Raoul Middleman

Raoul Middleman (1935 – October 29, 2021) was an American painter known for his "provocatively prolific work--primarily traditional, including figure studies, landscapes, and still lifes--and for being a megawatt personality." Middleman was a member of the Maryland Institute College of Art faculty from 1961 on. In a 2009 Baltimore City Paper article Bret McCabe described Middleman's paintings as featuring "... expressive strokes, a tight control over an earthy palette, a romantic tone slightly offset by a penetrating eye —becomes distinctive even if you haven’t seen them before, so strongly does he articulate his old-fashioned sensibility in his works.”

Mike Guliano also writing in the Baltimore City Paper said ...."Other artists would look at the relatively undramatic landscape of this region and respond with quiet paintings, but Middleman sees all of nature as being animated. If anything, the countryside is so inherently full of life that animals, people, and buildings are usually no more than blips on the horizon." Giuliano continued on to say, "Middleman's theatrical and somewhat claustrophobic portraits remain firmly within a studio environment; when he goes to the country, people pretty much drop from the scene. It's as if the landscape itself is so completely exposed that placing a female nude out there would be redundant."

Paintings by Middleman can be found in private and corporate collections such as Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; National Academy of Design, NY; New York Public Library, NY; and Syracuse University, NY.

The C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, has represented Middleman since 1977. Troika Gallery Troika Gallery in Easton, Maryland, has represented Middleman since 1997. The owners/artists of Troika Gallery are closely associated with Raoul in both a personal and professional manner. Middleman died on October 29, 2021.

Education

1959 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1961 Brooklyn Museum Art School, Brooklyn, New York

1960 Skowhegan Summer School, Skowhegan, Maine

1955 B.A. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Selected solo exhibitions

2011

Kouros Gallery, New York, NY also 09, 07, 04

2010

Howard Community College, Columbia, MD

2009

C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD also 07, 05, 03, 01, 99, 84, 81, 79, 78

2007

The Painting Center, New York, NY

2005 Rodger Lapelle Galleries, Philadelphia, PA

2002 Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD

2001 Bavarian Paintings, Murnau, Germany

2000 MB Modern, New York, NY

1999 University of Maryland University College, College Park, MD Roger LaPelle Galleries, Philadelphia, PA Troika Gallery, Easton, MD

1998 Ice Gallery, New York, NY also 97, 96

1997 City Hall Galleries, Baltimore, MD

1994 Steven Scott Gallery, Baltimore, MD

1991 Jewish Community Center, Baltimore, MD

1989 Ingber Gallery, New York, NY

1988 Contemporary Realist Gallery, San Francisco, CA Swanston Fine Arts, Atlanta, GA

1986 Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, MD

1985 Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY also 81, 78, 75, 72, 69, 68 Kornbluth Gallery (with Wolf Kahn), Fair Lawn, NJ

1983

William Capro Gallery, New Bedford, MA

1982

The Water Gap Gallery, Walpack Center, NJ

1981

Boston University, Boston, MA

1980

Yale Summer School of Art, Norfolk, CT Scott-McKennis Gallery, Richmond, VA

1974

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD also 63

1966

Krasner Gallery, New York, NY

Selected group exhibitions

2007

C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD “Summer ‘07” C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD “The Dialectic of Line”

2006

C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, “Summer Show”

2004

C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, “Narrative Visions, Works by: Grace Hartigan, Beverly McIver, Raoul Middleman, George McNeil, Sangram Majumdar, David Rich, and Tony Shore”

1998

National Academy, New York, NY “173rd Annual Exhibition” Ice Gallery, New York, NY C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD “The Painterly Landscape”

1997

National Academy, New York, NY “172nd Annual Exhibition” [Benjamin Altman Prize]

1996

American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY “Invitational Exhibition” National Academy, New York, NY “171st Annual Exhibition” The Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, FL “American Art Today: Images from Abroad”

1994

National Academy, New York, NY “169th Annual Exhibition”

1993

American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY “Invitational Exhibition”

1992

Artscape ‘92, Baltimore, MD “Masters, Mentors, and Makers” National Academy, New York, NY “167th Annual Exhibition”

1990

National Academy, New York, NY “165th Annual Exhibition” [Robert and Rochelle Philipp Prize] University of Maryland, Baltimore County “A View from Baltimore to Washington”

1989

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD “The Landscape Observed” Gaumann Cicchino Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL “The Landscape Revisited from Maine to Key West”

1988

The Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, FL “American Art Today: Narrative Painting” Norman and Sarah Brown Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Baltimore, MD “Invitation Exhibition (in honor of Israel’s 40th anniversary)” [First Prize] Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD “Landscape: Three Perspectives” 1987 School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD “Three on Three: Hartigan, Leake, Middleman”

1986

Haus der Kunst, Munich “Das Automobil in der Kunst”

1985

W.C. Bradley Company, Columbus, GA “Contemporary American Realists” 1984 Artist's Choice Museum, New York, NY “The First Eight Years” National Academy, New York, NY “159th Annual Exhibition” Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Sparkill, NY “Primacy of Seeing”

1983

One Penn Plaza, New York, NY “New Landscape”

1982

Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ “Painterly Landscape” William Capro Gallery, New Bedford, MA “The Artists’ Choice” Goucher College, Towson, MD “Contemporary Watercolors”

1976

George Washington University, Washington, DC “The Painterly Vision”

Selected collections

American Broadcasting Company, New York, NY Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC Frye Museum of Art, Seattle, WA Hamline University, Saint Paul, MN Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY National Academy of Design, New York, NY National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC New York Public Library, New York, NY Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Towson University, Towson, MD University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Selected awards and honors

2003 Edwin Palmer Memorial Prize, National Academy of Design, New York, NY

2001 Artist In Residence, LMCC, World Trade Center, New York, NY

1998–2001 President, National Academy of Design, New York, NY

1997 Benjamin Altman Prize for Figure Painting, National Academy of Design, New York, NY

1990 Robert & Rochelle Philipp Prize, National Academy of Design, New York, NY