HARRY BRORBY
1929 – 2012
EDUCATION
Harvard, A.B. 1950
University of Iowa, M.F.A.1954 (under Lasansky)
GALLERIES
Donald Morris, Birmingham, Michigan
Fairweather Hardin Chicago, Illinois
De Graaf Forsythe (Agent) Ann Arbor, Michigan
ARTICLES
Art International, December 15, 1974
EXHIBITIONS
Museum of Modern Art
Art Institute of Chicago * 1959 Logan, 1969 1st Prize Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
Print Club of Philadelphia *
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Brooklyn Museum *
Des Moines (Iowa) Art Center *
Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.
Los Angeles Art Museum
San Francisco Art Museum
Walker Art Center * Seattle Art Museum Butler Art
Institute * Library of Congress * Boston Museum of Fine Art *
Kalamazoo Art Center (Michigan) *1962 1st Prize Grand Rapids Art Gallery (Michigan) 1962 1st Prize Detroit Institute of Art *
Memphis Art Museum * Michigan Watercolor Society *
MOMA traveling show, “Fifty Years of American Art”
* Received prizes
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art
Chicago Art Institute
Brooklyn Museum
Des Moines Art Center
Walker Art Center
Springfield (Mo.) Art Museum
Boston Museum of Fine Art
Boston Public Library Memphis Art Center Kalamazoo (Mi.) Art Center
Grand Rapids (Mi.) Art Gallery
Pennell Collection of the Library of Congress
Youngstown (Oh.) College University of Southern California
Detroit Institute of Art
University of Iowa Butler Art Institute
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Mr. David L. Brininstool, Ann Arbor, Mi.
Bultema Dock and Dredge, Muskegon, Mi.
Mr. James A. Davies, Ann Arbor, Mi.
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel L. De Graaf, Ann Arbor, Mi.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hitesman, Whitehall, Mi.
Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Hoeksma, Coldwater, Mi.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Jenson, St. Louis, Mo.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Phillips, Ann Arbor,
Mi. Dr. and Mrs. Marvin Schrock, Ann Arbor, Mi.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Trankle, Ypsilanti, Mi.
Miss Ann Farnell, Ann Arbor, Mi.
Mr. William Conlin, Ann Arbor, Mi.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Although I’ve always considered myself a painter, the key to my style is a period of about four years (1964-1968) during which I concentrated on sculpture and construction. Working with wood, pine and plywood, I came to identify with the restraint that is more characteristic of sculpture. The beauty of the wood was enough. Why obliterate it with colors? About two years ago, I returned to painting, but more as a sculptor would attack the medium. A sour-sweet yellow became my “wood”. Why develop it with other colors which would disguise the basic search for meaningful form? Also, in this way, the painting and drawings are continuous, each relating more directly to the other. (Several acrylic paintings with red background are included for contrast. Although still linear, these are more expressionistic.) In the paintings and drawings, I have tried not to rely solely on associational or surrealistic justification, but to let an abrupt and simplified style lead to a fresh and spatially exciting effect.
