Robert Wilbert (Detroit Portrait series)
Artist
Kurt Novak
(American)
Date2003 - 2005
MediumArchival pigment print on cotton rag paper
DimensionsPaper Size: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Frame Size: 26 1/2 × 22 1/2 in. (67.3 × 57.2 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Object numberUAC6105
DescriptionBorn and raised in Chicago, Robert Wilbert received his BFA and MFA from the University of Illinois and after graduation moved to Michigan to begin his teaching career. Wilbert first taught at the Flint Institute of Arts before moving to Detroit in 1956 to join the faculty at Wayne State University. In addition to his work at Wayne State, Wilbert was the director of the AAA Gallery in Detroit, which hosted artists such as Gerome Kamrowski, Allen Leepa, and Milton Cohen under his direction. Wilbert’s personal work evolved from abstract expressionism in the early 1960s to a more realistic approach in later years. He is best known for his still-lifes, and his skill in both oil and watercolor is punctuated by his strong brushwork and knowledge of the formal elements of art. Wilbert has had solo exhibitions at the Park Gallery in Detroit, the University of Illinois, the Donald Morris Gallery in Birmingham, and the J.B. Speed Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. Wilbert has been included in over twenty group exhibitions, and has won several awards for his work. In 2011, Detroit Focus published Robert Wilbert: Ennobling the Ordinary, chronicling his work and history in Detroit in the ’60s.Collections
