Bo Bartlett

Bo Bartlett (b. December 29, 1955 in Columbus, Georgia) is an American realist painter currently residing on Vashon Island in Washington State.

Bo Bartlett
File:BoBartlett.jpg Bo Bartlett
Born	James William Bartlett III
Nationality	American
Education	Private studies with Ben F. Long IV, Italy University of the Arts, PA Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, PA Private studies with Nelson Shanks, PA Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, PA University of Pennsylvania, PA New York University, NY
Known for	Oil Painting
Awards	Ursinus College Distinguished Artist Award PEW Fellowship in the Arts Philadelphia Museum of Art Award

Life

Bo Bartlett was born on December 29, 1955 in Columbus, Georgia. At the age of 19 he traveled to Florence, Italy where he studied under Ben Long. In 1975 he returned to the United states, where he studied at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and then the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. He also studied anatomy at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. During his time in Pennsylvania, Bartlett apprenticed under Nelson Shanks. Bartlett then went on to study liberal arts at the University of Pennsylvania from 1980 to 1981.

File:BoBartlettHeartland.jpg

Heartland Bo Bartlett 1994 Oil on Linen 64 x 86” Collection of Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA

In 1986, Bartlett received a Certificate in Filmmaking from New York University. This led him to embark upon the 5 year process of creating a film in collaboration with Betsy Wyeth on the life and works of her husband, Andrew Wyeth. The film, entitled Snow Hill, began Bartlett's relationship with Wyeth as an artistic mentor and life-long friend.

Bo Bartlett currently lives and paints on an island off the coast of Maine in summer, and on an island in the Puget Sound in Washington through the winter. He is married to artist Betsy Eby.

Work

File:BoBartlettLifeboat.jpg

Lifeboat Bo Bartlett 1998 Oil on Linen 80 x 100” Private Collection

Bo Bartlett is an American realist with a modernist vision. His paintings are within the tradition of American realism as defined by artists such as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth. Like these artists, Bartlett looks at America's land and people to describe the beauty he finds in everyday life. His paintings celebrate the underlying epic nature of the commonplace and the personal significance of the extraordinary.

Bartlett was educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where realist principles must be grasped before modernist ventures are encouraged. He pushes the boundaries of the realist tradition with his multilayered imagery. Life, death, passage, memory, and confrontation coexist easily in his world. Family and friends are the cast of characters that appear in his dreamlike narrative works. Although the scenes are set around his childhood home in Georgia, his island summer home in Maine, his home in Pennsylvania or the surroundings of his studio and residence in Washington State, they represent a deeper, mythical concept of the archetypal, universal home.

His work can be found in private collections, public collections, and galleries throughout the United States.

Public Collections

• Greenville County Museum of Art, Greeneville, SC
• La Salle University Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
• Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
• The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA
• Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA
• McCormick Place Metropolis Pier and Exposition authority, South Hall, Chicago, IL
• United States Mint, Philadelphia, PA
• Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA
• Office of the Governor, Harrisburg, PA
• Curtis Institute, Philadelphia, PA
• Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA
• Hunter Museum of American Art, TN
• Morris Museum of Art, Denver, CO
• Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA

Influences

• Thomas Eakins
• Edward Hopper
• Winslow Homer
• Balthus
• Norman Rockwell

Citations

• Bo Bartlett’s Official Website
• Butler, Charles T. ed. Bo Bartlett, Columbus, GA, Columbus Museum. Published in conjunction with the exhibition Heartland: Paintings by Bo Bartlett, 1978-2002.

• Catalog to acccompany Still Point, Farnsworth Art Musem, Rockland, Maine.

Beem, Edgar Allen, “Awake in a dream: Bo Bartlett’s Maine Eye”. Hannah, Anelecia, “Awakening to the Still Point.” Little, Carl, “Still Point”

External links

• Bo Bartlett's Official Website
• PPOW Gallery

Image Gallery

• Hiroshima. Bo Bartlett 1994 Oil on Linen134 x 204” Private Collection
  Hiroshima. Bo Bartlett 1994 Oil on Linen134 x 204” Private Collection
• Homeland. Bo Bartlett 1994 Oil on Linen 134 x 204” Collection of McCormick Place, Chicago, IL
  Homeland. Bo Bartlett 1994 Oil on Linen 134 x 204” Collection of McCormick Place, Chicago, IL
• Painter’s Crossing. Bo Bartlett 1996 Oil on Linen 51 x 90” Private Collection
  Painter’s Crossing. Bo Bartlett 1996 Oil on Linen 51 x 90” Private Collection