Robert J. Barber

Bethlehem, PA

2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Painting has been a lifelong passion for Robert J. Barber, and he paints as faithfully to life as he possibly can. He is fascinated with why things appear the way they do, and this inspires him to paint realistically. At the same time, our world is an active and continually changing place, and Robert seeks to reflect this sensation by also painting with energy and movement.

Robert feels a tremendous affinity with painters of the past. The great masters Diego Velázquez, John Singer Sargent, Joaquín Sorolla, and others have inspired him throughout his life, and he feels at home carrying on with the best of these traditions.

In 1981 Robert earned a bachelor's degree in Studio Art from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and in 1984 he earned a second bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at the Art Center College of Design. During school and after, Robert studied with nationally recognized painters Dan McCaw, Craig Nelson, and Ken Auster. Robert freelanced as an illustrator for twenty years, and several of his paintings are on display in Natural History Museums.

Robert is an Artist Member of the Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association, and he has won a number of awards, including the Grand Prize in Plein Air Easton, Best in Show and People's Choice at MAPAPA's “Paint Annapolis” exhibitions. He has been juried into the “Arts for the Parks” Top 100 and Mini 100 exhibitions sponsored by the National Parks Academy for the Arts, and he has been juried into the Oil Painters of America national exhibition. Robert and his wife Susan and their daughter Sofia reside in Pennsylvania.