A gift to the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art of 17 works of art by
award-winning Louisville, Ky., artist/educator, Bob Lockhart, will be
unveiled Saturday evening, March 5, during a reception at the museum.
The gift features a major bronze by the artist entitled “The Family,” a
four-foot stylized representation of a father, mother and two children.
Also included are sculpted clay works depicting imaginary figures which
merge animal and human characteristics into amusing and bizarre
forms. A series of complex narrative paintings and drawings in the media
of oil pastel and pencil make up the new group of acquisitions.
Long recognized as a prominent educator, Lockhart established the
art department at Bellarmine University, Louisville, in 1967 and, while
simultaneously shaping the careers of thousands of art students, he
formed his own as an internationally-known sculptor.
A native of Oak Park, Ill., Lockhart has called Kentucky his home
for more than 40 years. He received the Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master
of Fine Arts at the Art Institute of Chicago and quickly established prominence
in the art world for his refined and elegantly rendered works in stone, wood
and bronze. He has since moved on to explorations in other media, producing
compelling narrative works in the media of oil pastel, pencil, and clay.
Lockhart’s works are represented in major museums, including the
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Art Institute of Chicago;
Indianapolis Museum of Art; and the Speed Art Museum, Louisville.
Numerous churches, cathedrals, and monasteries throughout the Southeast
contain examples of his commissioned works in a religious genre.
In addition to the 17 new gifts, the exhibition also features 32 works of art
by the artist received by the museum over a period of more than three decades.
Dating from the early 1980s to the present, these works represent various
dimensions of his prolific career as one of Kentucky’s most important artists.
These include bronzes, stone carvings and wood constructions and
represent an encyclopedic overview of Lockhart’s work from the early 1980s
to the turn of the century.
The exhibition will continue through April 29 and will be open during regular
museum hours:
- Tuesday through Thursday – 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.;
- Friday – 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Admission to the museum is FREE although voluntary donations are suggested
of $2.00 for adults and $1.00 for children. Access for physically challenged
individuals is provided at the Atrium entrance in the 9th Street parking lot.
For more information, phone (270) 685-3181, or visit the museum’s website,
www.omfa.us or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
