Robert Ryman
Robert 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]