Richard Anuszkiewicz

Richard Anuszkiewicz (pronounced Aah-Nuss-KAY-Vitch; born May 23, 1930, Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor.

Richard Anuszkiewicz trained at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, Ohio (1948–1953), and then with Josef Albers at the Yale University School of Art and Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut (1953–1955) where he earned his Masters of Fine Arts.

He was one of the founders and foremost exponents of Op Art, a movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Victor Vasarely in France and Bridget Riley in England were his primary international counterparts. In 1964, Life magazine called him "one of the new wizards of Op". More recently, while reflecting on a New York City gallery show of Anuszkiewicz's from 2000, the New York Times art critic Holland Cotter described Anuszkiewicz's paintings by stating, "The drama -- and that feels like the right word -- is in the subtle chemistry of complementary colors, which makes the geometry glow as if light were leaking out from behind it."Anuszkiewicz has exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Florence Biennale and Documenta, and his works are in permanent collections internationally. He was elected into the National Academy of Design in 1992 as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1994.

Considered a major force in the Op Art movement, Anuszkiewicz is concerned with the optical changes that occur when different high-intensity colors are applied to the same geometric configurations. Most of his work comprises visual investigations of formal structural and color effects, many of them nested square forms similar to the work of his mentor Josef Albers. In his series, "Homage to the Square," Albers experimented with juxtapositions of color, and Anuszkiewicz developed these concepts further. Anuszkiewicz has continued to produce works in the Op Art style over the last few decades.

Anuszkiewicz summarizes his approach to painting as follows: "My work is of an experimental nature and has centered on an investigation into the effects of complementary colors of full intensity when juxtaposed and the optical changes that occur as a result, and a study of the dynamic effect of the whole under changing conditions of light, and the effect of light on color." (from a statement by the artist for the exhibition "Americans 1963" at the Museum of the Modern Art)

Deep Magenta Square, 1978: An example of Anuszkiewicz's use of colors, squares and lines

• Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
• Art Institute of Chicago
• Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas
• Boca Raton Museum of Art
• Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
• Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art
• Cleveland Museum of Art
• Columbus Museum of Art
• Denver Art Museum
• Detroit Institute of Arts
• Flint Institute of Arts
• Fogg Museum, Harvard University
• Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art
• Honolulu Museum of Art
• Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville
• Museum of Modern Art, New York
• Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
• Guggenheim Museum, New York
• Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford
• Whitney Museum of Art, New York

• Honolulu Museum of Art wall label, Sol V, 1968, acrylic on canvas, accession 3546.1

• 1953: Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship
• 1963: Charles of the Ritz Oil Painting Award
• 1964: The Silvermine Guild Award for Oil Painting
• 1977: Cleveland Arts Prize
• 1980: Hassam Fund Purchase Award
• 1988: Hassam Fund Purchase Award
• 1994: New York State Art Teachers' Association Award
• 1995: Emil and Dines Carlson Award
• 1996: New Jersey Pride Award
• 1997: Richard Florsheim Fund Grant
• 2000: Lee Krasner Award
• 2005: Lorenzo dei Medici Career Award, awarded at the Florence Biennale

Anuskiewicz has exhibited in many public collections around the world, including notable New York galleries as Sidney Janis, The Contemporaries, and Andrew Crispo Gallery.

• 1955: Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
• 1966: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
• 1967: The Hopkins Center, Hanover, New Hampshire
• 1968: Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
• 1972: Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida
• 1976: La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California
• 1977: Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
• 1978: Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Florida
• 1978: Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania
• 1979: Alex Rosenberg Gallery, New York City, New York
• 1979: Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts
• 1980: Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York
• 1980: Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 1984: Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New York
• 1984: Canton Art Institute, Canton, Ohio
• 1986: Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida
• 2005: Florence Biennale, Fortezza da Basso, Firenze, Italy