Hobson Pittman Catalog

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BARTON ART GALLERIES



HOBSON PITTMAN At Home & Work

Biography by Buddy Hooks Director, Blount-Bridgers House Museum Hobson Pittman Memorial Gallery Catalog designed by GĂŠrard Lange

BARTON ART GALLERIES Box 5000, Wilson, NC 27893 252.399.6477



At Home & Work Hobson Pittman (1899-1972) was born in Edgecombe County. He attended school near his home in the small community of Epworth, later graduating from Tarboro High School. He left Edgecombe County at the age of eighteen, moved permanently to Pennsylvania and studied art at Pennsylvania State College, Columbia University, Carnegie Institute of Technology and in Europe.

Sofa Restoration 181/2” x 121/2”

Although, he never lived in Edgecombe County again, Hobson Pittman took the memories of his home-place with him. Among his best-known works are his paintings of the spacious Victorian rooms and southern gardens which he remembered from his youth. Many of these works, along with his delicate and subtle flowers and fruit arrangements, are on display at well-known galleries such as the Corcoran gallery and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in

New York City, the Philadelphia Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Through the generosity of his niece, Alyce Weeks Gordon, Tarboro now has the opportunity to recognize one of North Carolina’s most talented and nationally prominent native sons. Mrs. Gordon is donating to the Town of Tarboro numerous works by her uncle, along with many of his personal effects and furniture from the Victorian period he loved. Hobson Pittman won acclaim throughout the United States for his oils, pastes and watercolors. He was also considered one of the best art instructors in the nation and was sought by numerous colleges, universities and art organizations to lecture and teach. It is Mrs. Gordon’s wish that his work continue to be used to instruct young artists; therefore, a teaching gallery is envisioned where art students of


all ages will be welcomed. It is hoped that the gallery will qualify as an Affiliate Gallery of the North Carolina Museum of Art, thus providing local access to State art resources. Hobson Pittman is best known for his oil paintings of romantic, nostalgic interiors of rather intimidating buildings. He developed this style and subject matter in the late 1920’s and pursued it with success until the late 1950’s. At the same time he was producing hauntingly beautiful pastels in the same theme. However, he entered the gallery scene, won prizes and critical acclaim in the 1920’s and 1930’s with his floral still life paintings, darkly rich canvases that partly owed inspiration to Henry McFee, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Fernand Lèger and the German Expressionists.

The Return 17” x 20”

From the late 1950’s until the end of his life, Pittman used a riotous palette of colors, so well suited to the exultant compositions we encounter in this exhibit. The blue-greys, fawns and taupes, the muted greens and wines, all gave way to tangerine, watermelon, turquoise, hot gold and throbbing chartreuse. His subject matter changed to abstract gardens, music rooms and pools of floating poppies that vibrated with color. And flowers, fruit and interesting containers.



Summer Moon 12” x 14”


Study of Pedestal 10” x 81/2”


Rocker in Bay Window 23” x 17”


Window No. 1 23” x 17”


Untitled 17” x 23”


Meredith House 22” x 16”


Self Portrait 18” x 14”


View from Porch 16” x 20”



“Hobson Pittman is the poet-pianter of the empty room. His profoundly felt and hauntingly brushed interiors – lighted from without by moon or sun and from within by lamp and moon as conspiring protagonists – vibrate with news of the presence that is withheld.” Contemporary American Painting 1945

Birth of Spring 52” x 371/2”



Dried Peaches 12” x 9”



Blount Bridgers House 22” x 32”

Peaches with Sugar Dish 19” x 12”


“He communicates with the power of a sensitive and disciplined brush, images, that, to begin with, had manifestly stirred the heart of the painter himself.” New York Times

Mrs. Allison 141/2” x 83/4”



House in the Country 9” x 4” Sketch for Green Interior 8” x 101/2” Library 9” x 6” Pencil Interior 111/2” x 83/4” Sketch for Curfew 8” x 101/4” Interior Sketch 9” x 5” Studio in Barn 11” x 8” Lovers 91/2” x 71/2”




“If I have made any contributions to painting, I firmly attribute it to a concentrated study of the masters. I try very hard not to be biased in my opinions or in my appreciation, but to be tolerant of all types and periods of good painting.” Hobson Pittman

Sketch for 9 p.m. 18” x 12”


Studio Arrangement 40” x 30”


Enigmatic 24” x 20”


Table with Lilies 6” x 4” Three Rooms 81/2” x 111/2”



Building and Trees 12” x 9”


House and Telephone Poles 12” x 9”


Woodstock 81/2” x 61/2”


Snow-covered Buildings 91/2” x 71/2”


Heavy Furnace 241/2” x 181/2”


Church in Europe 241/2” x 20”



Philadelphia Red Brick House 241/2” x 201/2”

Electric Car 281/4” x 181/4”


G. C. Layman Country Store 20” x 241/2”

Street in Florence 17” x 21”



Studio Arrangement 24” x 22”


Hobson Pittman’s easel, shirt and painting hat.


Director of Exhibitions Gérard Lange Gallery Assistant Bonnie LoSchiavo Gallery Interns Bobby Buffaloe Michelle Perez Ben Yansom Staff Hanna Cannon Alyssa Damroth Briana Frazier Cherise Santoriello Jasmine Tinsley

“I have always been interested in painting things of the past, things I have loved and still do. Things I feel and understand.” Hobson Pittman


Self Portrait Sketch 31/2” x 41/2”


Hobson Pittman At Home & Work Lula E. Rackley Gallery Exhibition Dates September 27 – October 30 Opening Reception September 27, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Lecture on Hobson Pittman by J. Chris Wilson October 2, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

BARTON ART GALLERIES Box 5000, Wilson, NC 27893 252.399.6477 The Barton Art Galleries are located in the Case Art Building, near the intersection of Whitehead Avenue and Gold Street, on the campus of Barton College.


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