Filipowski, Richard (American, born Poland, 1923-2008). UNTITLED. Graphite and colored pencils on illustration board, 1947. Signed and dated, lower right. 19 1/2 x14 1/2 inches. 495x368 mm. Framed to 26 x 22 inches. Provenance: Private Collection, Illinois; Gary Snyder Fine Art, NY. In excellent condition. Richard Filipowski (1923-2008) was a leading participant in American Mid-Century Modernism. After studying with Moholy-Nagy at the Art Institute of Chicago, he was invited by Moholy-Nagy, a founder of the New Bauhaus in America, to join its faculty, which included original Bauhaus faculty members Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. He held that position from 1946-1950, after which he joined Gropius at Harvard, where he planned and taught the design fundamental course. He later moved to the Department of Architecture at MIT where he taught for 36 years. Though Filipowski was well anown as a teacher, his career as an artist was was private. He did not show through a gallery or particpate in museum shows, so that much of his work, paintings, sculptures, furniture, and jewelry remain in private collections. He referred to his artistic process as the "art of psyche", a technique for self expression and exploration. His work from the 1940s and 50s, reflect the Bauhaus aesthitic of bold colors and geometric forms.
