Born in Bryn Mawr, PA, Robert Seyffert has lived and worked in Lima Peru, Southboro,MA, Middletown, DE, Baltimore Chester, Nova Scotia and New York City and he has taught drawing and painting at the Art Students League, New York, Washington Studio School, Washington, D.C., Baltimore School for the Arts and Johns Hopkins University. Currently is an adjunct professor at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY. From 1988-2006 he directed the Alfred and Trafford Klots Residency Program at Rochefort-en-Terre - an international residency program, administered by the Maryland Institute College of Art and located in southeast Brittany, France. Seyffert’s work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including solo shows at Loyola College, Baltimore; National Arts Club, New York; Washington Studio School, Washington, D.C., Washington County Museum of Art, Maryland and Paula MacDonald Gallery, Chester, Nova Scotia. From 1999-2002 the exhibition, Leopold, Richard, and Robert Seyffert: Three Generations of Artistic Visions, featuring more than 100 paintings by Seyffert, his uncle, and his grandfather, was shown in Baltimore, New York, and Washington, D.C. and more recently his work traveled to more than 10 museum venues in the show “ Legacy- A Tradition Lives On” and exhibit featuring the works of 8 artists whose work was influenced by Anquetin, Maroger and Joseph Sheppard. He is known for his cityscapes that include iconic cars as well as is narrative ocean paintings. His “ plein air” works, whether urban or seaside, juxtapose natural and manmade elements that hope to evoke a sense of nostalgia with an appreciation of the color and form from scenes in which we all might participate.

After earning his BFA at the Maryland Institute of Art, Seyffert went on to earn his MFA at the Parsons School of Design. In a profile in American Artist magazine, he explained the appeal of both natural and urban scenes. “Whether it’s a big tree or a 1965 Pontiac there’s something about the light hitting the subject that excites me, and that’s what I paint. . . . I’m trying to get the sensation created by the thing I’m looking at, and not just copying it”. His landscape painting ranges from Maryland, California, Nova Scotia, to Brittany. Seyffert’s cityscapes, depicting the streets of New York and Baltimore with automobiles, recall the urban work of Edward Hopper. Seyffert now teaches at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY and has taught drawing and painting at the Art Students League, New York; Washington Studio School, Baltimore School for the Arts and Johns Hopkins University.

For 15 years he directed Alfred and Trafford Klots Residency Program in Brittany at Rochefort-en-Terre, Morbihan, France. Seyffert’s work is in many institutional and private collections, including his portrait of James Michener in the National Portrait Gallery. From 1984 - 1995 Seyffert regularly exhibited at the Houston North Gallery in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and between 1983-1996 he exhibited five times at the National Arts Club in New York.

Over the past several years he has had shows in Boston, Philadelphia, and Delaware. Recently the exhibition, "Leopold, Richard, and Robert Seyffert: Three Generations of Artistic Visions", featuring more than 100 paintings by Seyffert, his uncle, and his grandfather, has been exhibited in Baltimore, New York, and Washington, DC.

Education

1981 MFA Parsons School of Design (studied with Paul Resika and Leland Bell)
1975 BFA Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
1974 Yale University, School of Music and Art (studied with Gabriel Laderman)

Exhibitions - Solo Shows

2011 Warner Gallery, Obrien Arts Center, Middletown, DE
2010 Bronx Borough President Gallery, Bronx, NY
2009 Jacob Reingold Pavillion, Derfner Museum at Hebrew Home, Riverdale, NY
2007 Krasdale Foods Gallery, Bronx and White Plains, NY
2006 Soprafina Gallery, Boston, MA
2006 Margot Optique Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2005 Haven Arts Center, “Auto-Urban,” Bronx, NY
2000 Paula MacDonald Gallery, Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada
1997 Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD
1996 Armata Partners, Baltimore, MD
1995 Aristos Gallery, University of Mexico, Mexico City
1994 Washington Studio School, Washington, DC
1993 Union League Club, New York, NY (also 1990)
1992-1982 National Arts Club, New York, NY
1988 Musée du Château de Rochefort-en-terre, France
1988 Houston North Gallery, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada
1991, 1989 Gallery 819, Baltimore, MD
1987 Anne Arundel College, Annapolis, MD, St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s, MD, Loyola College, Baltimore, MD

Exhibitions Group Shows

2012 “Seyffert!” – A family of art at the East River’n Plaza Gallery, East Harlem, NY
2011 “Mind Wave- The Collective Push to Improve” Chester Art Centre, Nova Scotia
2010 Midtown-Payson Gallery "Transportation in Art, a survey", Hobe Sound, FL
2009 Atlantic Gallery "Travelling, Transportation Works", New York, NY
2007 “Legacy: A Tradition Lives On”: University of Maryland, Adelphi, MD;
2006 Picker Gallery, Colgate University, Utica, NY;
Huntsville Museum, Huntsville, AL; Springfield
2005 Museum of Art, Springfield, OH; University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Texas A&M University Museum, TX.
2003 “Art and Ecology,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, Colorado
2000-07 Professional Artists Show, Century Association, New York, NY
2002 Unity Canvas, Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
2001- 1998 Musée du Château de Rochefort-en-terre, France
2001-04 MICA, Klots Residency Program Artists Show, Baltimore, MD
2000 “Three Generations: Leopold, Richard and Robert Seyffert 1905-1999”, Johns Hopkins University and Salmagundi Club, NY
1998 Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
1997 Washington Studio School Faculty Show, Artists' Museum, Washington DC
1995 Washington Studio School Faculty Show, Washington, DC
1994 Walsh Gallery, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT
1994 Public Securities Association, New York, NY
1991 Gallery K, Washington, DC
1985 School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD “Phil Koch and Robert Seyffert”
1986 Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD -- Art Aid, Baltimore, MD
1984 Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD
1983 Kawasaki Cultural Hall, “The Maryland Landscape,” Kawasaki Prefecture, Japan
1976 Baltimore Museum of Art - Biennial

Collections

Greg & Lisa Barnhill
Lee & Marcia Tawes
Sir Christopher & Valda Ondaatje
James & Sherri Benenson
John Whitney Payson
Tom & Cindy Kelly
Ken & Anne Kahn
Gary Ketner & Janice Clements
Chris & Liz Buller
Chateau Museum, Rochefort en Terre
Museo Universitario Contemporaneo De Arte, Universidad Nacional Mexico
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Towson State University, Towson, MD
Washington County Museum, Hagerstown, MD
Manekin Corporation, Baltimore, MD
Bank of America, Baltimore, MD
Wells Fargo Bank, Baltimore, MD
Bond Market Association, New York, NY

Awards

1994 First Prize, National Arts Club, New York, NY
1978-80 Helena Rubenstein Grant, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
1977 Greenshields Fellowship, Montreal
1974 Fellowship, Yale University at Norfolk Summer School, Norfolk, CT

Professional Experience

2009 - present. COLLEGE OF MT. SAINT VINCENT, Riverdale, NY, Adjunct faculty

2006 - 1988 ALFRED & TRAFFORD KLOTS RESIDENCY PROGRAM
MARYLAND INSTITUTE, COLLEGE OF ART: Rochefort en terre, France
DIRECTOR, Managed artists’ program for 20 senior and mid-career artists exhibiting and working at the chateau in Brittany. Co-authored retrospective catalog.

2006 - 1998 ARTISTS’ FELLOWSHIP, INC. New York, NY
President. Volunteer- Oversaw and managed all aspects of $4,000,000 not-for-profit grant-making organization whose mission was to aid visual artists in crisis situations. Board member: 1994-present.

1976-1979 ACADEMY OF THE ARTS, Easton, MD
Director-Curator. Organized and curated shows, developed budgets, wrote grants and managed the permanent collection for the Eastern Shore’s art museum supported by membership, state and county funds. Arranged for loans from private and art institutions.

2004 - Curator of “40 American Artists,” co-authored illustrated retrospective catalog in English/French of residency and the artistic history of 100 years at the chateau of Rochefort en Terre, France.

1995-6 Chair “Annual Members Exhibits,” National Arts Club, New York, NY.

1999 - 2008 ART STUDENTS LEAGUE New York, NY - Teacher - Evening painting

1996-2008 ROCK GARDENS INN, Sebasco, ME - Teacher - Summer workshops in landscape painting. Various mediums.

1995-1996 CHESTER SUMMER SCHOOL OF ART Nova Scotia, Canada - Teacher - Summer workshops in landscape painting.

1992-97 WASHINGTON STUDIO SCHOOL, Washington, DC - Faculty - Drawing, watercolor, drawing with color and painting classes.

1988-90 BALTIMORE SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS Baltimore, MD Faculty - Taught beginning and intermediate painting and drawing.

1985-86 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY Baltimore, MD Adjunct Faculty - Taught figure drawing, drawing and watercolor.

1980 QUEENS COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS New York, NY CETA Artist - Taught painting to seniors

1978 Curator “Painterly Vision,” an exhibit of nationally known contemporary artists including Louisa Matthiasdottir, Paul Resika, Paul Georges, Gretna Campbell and Louis Finkelstein. Show with illustrated catalog traveled to the Dimock Gallery, George Washington University, Washington DC.


Bibliography

Clem Richardson “Perfectly Restored”, NY Daily News, April 19, 2012

Gonzalez, David “A Portraitist, and His Images of the Famous, Come to Light” NY Times July 2011

Sheppard, Joseph, “Legacy: A Tradition Lives On,” April 2005. Catalog.

Howell, George, “The Subject of Light,” American Artist, February, 2003, VNU Business Media, New York, NY.

Medland, Mary, “The Seyfferts,” Where Magazine, December, 1999. Baltimore, Maryland.

Giuliano, Michael, “Artistic Clan Show at Evergreen House,” City Paper, December 22, 1999. Baltimore, MD.

Kelly, Cindy, “Three Generations of Artistic Vision,” Evergreen House Museum, Johns Hopkins University, 1999. Baltimore, MD. Catalog

Rienzi, Greg, “Leopold, Richard and Robert Seyffert,” The JHU Gazette, October 18, 1999.

National Arts, “A Family of Artists,” 15 minute spot, Virginia Public TV, January 15, 1998.

Lewis, Jo Ann, “Robert Seyffert Ancestral Images,” Washington Post, February 8, 1998. Sunday Style Section.

Heller, Nancy, “Leopold, Richard, and Robert Seyffert,” November, 1997. Washington, DC. Artists’ Museum catalog.

Dorsey, John, “An Artist's Cars,” The Baltimore Sun, May 1, 1997.

Nelson, Julie, “Robert Seyffert's New Works,” May, 1997. Washington County Museum, Hagerstown, MD. Essay, exhibition catalogue.

Velasco, Ernesto and Fuentes, Arturo, “Una Vision Actual del Paisaje,” El Valle de Mexico, 1996. Museo Universitario de Arte, Mexico City.

Roberts, Mark, “Chester Artist Named Director of France Haven for North American Artists,” The Progress Enterprise, September 6, 1995, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Castaneda, Katania, “Nostalgic Vibes From Stationary Wheels,” The News, Mexico City, April 20, 1995.

Dorsey, John, “Seyffert Has Firm Brush With Cars,” The Baltimore Sun, August 23, 1992.

Fuentes, Arturo, “Series de Nueva York: Robert Seyffert,” El Sol de Mexico, August 2, 1992, Mexico City.

Levy, David, “Ten Years Later,” February 14, 1990, Parsons School of Design Catalog. New York, NY.

Dorsey, John, “School for the Arts Exhibits Faculty,” The Baltimore Sun, February 9, 1989.

Perlman, Bennard, “Contrasting Styles In Show at Katzenstein,” The Daily Record, May 16, 1989. Baltimore, MD.

Anonymous, “Les oeuvres de Robert Seyffert,” Ouest France, May, 1989. Brittany, France.

Dorsey, John, “Landscape is Seyffert's Métier,” The Baltimore Sun, December 9, 1988.
Colwill, Stiles, “Robert Seyffert: Earlier Works1977-1984,” November 1987, Anne Arundel College, Annapolis, MD.

Lamb, Christopher, “Artist’s Works at Chesapeake Commons Gallery,” Daily Record, February 24, 1984. Baltimore, MD.

Bace, Bill, “Artists in Art Aid Exhibit,” November 30, 1986. Art Aid Catalog. Baltimore, MD.

Stevens, Elizabeth, “Color Distinguishes Seyffert Works,” The Baltimore Sun, February 28, 1986.

Cover Portrait of Clarence Mitchell, The Baltimore Sun Magazine, 1985.

Lamb, Christopher, “Robert Seyffert,” American Artist Magazine, October, 1984.

Wise, Gabriella, “Seyfferts Matching Wyeths,” The Baltimore Sun, November 20, 1974. and “Institute Rebels Going Back To Old Masters,” The Baltimore Sun, May 12, 1974.