b. 1935 Chicago, IL Lives and works in Chicago

Richard Hunt (b. 1935, USA) is one of the most accomplished American metal sculptors of the past century. His work has been exhibited 12 times at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, including a solo retrospective in 1971, when the artist was only 35 years old. Titled The Sculpture of Richard Hunt, March 25–July 9, 1971, this was only the third solo exhibition for a black artist in the history of MoMA. (The first was Sculpture by William Edmondson, October 20–December 1, 1937, and the second was Paintings by Jacob Lawrence, October 10–November 5, 1944.)

 

One of the elements of his work that so resonates with admirers is the way Hunt blends natural and architectonic forms. This is an outgrowth of Hunt’s mixture of urban upbringing with his family’s rural roots in the south and midwest. His father emigrated north during the Great Migration, which saw the movement of six million African Americans out of the southern United States beginning in 1916. The migration was largely caused by intolerable life conditions brought about by Jim Crow laws, which lasted roughly from the end of the Civil War until the 1960s. Hunt’s mother was raised in rural Illinois. For brief periods while growing up, Hunt returned to the countryside with his family. Those experiences instilled a deep love of nature in him, and inform many of the natural shapes that he incorporates into his work. His distinctive language of forms combines those natural influences with the architectonic aesthetic of the city.

 

In the realm of large-scale works, Hunt has established himself as very possibly the most productive public sculptor in the United States. His more than 125 public sculptures grace everything from the grassy sweeps of idyllic public parks to the imposing facades of steel and glass skyscrapers. He has been commissioned by corporations, hospitals, museums, municipalities, universities and athletic organizations. One of his proudest recent accomplishments is the welded bronze sculpture “Swing Low” (2016), which hangs in the lobby of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, the newest Smithsonian institution.

Selected Solo Shows

2018Sculpting a Chicago Artist: Richard Hunt and his Teachers, Nelli Bar and Egon Weiner, Koehnline Museum of Art, Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, IL 

2017 Framed and Extended, The Studio museum in Harlem, New York, NY

2014 San Antonio Botanical Gardens, San Antonio, TX

2013 Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL

 

Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, Saginaw Valley State, University, Saginaw, MI

 

2012 Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL

 

Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, IN

 

2011 David Findlay Jr Gallery, New York, New York

2010 Willis Tower, Chicago, Illinois

 

515 North State, Chicago, Illinois

 

Belian Art Center, Troy, Michigan

 

ThinkArt Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

2009 Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia

 

David Weinberg Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

Art & Design Gallery, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan

 

2008 The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, Ohio

 

Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, Indiana

 

2007 Lubeznik Art Center, Michigan City, Indiana

 

Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois

 

2006 Worthington Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

2004 H.C. Taylor Gallery, North Carolina A&T University, Greensboro, North Carolina

2001 Noel Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina

 

Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, California

 

Koehnline Museum of Art, Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, Illinois

 

2000 Illinois State Museum, Chicago, Illinois

 

Frederik Meijer Sculpture Garden, Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, California

 

1999 Laumeier Sculpture Park, St Louis, Missouri

 

Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

 

Turman Gallery, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana

 

1998 Museum of African-American History, Detroit, Michigan

 

Illinois State Museum, Chicago and Springfield,, Illinois

 

Lakeside Gallery, Lakeside, Michigan

 

Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, Michigan

 

Worthington Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit, Michigan

 

1997 Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York

 

Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, New York

 

1996 Worthington Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

Snite Museum, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, Indiana

 

Addison/Ripley Fine Art, Washington, DC

 

1995 Worthington Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit, Michigan

 

1994 Woodlot Gallery, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

 

University Museum, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale,

Illinois

1993 Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada

1992 Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

1991 Gwenda Jay Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

Louis Newman Gallery, Los Angeles, California

 

Charles H Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit,

Michigan

 

1990 Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

Printworks Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan

1989 Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

1988 USIS Touring Exhibit organized by the Los Angeles Museum of African American Art, traveled to the West African cities of Lagos, Monrovia, Accra Cotonou, Lome, Dakar, and Abidjan.

1987 Century City, Los Angeles, California

 

DeGraff Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

 

1986 Columbia College Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio

 

Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York, New York

 

1984 Fairweather-Hardin Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York, New York

 

1985 G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, Detroit, Michigan

Martin Gallery, Washington, DC

 

1983 Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York, New York

1982 Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, Ohio

1981 Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri

1979 Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

 

Cultural Activities Center, Temple, Texas

 

Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas

 

1978 Frances Wolfson Art Center, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, Florida

 

Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina

 

Washington University and Laumeier Sculpture Park, St Louis, Missouri

 

The Art Center, Waco, Texas

 

1977Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

1976 BC Holland Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

 

Sears Bank and Trust Company, Chicago, Illinois

 

1975 Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

 

University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa

 

1973 Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

 

Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

 

Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana

 

1971 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (Retrospective)

 

Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York (Retrospective)

 

Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

 

1970 Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

 

BC Holland Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

1969 Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

1968Dorsky Galleries, New York, New York

 

BC Holland Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

1967Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Retrospective)

 

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 

1966Ohio State University School of Art, Columbus, Ohio

 

BC Holland Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

1965 Occidental College, Los Angeles, California

 

Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, California

 

1963 BC Holland Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

 

Alan Gallery, New York, New York

 

1960 Alan Gallery, New York, New York

1958 Alan Gallery, New York, New York

 

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