Edward L. Loper Sr. - Knowledge (XXG)

221:. The job required him to illustrate images of objects in American design such as toys and furniture. He produced 113 of them in total. He later credited the job with giving him his start as an artist. Three of his renderings (a Windsor chair, a toy bank and a cast-iron fire screen) were later included in the Index of Modern Design's 2002 exhibition, 1134: 310:, it changed the way he thought about color, having a major effect on the use and juxtaposition of color in his work. He was heavily influenced by his study of the art at the Barnes Foundation. Loper's work of the 1960s and beyond became more dramatically structured, colorful and refracted than his earlier work. 185: 299:

in 1922 and home to one of the world's largest private art collections. He was first invited to study there when he met Barnes in 1946, but declined the original offer, as he was recently married with young children to care for. He was taught by Violette de Mazia to carefully analyze classical

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on weekends, studying painting's great masters; self-taught, he slowly developed his own style and technique. He was employed by the Works Progress Administration Art Project from 1936–41, and at the Allied Kid leather tanning factory until 1947, at which point he became a full-time artist and

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Collection of African-American Art, Biggs Museum in Delaware, Christina Cultural Arts Center, and the Museum of African American Art in Tampa, Florida. A Loper painting hangs in the Delaware governor's mansion, and two of Loper's paintings hung in Vice President

382:. Carper stated that Loper's "talent for color broke the mold of his time, and his passion for teaching others to see through color was unsurpassed," adding that he "changed the landscape for black artists and paved the way for others who came after him." 172:, where he was an All-State football and basketball player. At the time, this was the only high school in Delaware that African Americans were allowed to attend. After graduating from high school in 1934, he had to forego an athletic scholarship at 469:

in 1944. They had three children. In 1945, he married Claudine Bruton. They later divorced. He and Janet Neville were married in 1986, and were together until his death in 2011. Loper's son, Edward Loper Jr., is also an accomplished painter.

257:, a depiction of Wilmington on a stormy night, won honorable mention at a 1938 exhibition of the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, and was later purchased by the society for its permanent collection. He was profiled in 168:, in a racially mixed section known as Frogtown. At the time of his birth, his mother was 16. Loper was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother. Growing up, he did not receive formal artistic training. He attended 347:

in Canada, where he would paint boldly-colored cityscapes. He began taking his students there every summer starting in the 1960s. Over the years he would teach at the Allied Kid Company, Delaware Art Museum,

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wrote of Loper, "Few local painters have achieved his level of recognition and influence, here and beyond, or have been as beloved by so many students." On November 1, 2011, Delaware senators

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In 1950, Loper designed and built a three-bedroom ranch house in Wilmington. The Lopers bought the parcel of land for $ 100 in 1941. In designing the house, he was influenced by

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In the 1940s, Loper painted mostly landscapes and cityscapes of his neighborhood in Wilmington, in vivid colors. By the early 1950s, with a growing appreciation of the works of

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The University of Delaware inherited all of Loper's work in his possession at the time of his death. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the

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Loper lived in Wilmington, Delaware for his entire life. He and his first wife, Viola Virginia Cooper, married in 1935. She died from a ruptured

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Loper started teaching painting in 1940. Starting in the late 1940s, to escape some of the racism he experienced at home, he began traveling to

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artist and teacher from Delaware, best known for his vibrant palette and juxtaposition of colors. He taught painting for almost 70 years.

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in Wilmington, and finally, classes at his studio. As a teacher, Loper was known for his charismatic, intense and demanding demeanor.

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Oral history interview with Edward L. Loper, 1964 Mar. 26, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

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Loper was encouraged to paint by his WPA co-worker Walter Pyle, the nephew of illustrator and author

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Loper's artistic direction was solidified in 1963, after he was invited to attend classes at the

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In 1937, Loper became the first African American to have a painting accepted by the

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Art Educators of Delaware Honoree, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware, 2001

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An oral history interview with Loper conducted on March 26, 1964 is housed at the

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Drawing on America's Past: Folk Art, Modernism and the Index of American Design

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Drawing on America's Past: Folk Art, Modernism and the Index of American Design

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Honorable mention, Annual Delaware Show, Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, 1943

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Honorable mention, Annual Delaware Show, Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, 1937

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Paintings and Sculpture by Frank DelleDonne, Edward Loper, and Charles Parks

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in Pennsylvania to start working in order to help his family financially.

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The Loper Tradition: Paintings by Edward Loper, Sr. and Edward Loper, Jr.

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The Delaware Art Museum organized Loper's first retrospective in 1996,

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Outstanding Delaware Black Citizen Award, University of Delaware, 1980

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techniques at the Barnes Foundation from 1963 to 1968. When he saw

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Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Delaware State University, 1998

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Governor's Award for the Arts, Delaware State Arts Council, 1998

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The Art of Seeing: Selected Masterworks of Edward L. Loper, Sr.

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Solo exhibition, La Galerie Zanettin, Quebec City, Quebec, 1980

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Solo exhibitions, Carlen Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1941, 1947

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The Edward L. Loper, Sr. Collection: A Centennial Exhibition,

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