Wilbur Niewald

Wilbur Niewald (1925–2022) was an American landscape and figurative painter active in Kansas City, Missouri from 1942–2022 primarily painting in watercolor and oils. Although Niewald worked in a Cubist style early in his career, the majority of his paintings are his view of the world around him including trees, buildings, parks and cityscapes. Works by Niewald can be found in public and private collections across the United States including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Career Niewald took art lessons as a child at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) and the Nelson Gallery of Art between 1935 and 1940 and began full time study at the Art Institute in 1942 immediately after graduating from high school. The couple had one child, Janet, in 1953 who followed in her father's footsteps and became an artist and teacher herself. Niewald died April 30, 2022 in Mission, Kansas.

Awards

Purchase prize, Mid-America Annual, Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri (1957) John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2006) Distinguished Teaching of Art Award from the College Art Association of America (1988) Distinguished Teaching Award, Kansas City Art Institute (1991) Received the Lifetime Achievement Award, Charlotte Street Fund, Kansas City, Missouri (1999)

Exhibitions Niewald's work was displayed in the Kansas City Art Institute Faculty Exhibition in the 1950, 1952, and 1954 shows and was presented by the Art Institute in a solo exhibition in 1955, 1960, 1963, and 1966. Wilbur Niewald In the Landscape, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas, November 9, 2018 - February 3, 2019.

Selected works Current River II, 1965, oil on canvas, 54 1/2 x 70 1/2 in. (138.4 x 179.1 cm), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 2011.24.

Kansas City, View from Greystone Heights IV, 1989, oil on canvas, 29 × 36 in. (73.66 × 91.44 cm), Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, F90-14/1.

Roanoke Park, The Castle, 1991, oil on canvas, 26 x 32 1/2 in. (66 x 82.6 cm), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 2012.11.01.

Elizabeth, 1994–95, oil on canvas, 36 1/8 × 26 1/8 in. (91.8 × 66.4 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995.246.

Trees at Linda Hall Library, 1996, oil on canvas, 29 x 36 in. (73.7 x 91.4 cm), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 1998.22.

Still Life with Bowl of Apples and Grey Pitcher, 1999, oil on canvas, 26 x 32 in. (66 x 81.3 cm), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 2013.12