Robert A. Schaefer, Jr.

 

About Robert A. Schaefer, Jr.

44 East 21st Street
Apartment 2R
New York, NY  10010-7220  USA

Telephone: 1-212-420-1499
Facsimile: 1-718-624-7329
E-mail: rasjrpro@earthlink.net

 

Robert A. Schaefer Jr. was born in the teeny, tiny town of Cullman, Alabama which is between Birmingham and Huntsville. In 1975 he received his BA of Architecture Degree from Auburn University. Then he moved to Munich, Germany where he studied photography, architecture and theatre at the Technische Universitaet in Munich and graduated in 1978 with a MA of Architecture (Diplom Ingenieur Architekt). During this time he became a part of the Joerg Walter Koch Gallery in Munich and the Ufficio dell Arte Gallery in Paris, France where his photography was put into the permanent collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale. Exhibitions during this time included Amerika Hauses (cultural part of the American Embassy) in Munich, Hamburg, Hannover and Frankfurt; Kulturhaus in Graz, Austria where he was exhibited with David Hockney and Institut Francais in Munich.

In 1981 Schaefer moved to New York City where he still lives and photographs. From November 1997 to January 1998 he had a one-person-exhibition at the Aroma Gallery in Berlin, Germany. Titled "Berlin Blau" it contained Schaefer's newest direction of Photo Giclee. All images were scanned into a computer from a 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" cyanotype image of Berlin and printed out on canvas in sizes of 16" x 20" and 30" x 40". "Berlin Blau" was published in "brennpunkt" a magazine dedicated to the art of photography and published in Berlin. Robert Schaefer's photography is found in the private collections of Kofi Annan Secretary General to the United Nations; W. M. Hunt, Photography Director of the Ricco/Maresca Gallery, Ben Fernandez, photographer, Arthur Tress, photographer, Anita Chernewski, Photographer and Peter Hay Halpert, Contributing Editor to American Photographer; public collections of Philip Morris, Inc. in NYC and the Birmingham and Huntsville Museums in Alabama.

In 1999 the newly built Huntsville Museum of Art hosted the exhibition: "Robert A. Schaefer, Jr. - 25 Years of Photography." During this time the AGNES Gallery in Birmingham, AL. had a one-person exhibition of Schaefer's work, as well as the Barbara Ann Levy Gallery in New York City. In 2000 he was part of a group exhibition "Art On The Line Comes Inside" at the Main Line Art Center in the greater Philadelphia Area. In 2001 Apple Macintosh invited Schaefer to put together a series of lectures for fine artpPhotographers for their New York Office. He invited five other photographers to help him present "Darkroom to Digital" or how photographers can use Apple Macintosh to create fine art photography. After the World Trade Center Disaster, my cyanotype image of the WTC (# 0378) was put into the now traveling exhibition "Here Is New York." (Type in 0378)

In January of 2002 the Chamot Gallery in Jersey City, NJ exhibitedSchaefer's new portraits in an exhibition called "Facelifts" which received a very positive article in New Jersery's "Star Ledger." In June of 2002 a new book came out: Photography's Antiquarian Avant-garde; written by Lyle Rexer and published by Abrams, it features one of Schaefer's cyanotypes. In September of 2002 Schaefer began teaching photography classes in self-promotion at New York University as well as The New School. One of his speakers for these classes was his own gallerist Charles Chamot who in August of 2003 hosted an exhibition of Schaefer's students from both universities. Titled "Fresh Eyes-Emerging Photographers, " it provided many of the students their very first exhibition which had a very well-attended opening, sales and an article in New Jersey's "Star Ledger." A new art magazine "Epiphany" sponsored by New York University opened its first hard-cover issue which included Schaefer's images with a launch party on March 25, 2004 in New York City.

In February of this 2005, Robert exhibited cyanotypes of city-scapes in an exhibition titled "City Blues" at the Silver Eye Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA. His project Two Sides of the Coin which deals with his German heritage and The Holocaust were shown for the first time at Gallery DeFrog in Houston, Texas in March and April 2006 during Fotofest and extended through May by popular demand. An article was written about this exhibition by Judith Farber for the on-line magazine Double Exposure. In 2006, Schaefer attended the Darfur Rally in Washington DC and shot film footage to add to Two Sides of the Coin which points out that even in remembering the Holocaust, genocide continues today in Bosnia, Rwanda and the Sudan. Two of his images were auctioned off in Los Angeles and New York to make money for The Aftermath Project. The Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama exhibited Schaefer's documentary project about a North Alabama farmer Joe Culpepper in "Portrait of An Alabama Farm" from November 10, 2007 to Januray 6, 2008. (Schaefer gave a gallery talk about the project at the Musuem on December 1, 2007).

In 2009, Robert Schaefer's large giclees made from scanned cyanotypes were exhited at Windows on Columbus in Jesery City, NJ from September to February 2010. Two of his cyanotypes as well as a large giclee from the "Portrait of An Alabama Farm" series were shown at the Mishkin Gallery (part of Baruch College) September 16 - October 14, 2009. Schaefer's cyanotypes were in a group exhibition of Alternative Process at the Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ, January 3 - 30, 2010. In November of this year, the Goethe Institute in Delhi India will host an exhibition "Architectural Blue - Cyanotypes of India and Germany," which are cyanotypes made from the images Schaefer made on his trip to India in 2009 as well as cyanotypes made from some the images he took in Germany. There will be another exhibiton during this time at the Government Museum in Chandigarh, India sponsored by the Goethe Center there. It will consist of cyanotypes made from images Schaefer took of the Le Corbusier government buildings in Chandigarh, India as well as cyanotypes from some of his images taken in Germany. Both exhibitions are being curated by Schaefer's good friend Elizabeth Rogers who in a native New Yorker living in Delhi. She will also edit the catalogue being produced for both exhibitions as well as design and oversee the invitation and posters also being printed for the shows. The Goethe-Institut is flying Robert Schaefer over to speak at both openings (Chandigarh: November 11th and Delhi: November 17th) as well as give a workshop on cyanotype printing in both cities.

Awards

Robert Schaefer's work was selected by Vicki Goldberg for an exhibition in Annapolis, Maryland; Peter McGill for an exhibition in Toledo, Ohio; and Cornell Capa for an exhibition in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was also the recipient of a Special Opportunity Stipend (SOS) Award from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the East End Arts Council in Riverhead, New York (Long Island's NorthShore). The money received from this grant paid for the invitations of an exhibition he had at the OysterPond's Historical Society in Orient on Long Island's NorthFork. For his SOS Grant he was sent letters of congratulations by State Senator Kenneth LaValle and Representative George S. Hochbrueckner. Robert was selected as a finalist by Photographer's Forum Magazine (Serbin Publishing) and one of his images was included in their Best of Photographer Issue in 1996.

 

Professional Exhibitions

One Person Exhibitions:

  • Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, India, "Architecrual Blue," November 11 - 16, 2010
  • Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi, India, "Architectural Blue," November 18 - 24, 2010
  • Windows On Columbus, "Virtual Blue," Jersey City, NJ, USA, September 2009 - February 2010
  • Montgomery Musuem of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL, USA"Portrait of An Alabama Farm," November 10, 2007 to January 6, 2008
  • DeFrog Gallery, Houston, TX, USA, "Transition -Two Sides of the Coin" March 11 - May 31, 2006
  • Chamot Gallery, Jersey City, NJ, USA, "Facelifts" Janurary 10 - February 24, 2002
  • Robert Farber Internet Photoworkshop Gallery, 1999
  • Huntsville Museum of Art-25 Year Retrospective, October 25, 1999 - February 13, 2000
  • Agnes (Gallery) Birmingham, AL, USA, 1999
  • Barbara Ann Levy Gallery, New York, NY, USA, 1999
  • Aroma Galerie - Berlin, Germany, 1995 & 1997
  • Cycloid Fathom Gallery, 1997
  • Singer's Forum Gallery - New York City, USA
  • Oysterponds Historical Society - Orient (Long Island), New York, USA
  • Soho Photo Gallery - New York City, USA, 1986, 1987 & 1992
  • Puchong Gallery - New York City, USA, 1987
  • 2-1/2 X 4-1/2 Fotogalerie - Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1988 & 1992
  • Institut Francais - Munich, Germany, 1980
  • Museum of Fine Arts - Montgomery, Alabama. USA, 1978
  • Kulturhaus - Graz, Austria, 1978
  • Amerika Hauses - Munich, Hannover, Hamburg, and Frankfurt, Germany, 1977

Group Exhibitions:

  • Musuem auf Abruf, Vienna, Austria, 2010
  • The Watchung Arts Center, "Alternative Process Photography," Watchung, NJ, USA, January 3 - 31, 2010
  • The Brno Arts Center, Brno, Czech Republic, 2009 - 2010
  • The SidneyMishkin Gallery in Baruch College, "The Nature of Landscape/The Nature of Photography," New York City, NY, USA, September 16 - October 14, 2009
  • "City Blues," Silver Eye Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 2005
  • "Fresh Eyes" NYU and New School students of Robert Schaefer exhibited together with him, Chamot Gallery, Jersey City, NJ, USA, 2003
  • "Here Is New York" traveling exhibition of the WTC Disaster - New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, London, Dublin and Zurich, 2002
  • The Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA (Greater Philadelphia Area), 2000
  • World Arts Association, 1997
  • RAAB Gallery, Berlin, Germany, 1997
  • Museum of Fine Arts - Mobile, Alabama, USA, 1994
  • Hampton Square Gallery - Westhampton Beach (Long Island) New York, USA, 1995
  • Maryland Federation of Art (Juried by Vicki Goldberg) - Annapolis, Maryland, USA, 1995
  • The Donnell Library - New York City, USA, 1996
  • Toledo Friends of Photography (Juried by Peter McGill) - Toledo, Ohio, USA, 1996
  • Janacek Theatre - Brno, Czechoslovakia, 1990
  • Photowork '89 (Juried by Cornell Capa) - Poughkeepsie, New York, USA 1989

Permanent Collections

Public:

  • Bibliotheque Nationale - Paris, France
  • The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York, USA
  • Amerika Haus - Munich, Germany
  • Janacek Theatre - Brno, Czechoslovakia
  • Huntsville Museum of Art - Huntsville, Alabama, USA
  • Birmingham Museum of Art - Birmingham, Alabama, USA
  • Union Rescue Mission Art Collections, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Synaogogue Emanu El, Houston, Texas, USA
  • Woodstock Center for Photography, Woodstock, NY, USA

Corporate:

  • Philip Morris Collection - New York City, USA
  • Office of Dr. Edward Goldberg - New York City, USA
  • Lewis Neville Interior Design - New York City, USA

Private:

  • Kofi Annan, Sec.General of the United Nations - New York City, USA
  • Peter Hay Halpert, Contributing Editor: American Photo
  • W.M. Hunt, Collection Dancing Bear
  • Ben Fernandez, photographer; founder/publisher: Hoboken Almanac
  • Weston Naef, Curator: The Getty Museum - Malibu, California, USA
  • Peter Baldaia, Chief Curator: Huntsville Museum of Art - Huntsville, Alabama, USA
  • Estate of Hermann Wiesler, Berlin, Germany
  • Rainer Fetting, Painter and Sculptor - Berlin, Germany
  • Alf Lechner, Sculptor - Munich, Germany
  • Andreas Bartsch and Joelle Chariau, Galerie Bartsch & Chariau - Munich, Germany
  • James E. Maloney, private collector, Houston, Texas, USA
  • Steve Singer, sculptor and art collector, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
  • Charles Chamot, gallerist and artist, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
  • Michael Mazzeo, gallery director, PEER GALLERY, New York, NY, USA
  • John Bernhard, gallery owner, DeFrog Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
  • Joan Morgenstern, private collector, Houston, TX, USA
  • Estate of Architect Bruce Goff, Oklahoma, USA

 

Publications

  • Cataogue: Architectural Blue - Cyanotypes of India and Germany, Archana Press, New Delhi, India, November, 2010
  • Blueprint to Cyanotype, Malin and Gary Fabbri, AlternativePhotography.com, Stockholm, Sweden, June 2006
  • A Sight for FRESH EYES," Mitchell Seidel, The Star Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, USA, August 2003
  • Photography's Antiquarian Avant-garde, Abrams, New York City, June 2002
  • Today's Spotlight "A Show of optic verve," Mitchell Seidel, The Star Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, USA, January 2002
  • PHOTO INSIDER, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA, May/June 2002
  • ART: "Elegant Arrangements in gray and black," Edward Sozanski, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, April, 2000
  • Catalogue: RASJR25, Huntsville, Alabama, USA, October 1999
  • Brennpunkt, Berlin, Germany, December 1997-February 1998
  • Fotophile - Long Island City, New York, USA, July 1997
  • Photographer's Forum (Best Photographers of 1996 issue) - Santa Barbara, California, USA, 1996
  • Alabama Impact , Catalog - Huntsville, Alabama, USA, 1996
  • Bilderleben, Art Text - Cologne, Germany,1992
  • Staten Island Advance - New York City, USA, 1989
  • Focus/World Press - Netherlands, April 1988
  • Foto - Netherlands, April 1988
  • The Art Deco Society of New York News - New York City, USA, 1985
  • 52 Young German Photographers - Munich, Germany, 1981
  • Grazer Protokoller, Art & Literature Magazine - Graz, Austria, 1978
  • Through the Looking Glass, Catalog, - Graz, Austria,1978

Representation

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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