ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Br. David J. Haack, O.F.M., associate professor of art history and studio art in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at St. Bonaventure University, was inducted into the Art Students League of New York on May 2 in New York City.
During his sabbatical this year, Br. David submitted a portfolio of recent paintings and was accepted at the Art Students League, America’s premier Atelier school in the French academic tradition, to study portraiture and figure studies in the medium of traditional oil paint.
He studied with master painters Joseph Peller (figure studies) and Tom Torak (portrait studies) at the league from September 2010 through April. Both master painters nominated him to become a member of the league after a review of his work produced at the league. Three practicing members of the league acted as recommenders and his nomination was .jpg "'The Letter' by Br. David Haack, OFM")
voted in by the full membership of the league on April 14.
On May 2, Br. David signed the league’s Constitution, written in 1875, and held a concours exhibition of his works at the league’s gallery (the Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery on West 57th Street), capped by the league’s traditional ceremony for new members.
The Art Students League was founded in 1875 by a group of artists, including many women, who were students at the National Academy of Design. The league’s early instructors included William Merritt Chase, Kenyon Cox, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Daniel Chester French, Thomas Eakins and Childe Hassam.
Many artists who shaped the vocabulary of art worldwide have trained or taught at the league. They include Georgia O’Keeffe, John Sloan, Reginald Marsh, Thomas Hart Benton, Alexander Calder, Hans Hofmann, Paul Manship, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Louise Nevelson, Romare Bearden and Roy Lichtenstein.
Br. David’s work can be viewed on his website, dhaackofm.com.
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