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Robert Franklin Gates: Paint What You See

Curated by Jack Rasmussen
January 25-March 13, 2020

View the exhibition catalog online

Robert F. Gates, Bessie Shoemaker's Pigs, 1934

Robert F. Gates (United States, 1906 – 1982), Bessie Shoemaker's Pigs, 1934. Watercolor on paper, 24 3/4 × 28 3/4 × 1 1/8 in. American University Museum Collection, Gift of Corinne and Theodore Davidov, 1991.23.1

Robert F. Gates, Untitled, 1970.

Robert F. Gates (United States, 1906 – 1982), Untitled, 1970. Oil on canvas, framed: 62 1/8 × 77 3/4 × 2 in. American University Museum Collection, Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David M. Evans), 2018.15.2416.

Robert F. Gates, Orange Desert, 1967.

Robert F. Gates (United States, 1906 – 1982), Orange Desert, 1967. Oil on canvas, 40 × 60 in. American University Museum Collection, 1991.1.65.

Robert F. Gates, Beach Light, 1962.

Robert F. Gates (United States, 1906 – 1982), Beach Light, 1962. Oil on canvas, framed: 85 × 49 × 1 3/4 in. American University Museum Collection, Gift of the Robert F. Gates Estate, 1991.1.64.

Related events

Gallery Talk: Robert Gates
January 25, 5-6 p.m.

Winter Opening Reception
January 25, 6-9 p.m.

Robert Franklin Gates: Paint What You See showcases an adventurous artist who greatly influenced the course of Washington art from his arrival from Detroit in 1930, at the age of 24, until his death in 1982 as an AU Professor Emeritus. He was a muralist, painter, printmaker, draftsman, and professor at the Phillips Gallery School and then American University for over forty years. His watercolors earned him early acclaim, signaled by their inclusion in the very first exhibition held at the National Gallery of Art upon its opening in 1941. Gates’ paintings can be found in The Phillips Collection, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Dumbarton Oaks, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Corcoran Legacy Collection and the Watkins Memorial Collection at the American University Museum.

A fully illustrated catalog with essay by curator Jack Rasmussen was published in conjunction with this exhibition.