Wilmington artist Edward Loper, Jr.’s works are featured in an exhibition at the Rehoboth Art League.
To the Water’s Edge and Back runs through March 10th - and focuses on Loper’s maritime paintings.
Since the early 1960's, Loper's works have been showcased in the Barnes Foundation, and numerous exhibitions, festivals and publications.
His son, Jamie curated this maritime exhibit to display his father’s versatility.
“He was able to change shape and decide to do something more Picasso-inspired or something that had a little bit to do with another artist. It was really in his mood and his brilliance in creativity that he was able to switch gears like that.”
The younger Loper is passionate about elevating the legacy his grandfather Edward Loper, Sr. and father Edward Loper, Jr. built.
This exhibit downstate - at the beach - is a first for Loper. In an initial visit to the area in the 1950s, Loper Jr. was told to leave because he was black. The maritime exhibit is primarily non-Delaware locations Loper visited to paint water settings.
“These new reaches of the legacy are so important because I want the world to know how genius these two men were. They’re not just two artists, this is a father and son that were self-taught and they were hand-honed by their community to become the artists that they are.”
The Rehoboth Art League hosts a Gallery Talk on Edward Loper with Jamie Loper Saturday, February 10th at 10am.
The artist’s son will discuss his father’s legacy and the exhibit’s curation of maritime paintings.
Delaware Public Media' s arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
