Robert Kipniss is an American painter, printmaker, and author. Born in Brooklyn, New York he attended Wittenberg University in 1948 before transferring to University of Iowa in 1950 to finish an English degree. During his lifetime he has worked on paintings, prints, lithographs, mezzotints, and dry points. His work has been showcased in over twenty-two institutions across the world. Currently his artwork is held by over eighty-eight museums. On his website he described his style and career as;
"For about ten years my painting was lyrical, energetic, filled with bright color and charged with exuberance. At the same time my writing was dark, angry, at times a bit surreal, and often painful to create. When I stopped writing for a while in the early 1960s my paintings took on the characteristics of my former writing, and became infused with anger, a dark monochromatic palette, and occasionally slightly surreal themes: the added gravitas became immediately apparent. It was only a few years after this that my inner lyricism began to re-surface and meld with the darkness; this was the beginning of my mature style. Unexpectedly, my career took off."
The Kipniss Collection was donated by Robert Kipniss and his wife.
Creator
Robert Kipniss
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research. Contact Suzanne Smailes for more information
The Kipniss Collection holds hundreds of Lithographs and Mezzotints done by Robert Kipniss from the 1960s to early 2000s. Listed below are the titles, and dates. If applicable they have locations across campus.
Extent: 10 boxes and 1 oversize drawer
Wikipedia contributors. "Robert Kipniss." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Kipniss&oldid=1016643741. Accessed September 6, 2021.
Kipniss, Robert. Robert Kipniss: Painter, Printmaker, Author. https://www.robertkipniss.net/index.htm. Accessed September 6, 2021.
"Robert Kipniss Prints." ebo Gallery: contemporary fine art & original prints. https://ebogallery.com/contemporary-artists/robert-kipniss/. Accessed September 6, 2021.
DeGroat, Whitney. "Kipniss: From pauper to paint prince." Torch, April 15, 2010. http://www6.wittenberg.edu/lib/witt_pubs/torch/archive/?file=Kipniss.From.Pauper.To.Paint.Prince-3907510.shtml.
"On Becoming an Artist: Robert Kipniss '52 Shares Personal Journey During Witt Series Event." Wittenberg Magazine, Summer 2010. https://www.wittenberg.edu/administration/universitycommunications/wittenberg-magazine-summer-2010.
Box 1
Another Summer 1982
Apartments 1985
Approaching 1983
Artist’s Bedroom, The 1986
As the Rain Ends 1987
At the Edge of the Plain 1984
August 1986 Pres. Office 1/120
Back Windows 1987
Backyard VII 1982
Beginning Light, A 1983
Blue Stove, The 1987
City Dusk 1987
Clouds and Leaves 1986
Clouds and Curving Road 1987
Companions 1982
Dawn Light 1982
Evening 1982
Evening Walk 1984 Pres. Office 1/175
Evening Excitement 1984 Pres. Office 1/120
Evening Look, An 1985
Far House, The 1983
Fence With Red Tree n.d.
Fences 1984
Fences and Steps 1983
Flotation 1986
Four Trees 1982 Pres. Office 1/xxv
From Town 1986
From Longview 1982 Morris Lounge- Student Center, 3/90 (1/11/06)
Green Shadows 1985
Green Seas 1984
Green, Green 1987
Hesitation 1987
Hillside Flowers 1984
Hillside Illusions 1982
Hillside Rooftops 1983
Hillside Stairway 1985
Hillside Breezes 1984
In Plain View 1984
Interior with Yellow Flowers 1985
Interior with Cup and Kettle 1986
Interlude 1983
Invitations 1986
Just Before Spring 1983
Just Before the Sun 1985 Director’s Office- Student Center, 3/90
Lace 1985 Director’s Office- Student Center, 3/90
Late Awakening, A 1986
Learning Flowers 1986
Leaves and Shadows 1987
Light Wind, The 1982
Looking Through 1983 Pres. Office 1/120
Lucille 1983
Magic Shadows 1982
Meadows 1983
Morning View 1982
Morning 1982
Neighbors IV 1986
Neighbors III 1982
Nocturne 1983
Northern Dancers 1984
Ohio Moment 1984
Ohio Lace 1987
Ohio Silhouettes 1984 Pres. Office 1/xxx
Opening 1985
Orange Sky, An 1985
Orange Door, The 1985
Park in the Country, A 1983
Path Up, The 1984
Place I Tried to Explain, A 1984
Poised 1986
Premonition 1982
Private Porch, A 1984
Reflections of a Pale Tree 1982
Revisitation, Afternoon 1987
Rooftops, Fragments 1982
Secluded Lights 1983
Shadowed Hillside 1982 Morris Lounge- Student Center (1/11/06)
Shimmering Hedge 1982
Small Porch and Clouds 1986
Small Picket Fence, The 1982
Small Field, The 1982
Small Hillside 1987
Small View, A 1984
Small Farm, A 1983
Small Grey House, A 1982
Souvenirs (black/white) 1982
Souvenirs (color) 1982
Splash 1984
Stairway 1985
Streets and Alleys, Afternoon 1987 (1/11/06, Student Center RM01 Director Office)
Summer’s Eve 1983
Sunday Springfield 1987
Suspension II 1985
Three Sheds 1985
Transparencies 1985
Tree Row 1983
Trees and Trees 1984
Two Figures 1984
Two Windows 1986
Untitled 1982
Upper Garden, The 1985
Upstate 1984
Upward 1982
While Pausing and Listening 1987 (1/11/06, Student Center RM01 Director Office)
Whisper 1983
White Fence, The 1985
White Star, The (color) 1982
White Star, The (b&w) 1982
Window Pots 1983
Window Sitting 1983
Window with Flowers 1982
Window with Old Chair 1984
Window with Woman 1983
Windows with Red Wall 1984
Yellow Fields 1985
Yellow Roof, The 1984
Box 2
After Harvest 1973
Afternoon 1971
Afternoon Shadows 1979
Among Poplars 1978
Apparition 1981
April Shadows 1978
April Fields 1976
As If an Island 1979
Autumn Window 1980
Back Porch II 1980
Backyard, Summer 1977
Balustrade 1981
Bare Trees with Green Sky 1968
Bare Trees and Shed 1969
Bare Trees 1970
Brown Leaves 1968
Bush 1971
Caravan 1975
Cluster 1977
Composition 1978
Composition w/ Yellow Trees1980
Curved Path 1973
Curved Path II 1976
Curved Fence 1972
Dawn 1974
Distances 1979
Early Autumn 1973
Early Light 1974
Essence 1976
Fall 1972
Far Fields III 1979
Far Fields II 1979
Far Mountain 1971
Far Away 1975
Fence and Cloud 1976
Fence View 1972
Fence and Winter 1977
Fields and Shadows II 1977
First Light 1979
Four Trees 1979
Gardens (b&w) 1980
Gardens (color) 1980
Gatepost and Dusk 1977
Ghosts 1980
Guardian 1979
Hedges 1979
Hillside 1971
Hillside Gathering 1980
Hilltop II 1976
House 1968
Interior With Balcony 1977
Interlude 1977
Late Summer 1977
Late Noon 1972
Looking I 1975
Looking II 1979
Morning Reflections 1979
Morning 1978
Morning May 1979
Muries Window 1977
Neighbors II 1979
Orange Mountain, Evening Hillside 1979
Other Room, The 1980
Porch II, The 1972
Portal 1981
Quiet Morning 1979
Reaching 1981
Red Roofs 1977
Repose 1981
Roadside 1980
Rolling Hills 1974
Rooftops II 1976
Rooftops I 1972
Scintillation 1981
Sentinels 1977
Shed and Fence 1971
Shadowed Fields 1973
Shadowed Fields II 1979
Shadows and Mists 1979
Shadows 1972
Sheds 1968
Silver Trees 1968
Small Landscape, The 1978
Small Hilltop 1981
Small Backyard 1981
Sounds of the Earth 1979
Spring 1972
Still Life With Glasses 1969
Still Life With Easel and Tree1978
Still Life With Bottle 1970
Still Life with Old Pitcher 1978
Stillness (color) 1979
Stillness (b&w) 1979
Studio Window 1977
Summer II 1977
Summer Passage 1979
Summer 1972
Summer’s End 1977
Thick Trees 1970
Through Trees 1971
Together 1980
Toward the Mountain 1972
Tree Trees 1981
Tree Row 1971
White Trees 1976
Window 1978
Window with Leaves 1980
Window 1970
Winter 1972
Box 3
August Shadows 1977 (Image in Gallery Above)
Autumn 1977
Back Porch n.d.
Backyard II 1972
Bare Trees 1973
Currents 30/175 n.d.(Image in Gallery Above)
Curved Fence II n.d.
Dark Fields 5/250 n.d.
Dark Trees 1973
Discovery 26/135 n.d.
Fields and Twilight 1977(Image in Gallery Above)
Gateway 1978
Interlude 1981
Leaves Aloft (color) 1978
Leaves Aloft (b&w) 1978
Morning Breeze 1976
Morning Breezes n.d.
Neighbors 1974(Image in Gallery Above)
Night Reflections 1969
Ohio Night 1981
Orange Fields 1973
Picket Fence I 1972(Image in Gallery Above)
Seclusion 1980
Small Fields 48/250 n.d.(Image in Gallery Above)
Summer (b&w) 1977
Trees and Beyond 1976(Image in Gallery Above)
Tree and House L124 n.d.
Windswept 1976
Winter 1977
(Unseparated Sheet of L147, L148, L149, L150)
Fields at Noon (Image in Gallery Above)
Silver Fields 2/20
Spring XVII/XXV
Box 4 (in Box 5)
Original inventory list says:
3 framed lithographs
GREEN PORCHES Admissions Office as of 1/11/06
2 Unidentified At least one in Admissions office as of 7/03
“These appear to be part of a shipment of 16 framed prints sent January, 1989. There is a note explaining that the frames obscure the titles. Of the 16, only ‘Green Porches’ is listed with a title. All are, however, listed with dimensions and impression numbers.
‘Green Porches’ is in Admissions Office as is at least one other in an identical frame. The 3 framed prints originally in Box 4 have obviously been dispersed and hung around campus.”
Box 5
1 boxed set of 10 lithographs in box
Box 6
All 1989 Color Lithographs (this list is of 15 titles)
Clouds
Curtains and clear vase
Eaves and dark window
Essence III
Facades
Flowers and yellow tree Admissions Office as of 1/11/06
From Central Park
Leaning Admissions Office as of 1/11/06
Orange Roofs Admissions Office as of 7/03
Porches at Evening Admissions Office as of 7/03
Rooftops, Springfield
Shadows
Two Trees Admissions Office as of 7/03
Windows
Notes:
x/x artist proof- not listed- removed for president’s office (n.d)
9-13-95 (5) Lithos taken out of this box to be used in Alumni bldg. Only (2) are left in the box. Signed Bob Elliot
Window w/ Orange Curtains moved to (1/11/06 Admission Lobby)
Box 7 and 8 Together
1990
Lithographs:
Church at Elsah, The Pres. Office as of 7/03
Roadside, Elsah
Rooftops at Elsah
Shadows & Porch (Image in Gallery Above)
Springfield, O. (Image in Gallery Above)
Yellow Shutters (Image in Gallery Above)
Mezzotints:
Curtains Pres. Office 2/21/94
Elsah’s Landing
Roadside
Twilight
Box 9
1991
Mezzotints:
At First Light
Boat House, The
Echoes
Four Houses
Hilltop Pres. Office 2/21/94
Interior w/ Large Tree
Island of Trees, An
Nocturne
Porch & Hillside
Two Windows Provost’s Office D. Meisterling 1/92
Vase & Landscape
Window w/ Vase & Chair Provost’s Office D. Meisterling 1/92
Window w/ Lamp
Note: Received 10-23-91 RE
Box 10/A
August Night b&w n.d.
Breezes color n.d.
Chair & Shadows b&w n.d
Composition IV b&w n.d.
Composition I b&w n.d.
Composition III b&w n.d.
Composition II b&w n.d.
Dark Afternoon b&w n.d.
Easel & Trees w/Moon b&w n.d.
Fragments at Morning b&w n.d.
Fragments b&w n.d.
Harp, The b&w n.d.
Hill-top b&w n.d.
Hillside Shadows b&w n.d.
Houses & Sheds b&w 1999
Iowa b&w n.d.
Nocturne b&w n.d.
Nocturne: Barren White Trees b&w 1996
Private Porch, A b&w n.d.
Sentinels b&w n.d (Second state, the plate reduced)
Sentinels b&w n.d. (First state)
Silver Trees I b&w 1999
Silver Trees II b&w n.d.
Still Life w/ Spoon b&w n.d.
Still Life w/ Kettle & Cup b&w n.d.
Three Trees w/ Moon b&w n.d. (Lithograph)
Trees & Trees b&w n.d.
Two White Trees b&w n.d.
Upstate b&w n.d.
Valentines b&w n.d
Vase w/ Small Branches b&w 1999
White Porch at Evening b&w 1996 (archive proof for Wittenberg University 6/26/96)
Window at Dusk b&w n.d.
Winter b&w 1996 (prefacing)
Xmas 1996 b&w n.d.
Note:
Window w/ Bench & Trees oversize, placed in map case
For Stella oversize, placed in map case
Box 10/B
Alleys, Springfield 1/75 b&w 1995
Backporch, the b&w 1995 1/40
Backyard, Evening b&w 1995 1/60
Clear Vase & Landscape b&w 1995 1/75
Evening Sun, The color 1993
Garden Gate color 1993 Library Director’s Office
Ghosts b&w 1995 1/60
Road’s End color 1993 Library Director’s Office
Table w/ Clear Vase b&w 1995 1/60
To the Reservoir: Central Parkb&w 1995 1/40
Untitled color 1993 frame covers title- Library Director’s Office
Vase, Chair & Trees b&w 1995 1/60
White Trees at Morning color 1993
Window w/ Black Table b&w 1995 1/75
Box 10/C
Appoggiatura 1/50 b&w n.d.
Branches, Millerton 1/60 b&w n.d
Composition, Upstate 1/50 b&w n.d.
Crossings 1/60 b&w n.d.
Forest Nocturne IV 1/75 b&w n.d.
Forest Nocturne I 1/50 b&w 2000
Forest Nocturne III 1/60 b&w n.d.
From White Hollow Rd 1/60 b&w n.d.
Garden Shadows 1/60 b&w n.d.
House Near a Marsh 1/35 b&w n.d.
Incandescence 1/60 b&w n.d
Late Afternoon 1/60 b&w n.d.
Revisitation 1/60 b&w n.d.
Seclusion 1/60 b&w n.d.
Sentinels II, 3rd State 1/20 b&w n.d.
Shadow Show 1/50 b&w n.d.
Shelter 1/50 b&w n.d.
Small Nocturne, The 1/60 b&w n.d.
Upward 1/50 b&w n.d.
Upwards 1/50 b&w n.d.
Note: White Forest, The 1/60 b&w n.d. From 10/c- in atlas case
Drawer #5 Atlas Case (Oversize Lithographs)
Afternoon 1976 Pres. Office as of 3/1989
Backyard III 1973
Backyard V (color) 1975
Backyard V (b&w) 1975
Backyard IV 1974
Backyard VI 1979
Backyard I 1970
Breezes 1975
Curtains and Leaves 1977
Dusk Composed 1974
Eaves and Dark Window n.d. Morris Lounge Student Center- 1/06
Edge, The 1974
Entrance, The 1983
Essence 1977
Evening Figures (color) 1979
Evening Figures (b&w) 1979
Facades n.d. Morris Lounge Student Center-1/06
Fence View 1968
Fields at Morning n.d.
Flying Leaves 1971
For Stella rec’d. 1999
Green Roofs (color) 1978
Green Roofs (b&w) 1978
Hidden Pathway 1981 Morris Lounge Student Center- 1/06
Hillside (color) 1977
Hillside (b&w) 1977
Hillside Shadows 1975
Hilltop 1973
Interior with Suspended Plant 1975
Interior with Chair and Shadow 1976
Just Beyond 1980 Pres. Office as of 2/21/1994
Picket Fence II 1975
Porch 1968
Reflections 1976
Remembering 1981
Reminiscences 1980
Secrets 1979 Financial Aid 1/06
Shadows II (b&w) 1978
Shadows II (color) 1978
Sheds and Fence 1969
Silver Trees 1976
Silver Morning 1972
Skyline II 1969
Spring Secrets 1980
Still Life w/ chairs, leaves & window n.d.
Studio Flowers (color) 1982
Studio Blowers (b&w) 1982
Suspension 1982
Three Trees 1970
Through Bedroom Curtain (color) 1983
Through Bedroom Curtain (b&w) 1983
To Return 1980
Two Trees 1971
White Forest rec’d. 2003
Wndbreak 1975
Window, The 1971
Window w/ Bench and Trees rec’d. 1999
Window w/ Suspended Plant (color) 1978
Window w/ Suspended Plant (b&w) 1978
Window w/ Orange Curtains n.d. Admission Office as of 1/06
Winter 1970
Without Within 1978