Bernard Chaet (born 1924, Boston, MA - died 2012) was an American artist; Chaet is known for his colorful, dynamic modernist paintings and masterful draftsmanship, his association with the Boston Expressionists, and his 40-year career as a professor of painting at Yale University. His works also include watercolors and prints. In 1994, he was named a National Academician by the National Academy of Design.[1]

Collections, awards, and exhibitions

edit

Chaet's works are in the permanent collections of many important museums including: the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,[2] the Museum of Fine Arts Boston,[3] the Art Institute of Chicago,[4] the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.,[5] the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, CT,[6] and the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, MA.[7]

Chaet is the recipient of many awards including: the National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities, Sabbatical Grant in 1967–68, the National Academy of Fine Arts, Benjamin Altman Award in Painting in 1997, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Jimmy Ernst Prize in 2001.[8][9]

Early life

edit

Chaet was born and raised in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, MA. He completed a dual program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston—studying painting with Karl Zerbe—and Tufts University, graduating with a B.S. in 1949.[10]

Boston Expressionists

edit

Chaet is known for his association as a first generation Boston Expressionist. Having studied with Zerbe, a father of Boston Expressionism, Chaet's early works certainly adhere to the techniques and philosophy of the school.[11][12]

Yale Professorship

edit

Chaet began teaching in the Yale University Art Department in 1951 and would continue to do so until his retirement in 1990.[1] He was named the William Leffingwell Professor of Painting in 1979 and served as chairman of the Art Department.[13]

Publications

edit

Chaet was a contributing editor to Arts Magazine, where he published the column "Studio Talk"[14] for three years in the late 1950s.[15] In 1960 he published the book Artists At Work, which features in depths conversations with artists Pat Adams, Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Al Blaustein, Hyman Bloom, James Brooks, Robert Engman, Esther Geller, Seymour Lipton, Conrad Marca-Relli, Gabor Peterdi, Irwin Rubin, Elbert Weinberg, and others, about their various materials and techniques.[16]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "A transformative force in Yale art, Chaet dies". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  2. ^ "Collection: Bernard Chaet". Metropolitain Museum of Art.
  3. ^ "Collection: Bernard Chaet". Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2017-07-28.
  4. ^ "Collection: Bernard Chaet". Art Institute of Chicago.
  5. ^ "Collection: Bernard Chaet". Smithsonian American Art Museum.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Collection: Bernard Chaet". Yale University Art Gallery.
  7. ^ "Collection". Addison Gallery of American Art.
  8. ^ "Bernard Chaet Bio". Alpha Gallery. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  9. ^ "Chaet, Bernard". National Academy Museum. Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  10. ^ "Bernard Chaet papers". Smithsonian Institution.
  11. ^ "Nick Capasso essay on Boston Expressionism". Hyman Bloom Info. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  12. ^ Chaet, Bernard (1980). "The Boston Expressionist School: A Painter's Recollection of the Forties". Archives of American Art Journal. 20 (1): 25–30. doi:10.1086/aaa.20.1.1557495. JSTOR 1557495. S2CID 192821072.
  13. ^ "In memoriam: Bernard Chaet". YaleNews. 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  14. ^ Chaet, Bernard (January 1958). Kramer, Hilton (ed.). "Studio Talk". Arts. 32 (4): 62–63.
  15. ^ "Oral history interview with Bernard Chaet, 1977 June 18-August15". www.aaa.si.edu. Archive of American Art. Archived from the original on 2012-11-11. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  16. ^ Chaet, Bernard (1960). Artists at Work. Cambridge, MA: Webb Books.