Henry Pearson, 92, Op Art Painter
Bill Schenley
http://www.askart.com/AskART/photos/WRI5162004/359.jpg
http://www.psu.edu/dept/palmermuseum/past/pearson/pearson1.jpg
http://www.psu.edu/dept/palmermuseum/past/pearson/pearson2.jpg
FROM: The New York Times ~
By Roja Heydarpour
Henry Pearson, an artist whose use of undulating parallel lines in both
painting and sculpture made him a pioneer of Op Art, died on Dec. 3 in
Manhattan. He was 92 and had lived in Manhattan for many years.
His death was confirmed by his brother, Stanley.
Inspired by his work drawing topographical maps of Japan in World War
II as a member of the Army Air Corps, Mr. Pearson used similar
techniques to make linear abstractions in ink or oil on canvas as well
as three-dimensional objects.
In reviewing a 2003 exhibition of his work in The New York Times, Grace
Glueck wrote, "Breathing, pulsating surfaces of labyrinthine whorls
and lines, they suggest rippling water, the combings of plowed land,
the heavings and foldings of earth and ocean."
Born in Kinston, N.C., Henry Charles Pearson was always involved in the
arts, though not always painting. He received a B.A. at University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1935 and an M.F.A from Yale University
School of Drama, where he studied set design, in 1938. It was not until
1953, when he returned from a long stay in Japan, that he attended the
Art Students League in New York City, where he studied under Will
Barnet.
He admired Mr. Barnet's geometric work and created his own
structured, rectangular pieces. In 1959, frustrated by a painting he
was working on, Mr. Pearson began to doodle and wondered what would
happen if he rounded the edges. The memory of his work as a
cartographer came back, and his signature linear drawings were born.
Mr. Pearson's work is in the collections of many museums including
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney
Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the National Gallery of
Art and the North Carolina Museum of Art.
He is survived by his brother, Stanley.
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http://www.artnet.de/artwork_images_74879_84289_henry-pearson.jpg
http://amico.davidrumsey.com/images/amico/Size0/AKAG/akag.k1965.11.jpg
Hyfler/Rosner
"Bill Schenley" <stra...@ma.rr.com> wrote in message
news:1166429453.1...@16g2000cwy.googlegroups.com...
> Henry Pearson, Op Art Painter Who Was Inspired by
> Mapmaking, Dies at 92
>
> http://www.askart.com/AskART/photos/WRI5162004/359.jpg
>
> http://www.psu.edu/dept/palmermuseum/past/pearson/pearson1.jpg
>
> http://www.psu.edu/dept/palmermuseum/past/pearson/pearson2.jpg
>
Gorgeous stuff.