Robert Ryman

born Nashville, Tennesse, 1930; died New York City, New York, 2019

BiographyRobert Ryman studied at the Tennessee Polytechnic Institute and the George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, before serving in the United States Army (1950-52). Since the 1950s, Ryman has used primarily white paint on a square surface, to study the effects of light and shadow.

Ryman was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1994) and has received many awards, including a Skowhegan Medal (1985) and a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1974). He has had major exhibitions at the Tate Gallery, London (1993); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1993); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1994); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1994); Dia Art Foundation (1988); Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland (2006); and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (2006-07). He has participated in Documenta (1972, 1977, 1982); the Venice Biennale (1976, 1978, 1980); the Whitney Biennial (1977, 1987, 1995); and the Carnegie International (1985, 1988).

[Biography excerpted from Art 21website]

See the artist's obituary at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/09/obituaries/robert-ryman-minimalist-painter-dies.html?emc=edit_th_190211&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=209666150211
[accessed Feb 13 2019]

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