Background
Richard Anuszkiewicz was born on May 23, 1930 in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, into the family of a Polish immigtants Adam Jacob and Victoria (Jankowski) Anuszkiewicz.
Richard Anuszkiewicz was born on May 23, 1930 in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, into the family of a Polish immigtants Adam Jacob and Victoria (Jankowski) Anuszkiewicz.
Richard attended parochial schools until 1944 when at his request he transferred to Erie Technical High School, where he was allowed to draw three or more hours every day. Anuszkiewicz studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1948 – 1953, then at the Yale University School of Art and Architecture in 1953 – 1955, and Kent State University, where he received Bachelor of Science in education in 1956.
In 1967 Richard was an artist in residence at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and later taught at the University of Wisconsin, Cornell University, and Kent State University. Nevertheless, he devoted most of his career to painting. Anuszkiewicz was given a solo show in March 1960. The turn out for the opening was promising, but there were no sales — not one — in the first two weeks.
Later in his artistic career, he experimented with the physical effects of optic phenomena through sculpture, creating geometric works that mimic his two-dimensional compositions. His “All Things Live in the Three”, painted in 1963 has three orange diamonds with green dots on a background of red with blue dots and with red patterns in the orange diamonds. In his series, "Homage to the Square", Albers experimented with juxtapositions of color, and Anuszkiewicz developed these concepts further. Anuszkiewicz has continued to produce works in the Op Art style over the last few decades.
Anuszkiewicz has exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Florence Biennale and Documenta, and his works are in permanent collections internationally. He was elected into the National Academy of Design in 1992 as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1994.
Richard is highly famous as one of the founders and foremost exponents of Op Art, an artistic movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1964, Life magazine called him "one of the new wizards of Op." Among his most famed works is "Deep Magenta Square", painted in 1978, a hypnotic composition featuring the illusion of oscillating movement through contrasting color relationships.
Richard Anuszkiewicz combines an interest in the nature of perception with investigations into the visual and psychological resonance of color. Anuszkiewicz explores color and form in his flat, vibrant abstractions, attempting to reveal the malleability of our perceptions of stillness and movement, depth and color.
Quotations: "My work is of an experimental nature and has centered on an investigation into the effects of complementary colors of full intensity when juxtaposed and the optical changes that occur as a result, and a study of the dynamic effect of the whole under changing conditions of light, and the effect of light on color."
He avoided personal friendships with his students, convinced that they learned best, "figuring things out for themselves."
On November 26, 1960, Richard married Sarah Feene, with whom he has three children: Adam John, Stephanie, and Christine Anuszkiewicz.
