforniaCollegeofArtsandCraftshe
teachespainting,design,color,drawing,composition,andthemakingofjewelry.
In 1950 hereceivedanawardatthePacificNorthwestArtExhibitionatSpokane,
Wa.shington,andanawardforprintsattheCaliforniaStateFair,followedin 1951 by
aprizeattheSanFranciscoArtAssociationOilandSculptureExhibitionheldin
theSanFranciscoMuseumofArt,andFirstPrizeinboththeSurveyofPacificCoast
PaintingandintheFifteenthAnnualWatercolorExhibitionoftheSanFrancisco
ArtAssociation.Theyear 1951 alsobroughtaone-manshowataSanFrancisco
dealer's.Neuman'sworkisownedbythe.SanFranciscoArtAssociation,aswellasby
privatepersons.HelivesinOakland,California.OSVER,Arthur,UndertheTracks, 40 x36.
OsverfeelsthatUndertheTracksisoneofhisbestpaintingsandgoesonto
explainthatitis"oneofalongseriesofpaintingsexpressingmyinterestinthebig
city,industrialtheme.Whilethereisnoattemptheretodepictanyspecificlocale,
Ihavetriedtocapturethefeelingofacertaintimeandplace.Inthi.s,asinallmy
paintings,thenatureofmymaterialhasdictatedthenatureofmymeans.Subject
matterIfindabsolutelyessential.Itsetslimitationswhich,paradoxicallyenough,
openup(intheveryprobingoftheselimitations)otherwiseunimaginedpossibilities."