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Edward  Loper

Edward  Loper

Paintings By Edward Loper - Click to view paintings

Edward L. Loper, Sr., is a self-taught artist who grew up in the racially segregated and intolerant atmosphere of Wilmington, Delaware, of the 1920's and 30s.  In 1936, a chance opportunity to work for the WPA on the Index of American Design not only exposed him to other artists but also introduced him to the works of classical painters.  This eventually led him to a ten-year course of study at The Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania.

In 1937, Loper became the first African American to have a painting accepted to a juried show at the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, now the Delaware Art Museum.  From the start Loper's vision stood in stark contrast to the Brandywine Tradition that dominated the art scene in the Brandywine Valley where he lived all his life.  While N.C. Wyeth's pictures first inspired Loper to paint, and N.C. offered early criticism, Loper remained steadfast in seeking out dark, rich, smoldering color and arranging massive, powerful and dramatic objects in crowded compositions.  He gave visual meaning to the world he knew; city streets, tenements, railroad trestles, and the surround marshes, coal yards and pool rooms.

His works can be found in the major permanent collections of the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Delaware Art Museum; the Corcoran Gallery,Washington, DC, Howard University; the Museum of African American Art, Tampa, FL; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Clark-Atlanta University, and the Paul R. Jones Collection, University of Delaware, among others.

If learning how to be an artist was Loper's passion and focus, teaching became his mission.  He shared whatever he was learning by teaching others how to see and how to paint.  He first taught at the Ferris School (a reform school for boys) and then in 1942, he began to teach at the Allied Kid Company (where he worked as a laborer).  Some of these students stayed with him for decades.  He also taught, at the Jewish Community Center, the Delaware Art Museum, Lincoln University, the Delaware College of Art and Design, and, at 88 years old, continues to teach in his own studio (five classes per week for some sixty students).

Loper has received many awards for his contributions to art and his dedication to teaching: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Delaware State University; Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from the University of Delaware, Outstanding Black Citizen Award from Delaware State University; Achievement Award from the Christiana Cultural Arts Center; the Governor's Award for the Arts, among others.

He lives with his wife Janet Neville-Loper in Wilmington, Delaware.

 

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