Robert White was born in 1921 in New York City. He studied woodcarving with Josef Weisz and painting with Hans Grad in Munich, Germany from 1933-34. He studied sculpture with John Howard Benson at the Portsmouth Priory in Rhode Island from 1935-38, and with Benson and Waldemar Raemisch at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1938-42. Following World War 2 he studied painting with John Frazier and Gordon Peers at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1945-46.

In 1950 Robert received a Tiffany Foundation Grant, and in 1952, 1953 and 1954 he received the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. He also received the 1962 and 1982 Proctor Memorial Prize from the National Academy of Design, and a Fairfield Foundation Grant in 1968.

Robert in 1961

Robert received several major commissions during his artistic career, including a bronze fountain for Mr. and Mrs. Amyas Ames of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts in 1957, 3 life-sized wooden carvings of St. Joseph, the Madonna and Child in Bedford, Massachusetts in 1963, a 9-foot bronze statue of St. Anthony of Padua in East Northport, New York, a monument to Bishop Cranmer of St. James Episcopal Church in St. James, New York, and an 8-foot bronze statue of General Pershing in Washington, D.C.

Robert White's work has appeared in many one-man and group exhibitions, including at the Laurel Gallery, Davis Gallery, Graham Gallery and Banfer Gallery (all in New York City), the Art Institute of Chicago, the Benson Gallery of Bridgehampton, New York, the Boston Athenaeum, the American Academy in Rome, Stazione Maritima in Trieste, Italy and the Patricia Fleischmann Gallery in London.

Robert in 1981

The 1961 and 1981 photos are by Guy Gillette. Robert died in August of 2002. Back to home page