Robert Bliss

At a time when the Abstract Expressionists captured popular imagination, Bliss continued to paint boldly beautiful figure studies. At 30, he was head of the art department at Deerfield Academy and the subject of a 1956 exhibition at the New Britain Museum of American Art. One critic praised "Figures and Parallels" for the subtle color harmonies the artist achieved and for its bold verticality. The artist studied with Carolyn Wyeth, sister of Andrew Wyeth. Bliss, like the Wyeths, celebrated regional nuances and provided an exaggerated vision with haunted or enigmatic subjects. Bliss painted on Cape Cod and also in Sicily.